Papscanee Island Nature Preserve. Photo Credit: www.andyarthur.org

RLT, the Open Space Institute, the Stockbridge-Munsee Community, and Rensselaer County have joined together to return a culturally important property on the Hudson River to indigenous ownership – and perpetual protection. In late April, the Open Space Institute conveyed ownership of the 156-acre Papscanee Island Nature Preserve to the Stockbridge-Munsee Community, while the Tribe simultaneously granted a conservation easement to RLT. Rensselaer County will maintain the preserve on behalf of the Tribe, which is now located in Wisconsin.

Located on the east bank of the Hudson River in East Greenbush and Schodack, the preserve features walking trails through floodplain wetlands and woodlands and is home to several endangered species. The land holds great cultural significance to the Stockbridge-Munsee Community, which is part of the Mohican Nation. The property is known to contain significant archaeological resources from the time when the Mohicans lived there and from later Euro-American periods. We look forward to working with the Tribe and Rensselaer County on joint programming at the preserve. For more information see the following:

• Open Space Institute's story map
• Open Space YouTube Piece
• Media Clip: WAMC
• Media Clip: Times Union
• Media Clip: Indian Country Today

For indigenous peoples, ancestral land holds meaning beyond ownership. Papscanee Island is part of our homeland, and it’s interwoven into who we are. All of our songs and our stories and our language derive from our homeland and allow us to be closely connected to our ancestors’.
     - Shannon Holsey, Stockbridge-Munsee Community President.