Arthurship Attributed to You Are On Indigenous Land: southjerseyQuakers Chapter
You Are On Indigenous Land: southjerseyQuakers met at the Bridgeton Public Library and virtually. After a round-table chat, those physically present visited a museum and Turtle Trading Post, headquarters for the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation. Moved by our experience, a story of connection rose; we are on indigenous land, like you, You Are On Indigenous Land.
What were you doing when you were around 10 years old; what might you be doing when you become 10 years old?
As a ten-year-old, George J. Woodruff found his first arrowhead in a field on their family farm in Cumberland County, NJ. George continued collecting Lenape antiquities throughout his life and kept a record of each piece, noting the date, site, and sequential identification number. This lifelong hobby culminated in 30,000 artifacts from within a thirty-mile radius of the farm. George’s friend and artist, Howard Radcliffe, pieced and glued together the pottery shards.
George kept his findings at home for decades. In 1976 the collection became known as the George J. Woodruff Museum of Indian Artifacts, held in trust by the Bridgeton Public Library, 150 E. Commerce St., Bridgeton, NJ, where volunteers of the BPL steward and share these keepsakes. We read from the obituary of Jon “Alan” Woodruff that contributions in Alan’s honor may be made toward construction of a permanent home for his father’s collection. Construction is underway toward building a new museum, bringing together two collections – the Woodruff Museum and Prehistorical Museum – evidencing historic Lenape lifeways.
The Cohansey River flows through Bridgeton, beyond Greenwich to the Delaware River, a regional homeland of Cohansey Lenape People. Just as 10-year-old George’s keepsakes remain, so are the relatives of the keepsake-makers, still here, no longer hiding in plain sight. Today, self-ascribing as citizens of the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation, headquartered in Bridgeton – 18 E. Commerce St. We meet and hear what is of importance to our friends and neighbors and observe cultural resilience. From an era long, long ago, their families remain, true treasures within community.
YOU ARE ON INDIGENOUS LAND – toward reconciling brokenness
Warren Cann Woodruff (1870 – 1944) Deerfield, Cumberland Co, NJ
George J. Woodruff (1905-1969) Bridgeton, Cumberland Co, NJ
Jon “Alan” Woodruff (1935-2023) Upper Deerfield Twp., Cumberland Co, NJ
sandra boone Murphy (___- present) Hamilton Twp., Atlantic Co., NJ
You Are On Indigenous Land: southjerseyQuakers Chapter is seeking Jersey based
f/Friends.
Email: SacredWovenWord@yahoo.com or call our landline: (609)732-0576
-sandra boone Murphy, Salem Quarter
