Set for this year, Bushy Run seeks long-term approval of battle reenactment

Mar. 6—The Bushy Run Battlefield Heritage Society may have won permission to continue this year's reenactment of a Colonial-era conflict, but members of the society's board say their modern fight has just begun.

Earlier this week, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission members unanimously voted to allow the historic Penn Township site to hold the event that has been staged for the past four decades.

Now the society will have to fight to gain official acceptance for reenactments in years to come. It all comes in the wake of an attempt to ban "force-on-force" battle simulations at the state-owned park and among criticism of how Native American combatants are portrayed at the events.

"We may have won the first battle, but there's more battles to come," board member Rob Malley told about 35 people who attended an open meeting of the board Sunday in the Stone Room of the park visitor center. "The war is not won."

In the short term, Malley said, the nonprofit Bushy Run organization needs to expand its insurance coverage, at an estimated cost of up to $1,000, for this year's reenactment — set for Aug. 5 and 6 — of the local 1763 battle between the British and Native Americans during Pontiac's War. Malley is chairing the event.

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission board heard testimony from about a dozen supporters of the Bushy Run reenactment and voted Wednesday in support of this year's battle simulation.

That prompted the Bushy Run board to restart plans for the event after it had announced its cancellation when PHMC staff earlier this year declared a ban at all PHMC-controlled sites on reenactments pitting opposing forces against each other.

Malley said the PHMC board ruled that this year's reenactment could follow past practice. But the commission indicated the Bushy Run board would bear full responsibility for any problems that might occur during the reenactment.

The commission said it plans to conduct a study and hold discussions to determine the reenactment's status in 2024 and beyond.

Malley said the Bushy Run board's dispute with PHMC staff has gained national and international media attention.

"The world is watching Bushy Run," he said.

He said the added notice it has attracted is likely to increase attendance at this year's reenactment.

"Normally, we have a couple thousand people here," he said. "Probably, it's going to be double that."

In addition to inviting PHMC officials to this year's reenactment, Malley said the Bushy Run board wants representatives from other reenactment sites to attend, in hopes of networking to push back against objections to such mock battles.

"A lot of work needs to be done," Malley said. "Some of the comments I get is, 'If Bushy Run fails, reenactments and reenactors in Pennsylvania are done, are gone."

In its proposed ban, based on a National Park Service policy, the PHMC staff suggested force-on-force reenactments are "disrespectful."

Joni Henry of Harrison City, a volunteer tour guide at Bushy Run, also supports a group that participates in reenactments there: the 60th Royal American Regiment of Foote. She said the group's primary aim is to expose others to history. She questioned the right of state officials to exert control over that form of history education.

Her husband, Brian Henry, a quartermaster with the group, said those who take part in reenactments at Bushy Run base their interpretations on extensive historical research.

Penn Township Commissioner Chuck Konkus attended Sunday's meeting to voice support for the Bushy Run volunteers and their reenactment.

"They're taking away our history," he said. "It's time for us to fight back, in our own way."

Dissension between the local Bushy Run board and officials with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission began last summer, when board President Bonnie Ramus refused the commission's 11th-hour suggestion that she cancel the 2022 reenactment, based on a complaint from a Native American resident of another state that portrayals of Native Americans at the event by nonnatives was disrespectful.

The PHMC staff then ruled that the Bushy Run board would have to consult with Native American groups before holding any future reenactments.

Malley said his group was intending to negotiate with PHMC about that policy when it was informed of the force-on-force ban.

Malley noted the Bushy Run board has been in contact with a man who has a Seneca affiliation.

Malley said some, but not all, of those portraying Native Americans in previous reenactments could claim Native American heritage. But, he said, none of those reenactors was able to attend last summer's event. He said the nonnative reenactors "don't claim to be something they aren't."

Board member Diane Liska encouraged people who are interested to join the Bushy Run society, which has about 360 members. Member support, Malley said, is one of the primary sources of funding for the organization, in addition to sales at its visitor center gift shop and donations from those attending reenactments and other events.

There is an admission fee for tours of the visitor center's museum.

The board is looking to fill a vacant museum facilitator position, its only paid staff member.

Jeff Himler is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jeff by email at jhimler@triblive.com or via Twitter .