Ramapough Mountain Indians

Ramapough Mountain Indians[1]
Ramapough Lunaape Nation Inc.[2]
Named afterRamapo Mountains, Lenape people
Formation1980, incorporated[2]
Typenonprofit, state-recognized tribe
EIN 22-2226221[2][1]
PurposeEthnic/Immigrant Services (P84)[2]
Location
Membership (1992)
5,000[3]
Official language
English
Executive Director
Vince Morgan[1]
Key people
Dwaine Perry, President[1]
Revenue (2022)
$300,350[1]
Expenses (2022)$110,633[1]
Staff
0[1]
Websiteramapomunsee.net

The Ramapough Mountain Indians (also spelled Ramapo), known also as the Ramapough Lenape Nation or Ramapough Lunaape Munsee Delaware Nation or Ramapo Mountain people, are a New Jersey state-recognized tribe based in Mahwah. They have approximately 5,000 members[3] living in and around the Ramapo Mountains of Bergen and Passaic counties in northern New Jersey and Rockland County in southern New York, about 25 miles (40 km) from New York City.

They were recognized in 1980 by the state of New Jersey as the Ramapough Lenape Nation but are not recognized federally or recognized by the state of New York. Since January 2007, the chief of the Ramapough Lenape Nation has been Dwaine Perry.[1]

The Ramapough Lenape Indian Nation claim a line of descent from the Lenape, whose regional bands included the Hackensack, Tappan, Rumachenanck/Haverstroo, Munsee/Minisink and Ramapo people, while absorbing people with varying degrees of Tuscarora, African, and Dutch and other European ancestry.[4] The Lenape language in this area was Munsee, an Algonquian dialect. The Tuscarora spoke an Iroquoian language. After relations with European colonists began, ancestors of the Ramapough Lenape Indian Nation also spoke Jersey Dutch and English. Presently they speak English.[5][6] The Ramapough are working to restore the Munsee language among their members.[7][better source needed]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Cite error: The named reference cause was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference guide was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Kelly, Tina (April 11, 2006). "New Jersey Tribe Member Dies After Police Shooting at a Back-Roads Party". New York Times.
  4. ^ Pritchard, Evan T. (2002), Native New Yorkers: The Legacy of the Algonquin People of New York, Council Oak Books, pp. 265–271, ISBN 978-1-57178-135-2
  5. ^ Kraft, Herbert C. (1986), The Lenape: Archaeology, History, and Ethnography, New Jersey Historical Society, Newark, NJ. p. 241, ISBN 978-0-911020-14-4
  6. ^ New Jersey Committee on Native American Community Affairs (December 17, 2007). "Report to Governor Jon S. Corzine". Scribd: 15. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  7. ^ "Ramapough Munsee Language - Ramapough - Munsee - Lunaapeew". Retrieved 2012-09-23.