“We make Waqf the 1876 blocks of granite, brick, and sandstone, which constitute Fort Tompkins at Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island, and the land on which the fort sits. Any and all salvaged materials from the site of Fort Tompkins carry their Waqf through their repurpose and movement.”
Staten Island is unceded land of the Lenape. The continued use of Fort Wadsworth as a “National Park” is predicated on the dispossession and displacement of Indigenous peoples. The enduring presence and territorial claim of Indigenous peoples on this land is indisputable.
The American Indian Monument of Staten Island - planned for the site of Fort Tompkins - was conceived to commemorate a “dying race”. A seemingly well-intentioned project, albeit misguided and harmful to Indigenous people. A people who have been, and continue to be, living. This Waqf seeks to disable any opportunity for this project to be realized, by dismantling the base on which it was meant to sit, and returning the land to its rightful stewards.
The disassembled fort material will remain under the care and guardianship of the Ramapough Culture and Land Foundation. Their team (compensated using the waqf assets) will operate the processing facility, so that anytime a material needs to be repurposed (i.e. a new building program is required), it will be disassembled, than documented, tagged, cut, or shaped as necessary at the Fort.
(Title references Lucia Allais’ chapter, from Designs of Destruction.)
