Increased turnout expected for Bushy Run reenactment

Although it was in jeopardy of not happening, the Bushy Run Battlefield Historical Society anticipates an increased turnout at this year’s reenactment, set for Aug. 5 and 6.

Reenactors portraying Native Americans at the event will have additional procedures to follow this year, a conciliation to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. The panel earlier this year prohibited the event, citing concerns about “force on force” reenactment and participation by non-Native Americans.

The event typically draws about 2,000 people to the park every year, said Bushy Run Battlefield Historical Society President Bonnie Ramus. The group’s largest annual fundraiser, the event portrays the 1763 battle between the British and Native Americans during Pontiac’s War at the battlefield site in Penn Township.

She anticipates a turnout closer to 3,000 for the battle’s 260th anniversary.

“I think everyone will be pleased,” Ramus said.

Bushy Run museum manager Matt Adams said there are about 65 reenactors registered for the event. He said Bushy Run is “feeling positive” about the future of the reenactment after conversations with the state commission.

In January, the historical society canceled the reenactment amid new guidelines from the commission prohibiting a “force on force” reenactment at all Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission sites. The policy, which was adopted from the National Park Service, deems such reenactments “disrespectful.”

Leading up to the 2022 reenactment, the commission expressed additional concerns regarding the portrayal of Native Americans by non-Native individuals. The panel advised Ramus to cancel the event, but the reenactment proceeded as usual.

The commission did an about-face in March after about 20 Bushy Run Battlefield Heritage Society volunteers and supporters journeyed three hours to Harrisburg to plead their case.

Bushy Run is allowed to host the 2023 reenactment in its typical fashion as long as it remains “fully responsible for any problems that might occur,” said Howard Pollman, the commission’s director of external affairs.

Pollman said those portraying Native Americans are required to consult with members of the relevant tribes to ensure historical accuracy in dress, gear, lodging and practice. The commission also is drafting guidelines for reenactment sites to follow in the future. The first draft was shared at the panel’s Living History Safety Committee meeting June 29.

Although he would prefer not to see non-Native individuals portraying Native Americans in reenactments, Miguel Sague Jr. said he understands “both sides of the problem.”

“(Reenactors) are very committed to doing this,” said Sague, a board member for the Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center. “Most of them sit there with a needle and thread and put (their regalia and costumes) together themselves. You have to be a very committed person to be one of these reenactors. … They research very carefully.

“If you are going to replace these, essentially White people, with Native Americans, where are you going to find Native Americans that are as committed to this? Most Native Americans are not involved in the reenactments. They’ve got other interests.”

In Sague’s experience, most Native Americans choose to educate others about their culture in more modern ways. Reenactors, on the other hand, feel a responsibility to portray themselves in 1700s attire to maintain historical accuracy.

“Most Native Americans don’t want to be perceived as museum pieces, something that’s frozen in time. We want people to understand that we are living. We are living communities, we have evolved and we look different. We dress differently now than we did back then,” said Sague, a member of the Taíno tribe. “I don’t blame (the reenactors for it), but they (want) to look the way Native Americans looked back then. Not just (with the) Native American (portrayals), but also the British officers, the French officers.”

Sague took no offense to the “force on force” style of reenactment.

“That was a very violent time, and it’s a very violent period of history,” he said. “If you’re going to represent it accurately, you’ve got to represent it the way it happened, which is people shooting at each other.”

‘Trophy coats’ excluded

Lee Kitchener, a reenactor who has portrayed a Delaware Indian at the Bushy Run event for about 20 years, said Leon Briggs, of the Seneca Nation, has not expressed many concerns regarding the reenactors’ portrayals.

Briggs has overseen the Bushy Run Native American reenactors’ preparations for the 2023 reenactment. He could not be reached for comment.

The reenactors were asked to “tone down” certain elements, Kitchener said.

Kitchener said Briggs advised the reenactors not to include “trophy coats” in their displays. Although there is historical documentation suggesting that some Native Americans kept the coats of British soldiers after a battle, Briggs told the reenactors to avoid them since they were not kept by all Native Americans.

“We try hard every year,” Kitchener said, “but this year, we are trying harder because we know we are going to be under the microscope of a lot of groups this year.”