Thursday, October 28, 2021

PA Parks & Forests Foundation Fall Newsletter Features Native Peoples, Paths, Places In State Parks & Forests

The
Fall 2021 Penn's Stewards newsletter from the PA Parks and Forests Foundation features an article by Angie Jaillet-Wentling and Ashley Barry from DCNR's Bureau of State Parks-- Paths, Like People, Persist-- on Native Peoples, Paths and Places in Pennsylvania's State Parks and Forests.

"Pennsylvania's parks and forests are brimming with cultural and historic resources that help tell the stories of past people. But not all stories are told.

“With archaeologists identifying at least 20,000 years of human occupation in Pennsylvania, we have yet to scratch the surface of the stories to tell." 

"Prior to, during, and after European contact, Native peoples lived here. Native Americans are our neighbors and friends, continuing to contribute to communities across the Commonwealth. 

"Of the many peoples that were known to have lived here, many more preceded them. Federally-recognized Tribes and Nations that have ancestral ties to Pennsylvania include, but are not limited to, the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, the Cayuga Nation, the Delaware Nation, the Delaware Tribe of Oklahoma, the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, the Oneida Indian Nation, the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, the Onondaga Indian Nation, the Pamunkey Indian Tribe, the Seneca Nation of Indians, the SenecaCayuga Tribe of Oklahoma, the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, the Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, the Stockbridge-Munsee Community of Mohican Indians of Wisconsin, the Tonawanda Seneca Nation, and the Tuscarora Nation.

"Broken treaties, policies of forced removal, and warfare treated Indigenous People as refugees in their own land, but Native Americans persist, as do their paths and places."

"Knowing that Native peoples were living on the lands on what is now the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, leads you to the next questions. 

“If past Native people (who) were living (what) on our lands for nearly 20,000 years (when), then where can we still see vestiges and why? In short, anywhere you look in our state parks and forests, you are bound to find paths and place names that help speak to where Native peoples lived. Place names can often be telling as to why."

The article goes on to describe native paths and places in State Parks and Forests.

Click Here to read the entire article.

Much More Info

The newsletter has lots more information on legislation affecting State Parks and Forest, an update on Friends-group activities, the 2022 Awards Program, the Penn's Parks for All Plan, Apps as tools for planning hikes and visits, the PA Forest Action Plan and much more.

Click Here to read the entire newsletter.

For more information on programs, initiatives, special events and how you can get involved, visit the PA Parks & Forests Foundation website.  Click Here to sign up for regular updates from the Foundation,  Like them on Facebook or Follow them on Twitter or tune in to their YouTube ChannelClick Here to become a member of the Foundation.

The Foundation and their 46 chapters mobilize 65,000 volunteers annually to steward YOUR state parks and forests.

[Posted: October 28, 2021]  PA Environment Digest

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