State officials: Bushy Run staff must consult with Native groups before staging reenactments

If historic Bushy Run Battlefield Park intends to host future reenactments or programs portraying Native Americans, park management first will have to consult with appropriate Native groups.

That’s the policy of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, which oversees the Penn Township park. The commission says it also must approve of any such activities in writing.

Questions about Bushy Run’s reenactments arose when a man who lives in another state and is of Native American heritage contacted the state historical commission to say he considered portrayals of Native Americans by non-Native reenactors at the park to be disrespectful, according to Bonnie Ramus.

Ramus is president of the Bushy Run Battlefield Heritage Society, which operates the park. She said the complaint triggered a phone call from PHMC officials on the afternoon of Friday, Aug. 5, requesting that she cancel the Aug. 6-7 reenactment of a 1763 battle between Native Americans and British troops at the site.

Ramus told the Tribune-Review she declined to cancel the event, in large part because many reenactors already were camped at the park.

Howard Pollman, director of external affairs for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, didn’t reveal specifics of the reported complaint about Bushy Run reenactors.

But, he said, in a statement issued Friday, “Our colleagues who represent the sovereign tribal nations have expressed significant concerns about and objections to the Battle of Bushy Run reenactment.

“To continue this programming without evaluation and significant input from those tribes connected to the battle would go against the best practices and ethics of the public history field and would be a sign of disrespect to those who have voiced their opposition to this event.

“It also undermines the commonwealth’s efforts over the past two years to develop channels for communications and to establish trust with these sovereign nations.”

Pollman said the commission is concerned “not with the reenactment itself, but rather the lack of consultation with the groups whose stories are being told, in this case the federally recognized Native American tribes portrayed.”

He said the PHMC “has placed a moratorium on interpretation and events portraying Native Americans, unless the relevant federally recognized tribes have been consulted. We have been working to develop paths for collaboration with these tribes and will have them in place soon for PHMC employees and associate groups. Until then, such events, programming and other platforms of interpretation are temporarily restricted.”

Pollman said voices of Native Americans must be included in developing and presenting programs concerning their history “to break a centuries-long cycle of harm against tribal communities” while ensuring that the Native perspective is “centered and authentically represented.”

According to Pollman, any future Bushy Run reenactments involving Native American portrayals will require written authorization from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and consultation with federally recognized Native tribes.

“The management group at Bushy Run Battlefield is amenable to this direction and will consult with PHMC and the appropriate tribal representatives between now and next year’s Battle of Bushy Run reenactment to ensure that the Native American perspective is authentically portrayed,” he said.

Ramus said on Friday she could not comment on the PHMC’s statement.

She said during the Aug. 6 reenactment that the Bushy Run Battlefield Heritage Society is “willing to work with any Native American groups that want to come out here and show us if we’re doing things wrong, and to help us educate the people.”

Ramus also defended the event’s reenactors as committed historians who place an emphasis on accuracy and “are honoring the people who fought here.” She said about 1,600 people attended the two-day reenactment.

Miguel Sague Jr., a board member of the Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center in Pittsburgh, said the center has “never had a particular issue” with area reenactments, but he said he personally dislikes non-Natives portraying Native Americans at such events.

“I’m personally not too crazy about non-Indigenous people getting dressed up and getting face paint on and reenacting as Native Americans,” Sague said. “I really think, if you’re going to do an event like this and going to have a reenactment, then Native people should represent Native people.”

He said he would prefer that organizers of local reenactments consult with the Three Rivers center in advance. Though Sague traces his roots to the Taino people of Central America, he said the center has been acknowledged by regional Native nations as being representative of the Indigenous people of Western Pennsylvania.

Sague suggested those planning reenactments might try to recruit participants from communities of the Seneca Nation in neighboring New York state.

But, he said, “I can see their point of view. They might not be able to find enough (Native) people to fight a whole (simulated) battle.

“Native Americans are not into that kind of thing. We’ve evolved. We’re more interested in what we’re doing now.”

Sague also granted that many reenactors are meticulous about historical detail when outfitting themselves to portray Native Americans of the 18th century.

Some non-Native reenactors who took on Native American roles for the Bushy Run event said they based their portrayals on European settlers who had been adopted into Native tribes.

One reenactor told the Tribune-Review at least two others who have portrayed Native Americans at past Bushy Run events have Native roots, but those participants were unable to attend this year’s reenactment.

The 1763 battle at Bushy Run is considered part of Pontiac’s War, a pan-Native campaign that opposed British settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains.

That settlement was a violation of a treaty British officials signed in 1758, said Shawn MacIntyre, a former facilitator at the Bushy Run site who recently completed a master’s thesis exploring Pontiac’s War from a Native viewpoint.

According to MacIntyre, Native forces involved in Pontiac’s War included members of the Seneca, Cayuga and Lenape nations. Keekyuscung, a Lenape leader, was among Native Americans killed in the Bushy Run battle.