NJSACC recognizes that the land now known as New Jersey has been home to the Lenape for over 14,000 years. The removal and forced displacement of Indigenous communities by European colonizers resulted in a historic diaspora. Some tribal nations, officially recognized by the state of New Jersey, maintain communities that still thrive in the state today. For federally-recognized tribal nations and First Nations located in other parts of North America, New Jersey and the greater mid-Atlantic region is an ancestral homeland. In addition, intertribal peoples and others who identify as Indigenous are a part of the rich cultural legacy of Native peoples in the state.

Text Credit: New Jersey Historical Commission | Photo Credit: Lenape: Wikipedia