Mapping the Ramapough Munsee Lenape Nation

The Ramapough Munsee Lenape live within greater Lenapehoking, the ancestral homelands of the Lenape people. For thousands of years, the Lenape people lived within these homelands, which stretched from Mahicannituck ("The River That Runs Both Ways," known to outsiders as the Hudson River), to the shores of Poutaxat ("Near the Falls," known to outsiders as Delaware Bay). The Lenape people were subdivided into three major language and culture groups: the Munsee, Unalachtigo, and Unami.

Signs of the Munsee Lenapes' relationship to their homelands are all around us, hidden in plain sight. Take a look at the map to find some of the place names that derive from Munsee words. Maybe there's one near you!

In the seventeenth century, Dutch and then English settlers entered Lenapehoking. The newcomers brought novel goods and potential for alliances, but they also upset the delicate balance of power between Native nations and brought epidemic diseases like smallpox. As the settlers' numbers swelled, they began to push the Lenape out of Lenapehoking.

As other Lenape peoples were forced to leave by treaty and war, the Ramapough remained within their mountain homelands. They incorporated new groups into their community, including remnants of other Native nations, Afro-Dutch settlers, and various groups of Europeans. They were baptized in Dutch Reform churches and took Dutch names. They made their living using a combination of traditional techniques—basket making, hunting, and stripping bark from trees—and wage work. They endured land loss, pollution from mining and manufacturing companies, and racial discrimination. But they never left. Today, the Ramapough continue to be "keepers of the pass" in the mountains within Lenapehoking.

The following map highlights historically and culturally significant sites in the Ramapough heartland, which encompasses the modern-day communities of Hillburn, NY; Mahwah, NJ; and Ringwood, NJ. The green and yellow diamonds mark Ramapough sites, while the gray circles outline approximate historic regions of the Lenape peoples. Ramapo College students researched each site and wrote brief captions with source credits. The approximate territorial outlines were created from data from  Native Land Digital  ( CC0 ).

To see Ramapough sites without state or national borders or place labels, click on the square map icon in the bottom left corner of the map.

This version of the map represents only a small fraction of Ramapough knowledge. Future iterations will incorporate additional locations, images, and stories.