Ramapough Lenape chief: We're being targeted

MAHWAH — Ramapough Lenape Chief Dwaine Perry claims the tribe is being unfairly targeted after receiving court summonses for allegedly building tepees without permission.

A small colony of tents and tepees sit on a serene plot of land the tribe owns along the Ramapo River. The tribe built them months ago in protest of an oil pipeline that is expected to run through northern New Jersey, including Mahwah, and also to show solidarity with Native Americans in North Dakota challenging a similar project through the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

The township says the tribe violated zoning law by not seeking a permit to build on land deemed a conservation and flood zone. The tribe was also cited for allegedly moving soil without permission. A court date is set for Jan. 26.

MAHWAH: Ramapoughs accused of putting up tepees without permits

But Perry argues that the tents are benign and temporary.

“If someone puts up tepees for a birthday party, [the township] would probably say, ‘Isn’t that charming.' There’s a difference in the law for us,” Perry said.

Legal counsel for the tribe called the township’s action a “classic case of selective enforcement." Joel Kupferman, an attorney with the New York Environmental Law & andJustice Project, said there is leeway in the law for structures that are not damaging to the property or do not exacerbate flooding.

Mayor Bill Laforet called the summonses justified. The tribe was given multiple chances to seek zoning permits for the tepees but declined, he said.

“They’re operating campground, in our mind, that is not allowed in that zone,” he said. “We are treating this situation as we would any resident in the township.”

Sacred space 

The land, which consists of approximately 14 acres, is a sacred space for prayer and reflection for the Ramapoughs, whose numbers include about 3,700 locally and an additional 1,200 nationally, according to Perry. Many descend on the land for open-air prayer, a tradition of Native Americans in the Western hemisphere.

To celebrate the solstices, the tribe hosts large gatherings that have drawn the ire of The Polo Club, a nearby private community.

“Almost inevitably, after every gathering there’s a complaint,” Perry said. “To me it looks like they’re trying to abridge our right to freedom of religion.”

Paul Scian, president of The Polo Club Homeowners Association, said the neighborhood’s builder donated the property to the tribe in the 1990s because the land could not be developed.

“We are concerned that the tribe is constructing in the flood plain,” he said. “We respect the right to protest, but you have to follow the same rules as everyone else.”

Police visits have become more frequent ever since the tepees went up three months ago, Perry said.

Police Chief James Batelli said the department has received calls regarding the tepees,  teepeesbut enforcement of the town's zoning laws is outside its jurisdiction. Officers have made observations of the site and passed information to the zoning department.

“It’s handled consistently with any other type of complaint,” Batelli said.

When parking and noise complaints have been made about the property, the tribe has been cooperative, Batelli said.

“I think we’ve been impartial and fair, whether we’re dealing with the tribe or the homeowners,” the police chief said.

A November letter from the township to the tribe cautioned against using the property as a campground or place of assembly, which would violate zoning code.

Perry said tribe members sometimes stay overnight to guard against vandalism and theft.

Inspectors from the state Department of Environmental Protection conducted a walk-through of the site this month. The township is currently awaiting their response on whether the tepees comply with the state’s flood hazard laws. If they do not, the agency will issue a violation letter, spokesman Lawrence Hajna has said.

Not all neighbors have been critical of the tribe.

Ramsey resident Christina Scott spotted the tepees  during one of her morning walks through the Mahwah trails. She said she had followed the Dakota Access Pipeline situation intently, and supported the Ramapough’s stance against a similar project in New Jersey.

“When I found out something similar was happening in my own back yard, I wanted to help,” Scott said.

She and her family recently donated shopping bags of food and other supplies to the tribe.

Pilgrim Pipeline, a Connecticut-based startup, has proposed building a 178-mile dual pipeline system from Albany, N.Y., to Linden that would transport an estimated 16.8 million gallons of crude oil south and refined product north daily. Its projected route would traverse some 30 New Jersey municipalities, including Mahwah.

Chief among the Ramapough’s concerns is the potential for an oil spill that they say could wreak environmental havoc on the region and its water aquifers.

“If it has even a minor spill, it’s going to destroy the water table for everyone in Bergen and half of Rockland,” Perry said.

Pilgrim representatives did not return calls for comment.

Despite the legal troubles, the tribe is not backing down. Perry envisions that the tepees will remain standing for the foreseeable future.

“Why should we have to move them?” he said.

Email: nobile@northjersey.com