Heritage Festival to celebrate nation’s oldest culture
By: Madeleine Johnson
MONROE The Monroe Township Historic Preservation Commission’s Heritage Festival will feature special and long-overdue guests this year.
On Sunday from 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m., the Dey Farm Historic Site, Federal Road, will become a welcome mat for the Lenápe Nation of Sellersville, Pa.
"The Lenápe were supposed to come last year, but it got rained out," Historic Commission Secretary Norma Plans said. "What makes this Heritage Festival special is the fact that New Jersey did have Lenápe Indians."
The festival will celebrate the American Indians’ history, focusing on how this was home to the Lenápe long before European colonists arrived.
Chief Chuck Gentle Moon will welcome everyone to the festival during the opening ceremony.
The events that follow will allow the Lenápe to both show their customs and tell their stories to an audience that wouldn’t usually witness the American Indians’ culture firsthand.
"The Lenápe Nation will be sharing their culture and their heritage with our community," Ms. Plans said. "They are going to have displays, show beadworking demonstrations, teach the children Lenápe phrases and words with songs, have games going and have a dance and drum demonstration."
The Heritage Festival will offer a glimpse into the lives and customs of the Lenápe, as well as somesome insight into the Lenápe Nation’s history.
After the colonists settled into the area, a Presbyterian missionary led the Indians to land near Cranbury so they could settle there. What is now Monroe Township and parts of present-day Jamesburg used to be Bethel, New Jersey’s first Indian reservation.
Bethel lasted for 13 years. Land disputes and political unrest caused the Lenápe to relocate to Brotherton. The 80-acre Bethel was dwarfed by the new 3,000-acre reservation provided by New Jersey, though some of the Lenápe chose to stay in Monroe.
Indian artifacts have been discovered within the boundaries of Monroe Township, and they’re still being found by farmers and passers-by today. Unfortunately, these artifacts and history books are often an individual’s only exposure to the Indian way of life.
"This festival is special because there’s going to be interaction between the public and the Lenápe Nation," Ms. Plans said. "We thought that it would be a nice way of showing the community how the Native American culture was intertwined with our community."

