Festival offers window to native life long ago
Lenape Nation brings displays, messages to Heritage Festival
BY MARY ANNE ROSS
Correspondent

SCOTT FRIEDMAN At the annual Heritage Festival Sunday at Monroe's Dey Farm Historic Site, Bob Williams of the Lenape Nation displays artifacts used to make pottery. The event was sponsored by the township's Historic Preservation Commission.

MONROE - Sunday marked a kind of homecoming for the Lenape Indians.

Members of the Pennsylvania-based Lenape Nation came to Monroe's Dey Farm Historic Site, Federal and Old Church roads, to take part in the annual Heritage Festival sponsored by the township's Historic Preservation Commission.

The festival offered a chance for visitors to wander through the historic buildings and barns, catching a glimpse of what life was like for European settlers in the 1700s and 1800s. But it also allowed them to view displays and demonstrations to get a taste of the lifestyle of the area's original inhabitants. The Lenni Lenape once lived on New Jersey's first Indian reservation, which was called Bethel and was located near present-day Thompson Park, a short distance from the festival site.

Chief Chuck Gentle Moon, leader of the Lenape Nation, welcomed everyone with a prayer spoken in Lenape, asking the crowd to come together in a spirit of healing and peace. He explained that there were a lot of misconceptions about his culture and religion.

"We did not worship the sun or animals. We believed in one creator," he said.

Gentle Moon brought his people to the festival because "I really want to raise awareness about our culture and heritage. We populated a large part of the East Coast, and people don't really know about us."

Members of his group Sunday included crafts people, drummers, singers and dancers.

His wife, Ellen Rolph, demonstrated traditional beadwork using a loom.

"These are glass beads," she told a circle of people surrounding her table. "They are what the Lenape used when the Europeans came. Before that, they used porcupine quills and shells. They would dye them with roots and berries."

She had several artifacts on display, including moccasins and a beaded wooden stick called a talking stick that was held by the person speaking at traditional gatherings.

Fred Werkeiser, another member of the group, presided over a display of arrowheads of varying sizes and colors.

"Different arrowheads were used for different things," he said, discussing the different sizes and shapes. Werkeiser noted that his true areas of expertise are sacred sites and mounds. He pointed to a photo album filled with pictures of petraglyphics and rock formations shaped like animals. "Unfortunately, though these are of great historical significance, there are no laws protecting them. Someone could build a McDonald's right on top of this."

A drumming and dancing demonstration drew a large crowd during the festival. Stacy Beer and Shelly de Paul demonstrated Lenape dancing.

"We are wearing traditional dance clothing or regalia, but we will be doing social dancing so people can join us," Beer said.

De Paul explained the meaning of the first song being played.

"It's a calling song. It's calling to the Creator and the people to come together," she said. Onlookers were invited to dance, and many stepped into the circle to learn a few steps.

Gentle Moon, who led the drum group, joked with the crowd.

"People think we are very serious because in all the old pictures we look that way. But most of those were taken right after we were captured, so we didn't have a whole lot to be happy about.

"But we do have a good sense of fun," he said, as he started the drum group on a song about the Lone Ranger and Tonto called "Heigh-Ho Silver."

Revolutionary War re-enactor Ray Helge, of Jackson, came to the event dressed in the uniform of a "tory," a soldier loyal to the King, and fielded questions from a curious crowd.

Zachary Kellett, 9, of South Brunswick, who attended the event with his mother, Kim, and brother Aaron, 7, noticed the layers of clothes Helge was wearing.

"Aren't you warm in those clothes?" he asked.

"Not really," Helge explained. "This jacket is wool, so it breathes, and the pants are linen. It's the material they

had in those days."

In response to a question about his gun, Helge demonstrated how it was loaded.

"There's a metal pan here near the trigger that holds gun powder. When that ignites, it spreads to the gun powder in the muzzle. If it doesn't, we call that a 'flash in the pan,' " he said, explaining the source of the familiar expression.

Jon Katerba, chairman of the Monroe Township Historic Preservation Commission and town historian, was pleased with the turnout Sunday. He estimated that 200 to 400 people showed up.

The Dey Historic Farm site was 10 years in the making. It consists of 40 acres of open field with historic farmhouses and barns. The commission hopes to add more historic buildings at the site, including the Prospect Plains School House, built around 1850.

"None of this has cost the taxpayers a dime," Katerba said. Instead, the group relies on private funding and donations.

"Monroe really played an important role in the history of Central Jersey," he said. "Washington really did sleep here before he took his troops into the Battle of Monmouth. It's important that it be preserved and people know about it."