MAHWAH, NJ – The Ramapough Lenape Nation claims that township officials are preventing the indigenous people from expressing their religious beliefs at a prayer site it established in October 2016.
The site has tepees, tents and other structures the Ramapoughs erected, all of which the town claims violate local zoning laws.
“If Mahwah is allowed to outlaw prayer here, then the first amendment of the Constitution is dead and prayer can be outlawed everywhere,” said Chief Dwaine Perry of the Ramapough Lenape Nation.
The Ramapoughs will present their case Tuesday at 9 a.m. The town presented its case Oct. 3 and then rested.