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Who are the Keetoowah-Cherokee and what does the term, Keetoowah mean?
The word Keetoowah refers to the Mother Mound of the Cherokee culture. Tradition tells the Cherokee that Keetoowah Mound is the navel of the earth from which the Cherokee people originated. Spiritually, traditional Cherokee people refer to themselves as Keetoowah. Not all Cherokee people are traditional, and therefore are not known as Keetoowah. All Keetoowah are Cherokee however. There are four officially recognized Keetoowah Groups:
I Original Keetoowah Society
II Nighthawk Keetoowah Society
III Nuyagi Keetoowah Society
IV United Keetoowah Band
Pre-History of the Nuyagi Keetoowah in the Northeast
“The Indian community of Monmouth county New Jersey pre-dates the revolutionary war. It includes elements of two distinct Indian Groups. The first group representing the original indigenous inhabitants of New Jersey who are the Lenape. The second group is reflective of Cherokee migrations into the state of New Jersey beginning in 1711. The ranks of the two separate Indian entities were swollen by the intermarriage with the local non-Indian population. Although the groups were strengthened by intermarriage they retained their Cherokee identity.
The Cherokee Community of New Jersey has always, and continues today, to be indicative of transplanted Cherokee people. According to the Department of Commerce, US Census Bureau, the Cherokee are the second largest Indian entity in the State of New York and the largest Indian entity of New Jersey. The Cherokee Nation is the largest Indian Nation in the US. The Cherokee people of New Jersey migrated from Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia and North Carolina; This population is reflective of four major migrations of Cherokee people into the State of New Jersey.
In 1841, Principal Chief John Ross established a clear presence of substantial Cherokee community in New Jersey through his correspondence and other documentation. In 1863 Chief Ross returns to the Cherokee community as Principal Chief in Exile (Union supporter) and head of the Keetoowah Society and confers with the Cherokee community of New Jersey as to the future of the Cherokee Nation. During these visits he was carrier of the Sacred Wampum Belts of the Keetoowah Society and was known to frequent such locations as Ross Corner, New Jersey.
These New Jersey Cherokee communities formed the nucleus for the community that still exists in the New York metropolitan area.” [Internal Revenue Service documented papers]
Another source discusses the Nuyagi Keetoowah from a Sept. 28, 1928 newspaper article [possibly from The Paterson Morning Call]…
“ On September 28, 1928, the writer and his family attended a most interesting Indian event in the hills near Ross Corner, in Northern New Jersey.
This was the initial ceremonial of a group (i.e. society) of conservative Indian people who are attempting to return the ceremonial or “bring back the fire” to the Appalachian Mountains. This first gathering was not held at a hallowed location; instead, it took place at a special “practice ground” which has been established in Stokes Forest, a few miles from the New York State line. This practice ground will be used for a year or two until the group has acquired sufficient expertise and support to assure that the ritual procedures will be carried on properly when the move is made to Sunrise Mountain on the Appalachian Trail.
Sunrise Mountain is an attractive, wooded spot near the Delaware River and framed by the Appalachian Mountains. Because of segregation and other restrictions in the South, this spot was chosen over other locations.
The composition of the ritual organization which is “bringing back the fire” at this location is of considerable interest. All members of the group are Cherokee, many full-blood, however, some are of part Cherokee ancestry. Most of them speak Cherokee, consider themselves, and are considered by other Cherokee to be Keetoowah. Due to religious beliefs and convictions all or most refuse to be listed with any governmental agency. The core of the group are Traditional Keetoowah or part Keetoowah descent. Thus, the name Keetoowah, which refers to Kituhwa, a leading “mother’ town among all Cherokee, and Nuyagi, which means ‘Place of Rocks”, gives this group its identity. It is also noteworthy that this ground is the only one east of the Mississippi River which will have the customary seven arbors used at other Keetoowah grounds.”
What is a Stomp Ground and its significance to the Keetoowah-Cherokee?
A Keetoowah-Cherokee Stomp Ground is a place in which Keetoowah meet to practice the ancient Cherokee culture and faith. It must have water, a sacred fire, and seven arbors representing the seven clans of the Cherokee people. During ceremonial times the Stomp Ground is consecrated as sacred land.
Who are The Sand Hill Band of Lenape and Cherokee Indians?
The New Jersey Indian Office and the records of James Revey, late Chairman, indicate that the community has been in existence since 1711.
In 1759, the State of New Jersey established the Brotherton Indian Reservation in Indian Mills.* 1 The Revey [also Reeves, Reevey, Revies] family were Raritan-Lenape Indian residents who were known to live in Old Monmouth. Their main community was in a place called Edge Pillock in Burlington County. The interaction between the Lenape and Cherokee is well documented [see Time Line]. For example, in 1779 the Cherokee Nation (called Kittuwa by the Lenape] sent a delegation of condolence to their grandfather the Lenape, on the death of the Lenape head chief White Eyes.*2 This was only one of many recorded migrations of the Cherokee who were invited to stay among the Lenape. New Jersey records indicate Cherokee migrations in the early 1700’s from the southeastern Untied States to Monmouth County. Indians – often regarded as “colored”, were denied basic civil liberties in the South. They found they were much better off in New Jersey Indian communities.
Migrations occurred from the Virginias and Carolinas as well as other areas of the old Cherokee Nation. The Richardson family was one such family. They are listed in the Eastern Cherokee Rolls, Official United States Census of the Cherokee Indians from 1817 to 1924 as residing east of the Mississippi River. The Crummel family, another Sand Hill Band Indian is also listed on the same census as Cherokee.
In 1803 some members of the community relocated to the Stockbridge Indian Reservation while the main body of the Raritan-Lenape returned to Monmouth County. They established a community known as Reeveytown. Monmouth County Tax records of 1780 indicate Jame Revey living in Freehold Township and Thomas Revey living in Shrewsbury Township in 1789. By 1860 a few hundred Lenape were scattered in remote communities located in Monmouth County on the Shark River and in Passaic County of the Passaic River.
Centuries of intermarrying produced The Sand Hill Band of Indians, a direct result of the miscegenation of the Raritan-Lenape and the Keetoowah-Cherokee Indians. Today, certain segments of the community maintain a distinct Cherokee identity while others are
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solely Lenape (Delaware). The Sand Hill Band of Indians in New Jersey have never sought federal or state recognition, although it was presented to them by Governor Alfred Driscill in 1949 at the Trenton State Fair, because they know themselves to be a sovereign tribal entity. They are however, the only tribe in New Jersey to be recognized by both the federally-recognized Delaware Tribes of Oklahoma and the revered Keetoowah Society of the Cherokee Nation. They consider this acknowledgement paramount to any form of non-tribal governmental recognition.
Or see the complete resource and reference list for historical information and documentation.
*1 History of Monmouth County and Ocean Counties, by Edwin Salter and E.M. Woodward, 1890
*2 The Lenape and Their Legends with the complete text and symbols of the Walum Olum by Daniel G. Brinton, Wennawoods Publishing, Lewisburg, PA. 1999
The Sand Hill Band of Lenape and Cherokee Reference and Resources List
Footnotes are listed documenting the Time Line
Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholder Census, Title: Monmouth, Our Indian Heritage, 1974 . Footnote: 1
The Sand Hill Indians by A. Hyatt Verrill, The Real Americans, New York, 1954
page 100. Footnote: 2
The Sand Hill Indians, by C.A. Weslager, The Delaware Indians (A History), New Jersey, 1972, pages 277-278. Footnote: 2
The Sand Hill Indians by Herbert C. Kraft, The Lenape-Delaware Indian Heritage, New Jersey, 2001, pages 542-543. Footnote: 3
The Sand Hill Indians by Herbert C. Kraft, The Lenape, New Jersey Historical Society, 1986, pages 240-241. Footnote: 3
The Sand Hill Indians by Linda Price, The Lenni-Lenape, Paterson Museum, New Jersey, 1979. Footnote: 18
The Sand Hill Indians, reference, Gale Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes, Vol.1, Delaware, 2000, page 40-41. Footnote: 2, 3
The Sand Hill Indians by Evelyn S. Lewis, James Lone Bear Revey, Neptune Historical Society, 1999.
A Delaware Indian Symposium by Herbert C. Kraft, 1974, page 150. Footnote: 4
Sand Hill Indians Student Activity Book by James Lone Bear Revey, published by Neptune Township Board of Education, 1981, page 5. Footnote: 5
Bicentennial Tales by Peggy Goodrich, published by Bicentennial Committee, Neptune, NJ., page 35. Footnote: 6
The Lenape and Their Legends [with the complete text and symbols of the Walum Olum] by Daniel G. Brinton, Wennawoods Publishing, Lewisburg, PA. 1999, pages 16-18. Footnote: 7
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Bulletin of the Archaelogical Society of New Jersey, No. 33, 1976, page 2 Footnote: 17
Interview with Peggy Goodrich, Monmouth County Library, Manalapan, NJ. April 12, 2000. Footnote: 8
Records of the Nuyagi Keetoowah Society, Sept. 28, 1928. Footnote: 9
Nuyagi Keetoowah Society, Internal Revenue Service Records, page 5, Exhibit B
A Brief History of the Nuyagi Keetoowah Society. Footnote: 10
Indian Lore of New Jersey by the New Jersey Council , 1949, page 20. Footnote: 11
The Ross Papers—The Personal Handwritten Letters by Chief John Ross, 1863. Footnote: 12
The Lenape Indians ( A Symposium) by Herbert C. Kraft, 1984, page 81. Footnote: 13
The Lenape-Delaware Indian Heritage by Herbert C. Kraft, 2000, page 542-543. Footnote: 14
The US Census of the Cherokee population of New Jersey, 2000. Footnote: 15
State of New Jersey, Department of State Archives, Trenton, NJ. Footnote: 16
Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 15 Northeastern Region, 1978
Neptune’s Sand Hill Indians, by Peggy Goodrich, The Neptune Museum, Historical Document, 1984. Footnote: 19
The Lenni-Lenape, by Linda Price, The Paterson Museum, New Jersey, 1979
Footnote: 20
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