Indian Mills, New Jersey

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Indian Mills, New Jersey

Indian Mills is an unincorporated community in Shamong Township, Burlington County. It was once called Brotherton and was the site of the Brotherton Indian Reservation—the first Native American reservation in New Jersey and the first in America—set up for the Lenape people who lived in Washington Valley. Before it became a reservation, the town was an industrial place with gristmills and sawmills. It has also been called Edgepillock or Edgepelick.

In the 1700s, tensions grew between white settlers and the Munsee Lenape. In 1756, colonial officials tried to resolve disputes, and in 1757 a plan was made to relocate about 200 Lenape. In 1780 Lenape leaders issued a treaty opposing the sale or leasing of their lands to whites and calling for peaceful relations with their neighbors.

In 1796 the Oneidas of Stockbridge invited Brotherton Lenape to join their reservation. Most Lenape initially refused in 1798, but by 1801 many agreed to relocate to New Stockbridge, New York. A few stayed behind and blended with settlers. In 1822 the remaining Lenape were displaced again, traveling to Green Bay, Wisconsin.