LETTER: Give Lenape the land stolen from them
We’ve all heard place names like Manhattan, Hoboken, Rumson, Navesink and Manasquan. What few know is that these are all Lenape words, the language of the native people of New Jersey, along with Delaware and the New York City-Philadelphia metro areas. But in the region, there isn’t a single federally recognized Lenape reservation.
Looking deeper into the history reveals broken treaties, broken promises, genocide and forced exile. Lenape survivors were forced under duress to Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Ontario.
The maltreatment and murder of Lenape is the dirty secret of New Jersey history — one that most ignore entirely or heavily whitewash.
The Lenape were promised their own sovereign state in New Jersey for fighting the British during the American Revolution. The government lied. It proceeded to kick out the survivors from their land, with a mere $1,000 Spanish dollar payment under duress.
End this genocide, fraud and apartheid. Give Lenapehoking back to the Lenape.