A Return to a Sacred Place

June 4, 2007

Author: Ed Moorhouse

Source: Burlington County Times

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/112-06042007-1357287.html

BURLINGTON CITY — Burlington Island was once a place where Indian tribes native to Burlington City held meetings and performed religious ceremonies.

Yesterday, the island was used for that purpose for the first time in 200 years, according to Danawa Buchanan, the founder of the New Jersey American Indian Alliance.

The city's Board of Island Managers agreed last month to let the group use the island, and yesterday, a group of seven American Indians performed an ancient religious ceremony on the island.

American Indians from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware were invited to participate in the Native American Tidewater Council on the island in honor of the traditional religious ceremonies performed there years ago, said Buchanan, who lives in Merchantville, Pa.