The mid Hudson Valley-based Association of
Native Americans wishes to confer a blessing on the land of the 7,000 acre
Stewart Buffer Lands, next to Stewart Airport in Orange County, N.Y. with the
hope that it will remain as it is and available to all people for all the
coming generations. On Saturday, June 15th, 2002, at 11:00 AM,
ANA members and their friends will gather in a solemn ceremony to plant a
symbolic white pine near one of the Buffer's many beautiful ponds. This
simple ceremony is to bless this rich and
threatened open space--with almost 1,600 acres of unprotected forests, ponds,
wetlands and meadows.
ANA is an
intertribal organization of people from many tribal nations: SUNY New
Paltz professors Heriberto Dixon (Tutelo-Saponi) and Gerald Kitzmann
(Menominee), Rev. Nick Miles (Pamonkey--of the Powhatan Confederacy),
Traditional Storyteller: Kay Olan (Mohawk), Donna Coane (Blackfoot-Mohawk),
Cherie Rowe (Cherokee), Henrietta Wise (Metis) and many others too numerous to
name here.
The Association of Native Americans was started in
the 70‘s, giving Native People in the area an opportunity to connect and
fellowship with one another. The drum of ANA--The Cloudbreaker Society--
provides their traditional songs and opportunities to dance.
All are invited to witness this event and we will be
joined by members of SPARC, an organization working since 1987 to
preserve these lands for habitat protection, wildlife, recreational uses, and
farming. Also joining us will be members of “The Original Instructions”
from Boughton Place in Highland, dedicated to bringing care of all land
into the focus of the people who live on it.
Regarding The Stewart Buffer Lands, Dr. Dixon said,
"We believe all land is sacred and should
be treated with reverence.”
Dr. Clare Danielsson, of Boughton Place’s Original
Instructions group, Ulster-Sullivan Mediation, and Mohonk Consultations,
concurs, adding: “People, Wildlife, Land,
Air and Water--we are all related. We need to remember all the manifestations
of life. We need to remember our original instructions which are as Mathew
King (Lakota elder) reminds us ‘To respect the Earth and to respect each
other, to respect ourselves, to respect Life itself. That’s our first
commandment.’ ”
Dr. Kitzmann continued..... “If we can save this
small piece of nature, we are saving a small piece of ourselves. We save this
for our children and for their children.”
Said SPARC President Sandra Kissam,
"
We are thrilled by this spiritual outpouring of love for the lands, that are
so close to our hearts and becoming special to more and more people every day.
Each visitor and user is struck by the richness and beauty, and the poignant
history of the And, of course, the original inhabitants were the Native
Americans who bring their cultural reverence for land to our struggle,
strengthening all of us."
Started in 1987, SPARC was able in 1999, with the
support of diverse coalition organizations, to persuade Governor Pataki to set
aside 5,200 acres as ‘state forest.’
With the help of such groups as New Paltz' AFFIRM,
the Atlantic Chapter of the Sierra Club, the Cragsmoor Association, and the
O.C. Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs, among many others, SPARC is fighting on
to save the remaining unprotected 1,600 acres, threatened with cargo-related
development such as warehouses and a 'truck-to-train'/intermodal
transportation site.
Most important, the Buffer Lands belong to New York
State now, providing irreplaceable wildlife habitat and needed recreation
opportunities for hunters, hikers, bikers, horse riders, fishermen, birders,
and many others. It was taken by the State in
1971 from farmers and homeowners under the laws of eminent domain.
Attendees will be able to drive in at the Ridge Road
entrance. Ridge Road is accessed by driving West from Newburgh on
17K
for approximately 4 & 1/2 miles to the traffic light in Coldenham. Turn
into Ridge Road. Signs will direct you to the site, located about two miles on
narrow internal roads from the Ridge Rd. entrance to the lands.
The
Stewart Buffer Lands are only about 10 minutes from Exit 17 on the NYS
Thruway.
Contacts: Henrietta Wise, ANA, (845) 657-6226
Sandra Kissam, SPARC, (845) 564-3018
