63 acres returned to Native Americans in rural South Jersey as a preserve

Tyrese “Ty” Gould Jacinto walked a trail at the edge of an oak and pitch pine forest off Gravelly Hill Road in rural Salem County, saying there’s an energy to the land she finds difficult to put into words. The woods are surrounded by hundreds of acres of more woods and miles of gentle farmland.

“Everybody feels things here,” Jacinto said during a tour of the property Tuesday. “Don’t you feel it?”

Jacinto, president and CEO of the nonprofit Native American Advancement Corp (NAAC), was referring to a 63-acre parcel complete with a church building that her group just acquired to transform into an educational center, museum, and environmental preserve open to the public, complete with hiking trails.

It was part of a decade-long quest to find a more expansive location for the NAAC, which has its headquarters in Bridgeton, Cumberland County. It’s a rare reclamation of land by a Native American group in New Jersey.

The new Cohanzick Nature Reserve in Quinton Township, Salem County, is named after an ancient Native American tribe that once made its home in the area of what they called the Cohanzick River, a tributary of the Delaware Bay in an area of rich soil, deep forests, abundant wildlife, and fish. The 30-mile river was called the Cohansey by colonists and the name stuck.

Jacinto said she really doesn’t believe in lingering spirits. “But I know energy cannot be destroyed nor created, right? And sometimes the energy remains. My husband put it in context. He said, ‘You know, you had births here. You had people living, dying, and tragedies. You had blood spilled.’ He said that energy is still there.”

Jacinto is a member of the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Nation, an officially recognized state tribe. The Cohanzicks are ancestors of the Nanticoke and Lenape tribes, which all fall under the Algonquin language group.

Her father, Mark “Quiet Hawk” Gould, 81, was chief of the tribe for 45 years.

“It’s like coming home,” Gould said, noting his great-grandparents once lived nearby. “I don’t know how to explain it. It’s a good feeling.”

The two are planning a private blessing of the land sometime soon.

The reserve lies in an area known as Burden Hill, a complex of forests covering 16,400 acres in Salem and Cumberland Counties. Thousands of acres of land nearby are already preserved and serve as an important habitat for birds such as bald eagles, red-shouldered hawks, barred owls, Cooper’s hawks, red-headed woodpeckers, and 32 species of warblers.

White-tailed deer, coyote red fox, gray fox, river otter, and black bear make their home there, with some anecdotal evidence of state-endangered bobcats, according to the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, which owns the Burden Hill Preserve that adjoins the Cohanzick Nature Reserve.

The New Jersey Conservation Foundation was instrumental in helping the NAAC acquire the property from the South Carolina-based Morningstar Fellowship Church on Aug. 15 for $820,000.

The state Department of Environmental Protection contributed $410,000 toward the purchase through its Green Acres program to preserve the property “for recreation and conservation purposes.” The Nature Conservancy contributed $370,000. The New Jersey Conservation Foundation, NAAC, and Natural Lands came up with the balance. The Open Space Institute as well as Natural Lands, a nonprofit based in Pennsylvania, assisted by helping connect partners and contributing funding for other costs.

After purchasing the property from the church, the New Jersey Conservation Foundation deeded the land to the NAAC for $1. Because state money was used, the preserve must be open to the public. But the NAAC’s plans still need township approval, and trails need to be cleared, designed and clearly marked.

“Green Acres takes great pride in its contribution toward this significant acquisition,” said Elizabeth Dragon, a DEP assistant commissioner.

Rob Ferber, who led the project for the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, praised Jacinto and the NAAC. “This group doesn’t just serve the Native American community that they’re a part of,” he said. “They work with a much larger community.”

The NAAC works to advance Native American interests, promote self-sufficiency, and preserve the culture. It focuses on charitable, educational, and service-oriented programs. It provides employment training, financial literacy, and fosters home ownership. Other services include weatherization for homes of low-income families, replacing heating units, connecting people to fuel and water rebate programs, and working with the state to identify households with lead paint exposure.

Jacinto, a real estate agent, children’s’ book author and entrepreneur, said she teaches people financial literacy with a goal of home ownership.

The reserve will give her a chance to expand the NAAC’s educational reach, she said. She already has a booklet of plans ready to go once they receive township approval.

While touring the church’s spacious interior, Jacinto said the group plans to launch Indigenous conservation education programs that will allow the general public, including schoolchildren, to learn about native peoples through hands-on experiences, workshops, and tours. The hope is to foster a sense of environmental stewardship through programs designed to teach about native plants and their uses.

The church, complete with a full kitchen, has been vacant for a few years. But it is relatively new with a row of offices that could serve as a welcome area, educational space, research area, conference room, and library of historical books. She is working with Down Jersey Folklife Center at Wheaton Arts in Millville to create displays for the museum.

But Jacinto said she’s hoping for donations from people, businesses, and organizations for planned initiatives.

“It’s exciting to think of the schools that will be able to come here and take tours,” Jacinto said. “They won’t have to drive an hour or two to another reserve to learn some indigenous language. We’ll show them how we still live. We want to teach the new generation to be more cognizant of conserving, and you know, what it means to not plant invasive species bushes on purpose, and that you create a force with your landscaping.”