Lenape Tribe hopes to bring environmental jobs to Trenton

An Indian tribe that helped create Pennsylvania with William Penn in 1683 wants to return to the general area and develop some new jobs. The Native American Delaware Nation of Oklahoma has signed a memorandum of understanding to pursue economic development in Trenton.

By Phil Gregory

An Indian tribe that helped create Pennsylvania with William Penn in 1683 wants to return to the general area and develop some new jobs. The Native American Delaware Nation of Oklahoma has signed a memorandum of understanding to pursue economic development in Trenton.

Members of the Delaware Nation, also known as the Lenape, were among the first Native Americans to come into contact with European settlers. The tribe fled to Oklahoma in the early 1800’s.. They’re building solar panels and other ‘green’ technology in Oklahoma . Delaware Nation President Kerry Holton says they want to bring some of that technology to Trenton and create up to a thousand jobs.

Holton: Well, it’s our original homelands.  This is where we came from. We lived, we died here. We created opportunities here hundreds of years ago. We want to return and do the same thing.

Holton says the tribe has a casino in Oklahoma but has no plans to build one in the Trenton area. He says the tribe is lining up  investors interested in bringing the tribe’s green technology to New Jersey.