New Brunswick Organization Moving Forward with Plan for Statue Honoring Lenni-Lenape People

Before Greg Ritter could begin raising money for a bronze relief honoring the Lenni-Lenape people who lived along the Raritan River for thousands of years, he wanted to make sure those being honored were comfortable with the idea.

So Ritter, the owner and operator of George Street Camera and a member of New Brunswick Public Sculpture, traveled to Oklahoma and spent two days with members of the Delaware Tribe of Indians, including its chief.

He showed them what he and others were envisioning for a seven- to eight-foot-high, roughly eight-foot-wide bronze relief that would tell the story of the Lenape in the place they once called home.

"They liked it," Ritter said. "So we were welcome to do this. I wouldn't go ahead doing this without their approval."

Ritter envisions a three-dimensional storyboard that would introduce people to the Lenape, their culture and their way of life.

It would eventually find a home in Liberty Square Park, according to Ritter.

"People know the name (Lenni-Lenape), but they really don't know any history about them while they've been here," he said.

The Lenape lived throughout what is now New Jersey and the surrounding region long before European settlement. Ritter said the sculpture is intended to remind people that the Lenape were not a people who simply disappeared from history.

"They'll be introduced to that they were the First Nation, the first people that had been here for thousands of years," he said.

The project is still in its early stages. Ritter estimates it will cost about $350,000, in part because the relief will require considerably more bronze casting and detail than a conventional statue.

New Brunswick Public Sculpture, a nonprofit group, has received the blessing of Mayor Jim Cahill to proceed, Ritter said, and a committee is now being assembled to begin fundraising and other work.

The organization was founded to use public art to tell New Brunswick's history.

Its first major project was the life-size bronze statue of Col. John Neilson, which was unveiled in Monument Square Park in 2017. Neilson famously stood atop a table outside White Hall Tavern on July 9, 1776, and read the Declaration of Independence to the people of New Brunswick -- one of the earliest public readings of the document after its adoption. The sculpture turns an often-overlooked local moment in the American Revolution into something residents and visitors can see and experience in the heart of the city.

Its first major project was the life-size bronze statue of Col. John Neilson, which was unveiled in Monument Square Park in 2017. Neilson famously stood atop a table outside White Hall Tavern on July 9, 1776, and read the Declaration of Independence to the people of New Brunswick -- one of the earliest public readings of the document after its adoption. The sculpture turns an often-overlooked local moment in the American Revolution into something residents and visitors can see and experience in the heart of the city.

The Lenape relief would tell a different kind of story.

At its center would be a Lenape woman holding a child. Unlike the figures in the background, she would be rendered in a more three-dimensional form, bringing her forward from the relief.

Behind her would be men and a depiction of a Lenape village, including the traditional homes and the Raritan River.

Ritter said the sculpture would also incorporate the Three Sisters -- corn, pole beans and squash -- crops that worked together and were important to indigenous agriculture.

The corn provided the stalk on which the pole beans could climb. The squash spread across the ground, helping retain moisture in the soil.

"They all worked together," Ritter said.

The relief also would depict the Lenape clans: the Wolf, Turkey and Turtle.

Ritter said those clan symbols served as a way for Lenape communities to identify themselves and connect with other communities. The Delaware Nation's own history describes the Wolf, Turkey and Turtle as the three major Lenape family clans and notes that Lenape society was matrilineal, with women playing important leadership roles.

That is reflected in Ritter's decision to make a woman and child the prominent figures in the foreground.

"The women actually were the ones in charge of the village," he said.

Ritter said he also wants the relief to correct misconceptions about indigenous people in New Jersey.

The Lenape were not nomads living the stereotypical lifestyle often associated with Plains Indians, he said. They established villages and cultivated crops, hunted and fished in the region.

The proposed sculpture would also incorporate the Raritan River and the Lenape's relationship with it. Ritter said the name "Raritan" has a Lenape connection and referred to a stream that splits or floods.

The project has also benefited from the involvement of Camilla Townsend, a Rutgers historian whose scholarship focuses on indigenous peoples and early America. Townsend, a Board of Governors Distinguished Professor of History at Rutgers-New Brunswick, has written extensively about indigenous history and has published work on Lenape stories and traditions.

Ritter said Townsend helped make the connection that led to his trip to Oklahoma.

The tribe's headquarters are now in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, a long way from the Lenape homeland in New Jersey. The Delaware Tribe of Indians is one of several federally recognized Lenape tribal nations whose ancestors were displaced from their original homeland.

For Ritter, that journey was more than a research trip.

He deliberately kept a low profile during his visit because he didn't want to arrive as a tourist. He wanted to listen, learn and explain what New Brunswick hoped to create.

One of his favorite memories came during a communal meal on Tuesday, which happened to be Indian Taco Day. About 50 or 60 people gathered in a large sunroom to eat.

Ritter loaded his tortilla with everything but chicken and beef.

Chief Brad KillsCrow took one glance at his plate and asked him why he wasn't taking any meat.

Ritter explained that he was a vegetarian.

The chief looked at him seriously.

"You know what we call vegetarians here, don't you?"

Ritter recalled him asking.

Ritter shook his head no.

"Bad hunters."