Sacred Split Rock Mountain bought from sewer authority, donated to Ramapough Indians

Marsha A. Stoltz, NorthJersey.com
·3 min read
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The Land Conservancy of New Jersey has purchased the Ramapough Indians' sacred Split Rock Mountain, or Tahetaweew, straddling parts of Hillburn and Ramapo, New York, on the Mahwah border, and donated it to the Ramapo Munsee Land Alliance.

The conservancy raised $500,000 in donations, with $290,000 to buy the 54-acre property from the Rockland County Sewer District in February and the rest to clean it up and pay for surveys, environmental assessments and title insurance. The land was transferred to the alliance in a ceremony at the Sweetwater Cultural Center in Stony Point, New York, last month.

The purchase does not resolve access to the site, reached via a half-mile footpath across private property off Split Rock Road in Mahwah. But Chief Dwaine Perry said officially taking charge of the site will allow his tribe to begin the process of "reactivating the mountain's energy" during ceremonies there in May.

Split Rock, or Tahetaweew, whose crack aligns with the solstice, is a sacred site to the area's Rampough Munsee Lenape Indians. It was purchased by the Land Conservancy of NJ and donated to the Ramapo Munsee Land Alliance.
Split Rock, or Tahetaweew, whose crack aligns with the solstice, is a sacred site to the area's Rampough Munsee Lenape Indians. It was purchased by the Land Conservancy of NJ and donated to the Ramapo Munsee Land Alliance.

"This site is much like Mount Sinai, where our holy people went to deliberate peace and understanding among other peoples, for which we were called the Grandfather Tribe," Perry said. "A decision of great importance would be found by tribal elders, and brought back down to the fields below, where two long houses stood to welcome the decisions inspired by the energy and sacred knowledge they had gotten at the Tahetaweew."

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Conservancy President David Epstein said Split Rock, at the summit of the 800-foot-tall mountain, is the largest glacier erratic (boulders left by receding glaciers) in the state of New York. Its split aligns with the sun at spring and fall solstices, giving it added significance to the Ramapough. There are 40 additional stone features at the summit, making it "one of the most important physical sites for Native American cultural and spiritual heritage in the U.S.," according to archeologist David Johnson.

Ramapough Chief Dwaine Perry addresses assembly during transfer of Split Rock to the Ramapo Munsee Land Alliance.
Ramapough Chief Dwaine Perry addresses assembly during transfer of Split Rock to the Ramapo Munsee Land Alliance.

The peak had additional strategic significance during the Revolutionary War, with its sweeping view north along the Ramapo Pass (now Route 17), east along what is now the New York State Thruway and Route 87 to the Hudson River, and south to Manhattan.

"It's a pretty amazing view to New York City," Epstein said. "It's hard to tell now with all the tall buildings, but at the time you could probably see the ships docked in its harbor."

George Washington used the peak to keep track of troop movements during his army's retreat from Manhattan when it was overrun by the British. Fortifying the pass and river at West Point, New York, prevented British troops from moving north. Perry said the Ramapough withdrew from the Iroquois Confederacy to support the Continental Army in fortifying what had once been an Indian trail to cut off the British supply route, and that "there would not be an America without our help."

The 54-acre donated site including Split Rock (purple) straddles Hillburn and Ramapo in neighboring New York, but access is a half-mile trail off Split Rock Road in Mahwah.
The 54-acre donated site including Split Rock (purple) straddles Hillburn and Ramapo in neighboring New York, but access is a half-mile trail off Split Rock Road in Mahwah.

The property was part of the Rockland County Sewer District's Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant in Hillburn. The district no longer had need of the property and had it declared surplus so it could be sold.

"Safeguarding this sacred ground is the right thing to do for our neighbors, the Ramapough Lenape, and for all people who want to make sure this important place is preserved now and for future generations," said Rockland County Executive Ed Day.

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Perry hopes to get the area eventually classified as a World Heritage Site, but for now he is happy to begin the work of cleaning up the area, which for decades has been desecrated by dumping, cross burnings, graffiti vandals and drinking parties.

"Its spirit belongs to everyone," Perry said. "Not to a parade of beer bottles."

For more information, visit the Ramapo Munsee Land Alliance at ramapomunseelandalliance.org, or the Land Conservancy of NJ at tlc-nj.org.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Sacred Split Rock Mountain donated to Ramapough Indians