History
Areas noted along the Ramapo River were inhabited by bands of the Lenape tribe, a large group who inhabited much of the coastal areas of the mid-Atlantic region. Some of their people retreated to the mountains under pressure from Dutch and English colonists. The Lenape occupied western Long Island, the areas of present-day metropolitan New York, northern and southern New Jersey and the Delaware River Valley, south through Pennsylvania into Delaware.
Many smaller archeological sites in Oakland, New Jersey have been found to have been inhabited by prehistoric indigenous peoples. Areas of Oakland also contain many areas where fossilized crustaceans can be found along the banks of the river.
Descendants of the Lenape include the Ramapough Lenape Indian Tribe (also known as the Ramapough Mountain Indians, recognized in 1980 by the state of New Jersey. Many have lived in Mahwah and Ringwood, New Jersey and Hillburn, New York since the late colonial period. They also intermarried with people of other ethnicities.
Read more about this topic: Ramapo River
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