We are on the traditional Lands of the Munsee Lenape people.

 

As a land based organization, City Green acknowledges the Munsee Lenape as the original occupants and stewards of this land, and we recognize their forced removal and erasure due to violent colonial tactics.

 

The Munsee Lenape are a band of Lenni Lenape Native Americans, who stewarded this land for generations before many of their people were forcibly removed westward to Oklahoma and Wisconsin in the 1800’s. Relatives of the Munsee Lenape Nation, known as the Ramapough Indians, a state recognized tribe, are still here today on their ancestral lands, and still active in “preserving and restoring the economic, social, cultural, sacred and environmental assets of the Ramapough Munsee ancestral lands.” 

 

We recognize the sovereign nations of the Lenape diaspora elsewhere in present day North America, as well as other Indigenous individuals and communities now residing in New Jersey. 

 

We acknowledge Lenape people past, present and future. 

 

We honor the land we steward.

​

 

​​About the Land We Grow On

 

The land first came to be over a billion years ago as the first rocks began to form under what we now know as the northern part of New Jersey. Then came the formation of rivers, valets, ridges, plains, mountain ranges and other textures through erosion and deposition. Being that this region is coastal, the formation of the land is largely affected by the sea levels and its formation is directly linked to the Earth’s glacial history. Due to partial melting of Antarctic ice, sea level began to rise, broadening the river valleys in this northern region of New Jersey, creating lowlands where soil began to form. Soon came the oak trees, alongside hemlock, chestnuts, hickory, sugar maples and beech.

 

The soil in this area is sandy and loamy, and being a river valley, it is very fertile. The soil is alive with a network of fungi and mycelium that we work alongside in order to grow food for our community, strengthen native habitat and provide for the web of life that exists within and above the soil.  
 

 

 

 

 

 

What is a land statement? 

 

A land statement is a factual written statement of whose land we are on. A land statement is typically found at the bottom of a website, in a pamphlet, or anywhere additional information can be found. 
 

 

What is a land acknowledgment?

 

“Land acknowledgment is a traditional custom that dates back centuries in many Native nations and communities. Today, land acknowledgments are used by Native Peoples and non-Natives to recognize Indigenous Peoples who are the original stewards of the lands on which we now live.” - National Museum of the American Indian

 

 

Learn more:

Additional information on the Ramapough Munsee Community 

About – Munsee Three Sisters Medicinal Farm 

Additional information on the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians

NDN COLLECTIVE “is an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to building Indigenous power.”

Native Land Map “is an app to help map Indigenous territories, treaties, and languages."

LANDBACK “is a movement that has existed for generations with a long legacy of organizing and sacrifice to get Indigenous Lands back into Indigenous hands.”

Additional geologic history of the New Jersey Highlands NJGS - Geologic History and Virtual Field Trip of the New Jersey Highlands

Additional information on the Vegetation of Northern New Jersey Before European Settlement

​​