Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR, at the memorial for Chief Nimhan at Van Cortlandt Park
Westchester organizations, community members join ceremony to remember lost fight for tribal sovereignty
By Zach Youngerman
How do we honor and understand the sacrifice of those killed? That was the question for the crowd gathered on August 31st at a Van Cortlandt Park monument to honor Wappinger and Mahican warriors killed by British soldiers in the American Revolution.
The event was organized by the Daughters of the Revolution (DAR), the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), the Kingsbridge Historical Society and “local community members who wish for the historical legacy of Chief Daniel Nimham to be preserved,” according to the event program. Representatives from the Town of Fishkill and the New York City Parks Department also spoke.
The ceremony mixed American military rituals with Native rites, including a sage smudging, a folding of the U.S. flag, and a dedication with stones from across the former Wappinger homeland. The DAR led the Pledge of Allegiance; Dr. Janice Turner of the Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware spoke a Lenape invocation.
That inclusivity would not have accompanied the original dedication of the monument. It was the DAR – not the descendants of the Native soldiers – who had the power in 1906 to place a privately-funded monument in a New York City park. Native Americans hadn’t even been granted U.S. citizenship yet. It is only recently that they have felt safe to “be out,” shared Oleana…