On August 31, 2022, President Cindy Jebb, on behalf of the College, formally recognized Chief Dwaine Perry of the Ramapo Munsee Lenape Nation and the entire Ramapo Munsee Lenape Nation (past and present) with the following acknowledgment:

On behalf of Ramapo College of New Jersey, we hereby acknowledge our presence on the traditional and ancestral land of the Ramapo Munsee Lenape peoples. In addition, we honor and pay respect to the contributions, courage, and sacrifices of the Ramapo Munsee Lenape people and their Ancestors. Consistent with our values of an open, inclusive and supportive community, it is our responsibility to acknowledge and honor Ramapo College’s relationship with the Ramapo Munsee Lenape peoples.

Further, we recommit our energies toward strengthening our partnership with the Nation by:

• Empowering our Nursing students, faculty, and others to help bring health care to local members of the Ramapo Munsee Lenape Nation;
• Continuing to enroll Nation members in the College’s Ramapo Munsee Lenape Nation Scholarship Program;
• Sharing campus resources with the Nation so that tribal members can more easily traverse the sacred ground located just off of Halifax Road and so that relationships with members of the broader Bergen County community can be forged;
• Cultivating environmental and service related projects to focus on the needs and the gifts of the Ramapo Pass and the Nation; and
• Engaging our students and scholars in research projects that serve to advance and preserve a digital history of the Nation and to heighten awareness and understanding of Native American sacrifices, experiences, and contributions across this country.

Following the acknowledgment, Chief Perry graciously offered the following blessing to the College community:

Kisheelumukweengw,
We ask for blessings upon President Cindy Jebb and upon Ramapo College as we walk together into the future of learning.

We ask THE wings of the eagle to lift our sounds INTO the GREAT MYSTERY THAT ALL MAY KNOW our needs.

WE ASK ALL TO have courage THAT our people MAY have UNITY and be protected from all darkness, may the Song Lines and the sacred hoops of the nations once again be KNOWN at this time! In this place!

Let us NOW walk together without fear.

Let us all walk in the unity of knowledge, the knowledge, WE HAD KNOWN BEFORE TIME!

The knowledge that will bring the light upon All AND MAY the glow from the BEACON BE that of RAMAPO COLLEGE.

Anushiik Anushiik Anushiik Eloongoomatit Anushiik

The Spirit of the Mountain Singers performed at Ramapo College in 2016 during the “Water is Life! From Standing Rock to Ramapough” program. Photo Credit: Lauren Kidd Ferguson

Ramapough Munsee Indigenous Partnership Task Force

During the 2021-22 academic year, and continuing into the summer of 2022, a task force comprised of Ramapo faculty, staff, and students gathered to research the history of the College and the land it sits on, to explore the College’s relationship with the Ramapo Munsee Lenape Nation, and to provide guidance on how Ramapo College may acknowledge that history and strengthen the relationship. The task force will continue to meet throughout the 2022-23 academic year. For more information on the Taskforce and/or how to become involved in the community partnerships with the Ramapo Munsee Lenape Nation, please email diversity@ramapo.edu.