Ramapough Mountain Indians

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The Ramapough Mountain Indians (also known as Ramapo Mountain Indians or the Ramapough Lenape Nation) are a group of approximately 5,000 ^[1] people living around the Ramapo Mountains of northern New Jersey and southern New York. Their tribal office is located on Stag Hill Road in Mahwah, New Jersey. As of January 2007, the Chief of the Ramapough Lenape Indian Nation is Dwaine Perry.^[2]

Until the 1970s, the tribe was frequently referred to as the "Jackson Whites", which, according to legend, was shorthand for "Jacks and Whites". Folk belief was that they were descendants of runaway and freed slaves ("Jacks" in slang) and whites (including Dutch settlers and Hessian soldiers) who had supported the English during the American Revolution, and were forced to flee to the mountains after the end of the war. This name and its associated legends are rejected as pejorative by the group. New Jersey Historian David Cohen found that the old stories about these people were legends, not history. He states "it became increasingly obvious that, not only was the legend untrue, it was also the continuing vehicle for the erroneous and derogatory stereotype of the Mountain People." ^[3]

The members of the Ramapough Lenape Indian Nation describe themselves as the descendants of the Lenape and Munsee peoples, with varying degrees of African, Tuscarora, Dutch, and other caucasian ancestry.^{[citation needed]} The Ramapough also claim common ancestry with other aboriginal American tribes in the north and west. ^[4] The Ramapough claim that their ancestral language was Munsee, but the community was known to have spoken English and Jersey Dutch in the past, and speak English today^[5].

Contents 1 Dispute over origins 2 Official recognition 3 References 4 External links

Dispute over origins

A number of local historians and genealogists have written about the Ramapough people. Their origins are still considered controversial by some. Below is a list of some of these people and a summary of their findings.

Herbert C. Kraft, stated ^[5]"The origins of these people are very controversial, but it is clear that some are descended from local Munsee-speaking Indians who moved into the isolated Ramapo Mountains seeking a haven from the Dutch and English settlers in the latter half of the seventeenth century." Kraft says about Cohen's claim ^[6] "Cohen acknowledges that a gap exists in the genealogical record between about 1790-1830 that prevented his assembling with exactitude individual relationships between most of the Hackensack Valley settlers and those of the Ramapo Mountains." Kraft was also unable to establish a genealogical connection between the present-day Ramapough and colonial-era Indian tribes.

Evan T. Pritchard, a professor of Native American history and of Micmac (Algonquin) descent wrote, ^[7]. "The Ramapough, or 'mountaineer Munsee,' on the other hand, never disappeared. Their people still occupy the southwest portion of the point of that projectile which is Rockland County, on all sides of Ramapo Mountain. Ramapough means 'slanting rock'...the main Ramapough Lenape villages in New York were Johnsontown, Furmanville, Sherwoodville, Bulsontown, Willowgrove, Sandyfields, and Ladentown. Better known, however, as Native American strongholds, are the towns just south of the border, namely Hillburn, Stagg Hill, and Ringwood. Whites have always tried, and continue to try to portray the Ramapough as foreigners: Dutch, blacks, Tuscarora, Gypsies, or Hessians. However, they are the only actual non-foreigners to be found still living in community in and around New York’s metropolitan region." Evan was describing New York's western metropolitan region.

Roger Joslyn "Certified genealogist Roger Joslyn traced the Ramapough genealogy to the 1700s, concluding they are descended from the aboriginal Lenape Indians" ^[8]

John "Bud" Shapard The former head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs office, went on record supporting the Ramapoughs, stating their case was "well-documented". ^[8]

David S Cohen The Ramapough claim to Indian tribal heritage is disputed by the historian David Cohen ^[9]. Cohen is currently employed as a Research Associate at the NJ Historical Commission. According to Cohen, his genealogical research "established that their ancestors included free black landowners in New York City and mulattoes with some Dutch ancestry who were among the first pioneers to settle in the Hackensack River Valley of New Jersey" ^[10]. Cohen states that "gaps in the genealogical records and the fact that the federal censuses for 1790-1830 are missing prevent establishing positively the exact relationship between many of the these colored families in the mountains, and the earlier colored families of the Hackensack River Valley." ^[11] The State of New Jersey prohibited free blacks from owning any land. ^[12] Cohen states that there is "an oral tradition of Indian ancestry among the Ramapo Mountain People as early as the eighteenth century." Cohen also states that "Some Indian mixture is possible, however, because Indian and colored interracial matings probably were not recorded in the Dutch Reformed Churches" ^[13]. Cohen had no professional credentials in genealogy, and the BIA found much of Cohen's genealogical work lacking. ^[8] Contrary to Cohen's statements, "The United States Department of Justice acknowledged in court that the Ramapough are Indians." ^[8]

Benson Lossing, in his book ^[14] "Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution Volume I, chapter XXXII", dated 1850 wrote "Along the sinuous Ramapo Creek, before the war of the Revolution broke out. and while the ancient tribe of the Ramapaughs yet chased the deer on the rugged hills which skirt the valley, iron-forges were established, and the hammer-peal of spreading civilization echoed from the neighboring crags."

Edward J. Lenik, archaeologist and president of the Sheffield Archaeological Consultants, is the author of "Indians in the Ramapos." Lenik writes that: "The archaeological record indicates a strong, continuous and persistent presence of Indian bands in the northern Highlands Physiographic Providence-Ramapos well into the 18th century. Other data, such as historical accounts, record the presence of Indians in the Highlands during the 19th and 20th centuries. Oral traditions, and settlement and subsistence activities are examined as well. Native American people were a significant element among the primary progenitors of the Ramapo Mountain People..." ^[15]

C.A. Weslager, past-president of the Eastern States Archaeological Federation, stated in his book "Magic Medicines of the Indians" ^[16] "In the early and middle part of the nineteenth century the Indian descendants were largely found in the northern counties- Warren, Morris, Sussex, and Passaic.." He further wrote "The people of the northern counties were descended from Delawares and Munsies, with Tuscarora admixture. The Tuscarora, members of a southern tribe, migrated to New York state to join the Six Nation Iroquois, but a number of migrating families settled in New Jersey."

Official recognition

The State of New Jersey recognizes the Ramapoughs as an American Indian tribe.^[17]

The New York State Gaming Association web site says that the Ramapoughs were not recognized as a tribe,^[18] but the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs cites a 1980 recognition by resolution of the New York State Legislature.^[19]

In the proposed finding by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in response for the Ramapoughs' request for federal recognition, the BIA did not find evidence of ancestry to a historical Native American Tribe:

In making this Final Determination, the BIA has reviewed the evidence used to prepare the Proposed Finding, the RMI response to the Proposed Finding, and additional research conducted for the Final Determination by BIA staff. None of the interested party or third party comments were directed to the specific genealogies of the RMI progenitor families. None of the interested party or third party comments provided substantive proof that the earliest proven RMI ancestors descended from a historical tribe of North American Indians. Therefore, the third-party comments were not directly pertinent to criterion 83.7(e).

...

None of the outside observers cited in the RMI Response provided documentation of actual tribal descent. Statements of generically "Indian" characteristics are not equivalent under the 25 CFR Part 83 regulations to documented descent from "a historical Indian tribe or from historical Indian tribes which combined and functioned as a single autonomous political entity." Statements concerning more general "Indian" descent are not in themselves adequate to meet criterion 83.7(e), and must also be evaluated in the full context of the available evidence.

..

In conclusion, the origins and parentage of the earliest genealogically proven ancestors of the petitioner are not known. The petitioner has not demonstrated that their earliest documented ancestors were members of a historical North American Indian tribe, nor has the petitioner documented that their earliest proven progenitors descended from any known historical tribe of North American Indians. Without documentation, the BIA cannot make an assumption, on the basis of late 19th-century and early 20th-century ascriptions, that these unknown RMI ancestors were members of a historical North American Indian tribe. The petitioner has not presented acceptable evidence that the RMI descend from a historical Indian tribe, or from tribes which amalgamated and functioned as a single unit, either as individuals or as a group.^[20]

Before 1870, the State of New Jersey Census grouped the population into three categories - White, Black (free), and Black (slave). In 1870, New Jersey began recording Native Americans and 16 were documented. ^[21]

Herbert C. Kraft ^[22] stated "The Ramapough petitioned for Federal Recognition August 14, 1978. In April of 1993, ^[22]the opponents of Ramapo recognition led by casino owner Donald Trump and two Bergen County Representatives charged that the Ramapo would bring in Indian gaming associated with organized crime." ^[23] The agency rejected the petition on December 8, 1993.^[24] The Ramapough, who are opposed to gambling, are now appealing that decision.

References

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