For nearly a year, a group of Ramapough-Lunaape people have been fighting against a Tennessee Gas Pipeline expansion project that is proposed to go through the Ramapo Valley Reservation, and through what the tribe says is sacred land. Saturday, the Ramapough will join local activists to expand their fight.  

Anti-fracking activists from 350.org and the “Connect the Dots” environmental movement will host a four-mile hike and anti-fracking teach-in along the route of the proposed pipeline extension project.  

According to a release from 350.org, “this event in Mahwah is part of a worldwide day of action in hundreds of communities across the globe connecting the dots between climate impacts like extreme weather, global warming, and the causes of the climate crisis. The events will help explain that climate change is no longer a problem for the future, but an immediate crisis that is already affecting millions of people around the world.”  

The group also plans to take a photo of a large dot at the location that will be posted on 350,org, marking Mahwah on a map that connects climate activists across the globe.  

The hike is set to begin at 9 a.m. at 25 Bear Swamp Road.  

Leaders of the Ramapough-Lunaape Nation will then take over, at 12 noon, hosting a prayer rally, vigil, guest speakers, light entertainment and prayer. “We have chosen to hold this event now because the hour is critical for America. The destructive extraction of gas/oil resources from our Grand Mother Earth is almost complete. We hope this event will result in “An Awakening, an Occupation of the Spirit”, whereby each and every human concerned with the Earth and Future Generations will stand together as “One Voice”, accumulating the collective strength of millions,” Ramapough Chief Dwayne Perry said in a release on the event.  

The tribe said it hopes the rally will help put an end to “a long tragic history that drove a wedge between the Ramapough and the community at large.”  

The rally begins at 95 Halifax Road. Parking will be available in the field near the river. 

Read more about the proposed pipeline here.