Chief Wounded Bear was a panelist at the Tom Quick Inn meeting on June 25th. He wrote a letter to the Editor
of the Pike County Dispatch which was published on July 17, 2003 as TSUC Should Butt Out.
There are several inaccuracies in this letter.
Lori Strelecki is an employee of the Pike County Historical Society (PCHS). To this best of our knowledge, the
Milford Historical Society does not exist in our area.
There was only one descendent of Tom Quick at the meeting who voiced his opinion and not multiple descendents.
The Tri-State Unity Coalition is based in Pike County, PA and also serves the neighboring areas of Orange (NY)
and Sussex (NJ) counties. We are not based in or service Buffalo and Riverhead NY, Newark and Atlantic City NJ
or Philadelphia and Pittsburg PA.
Chief Wounded Bear’s account of Dr. Gasbarro’s conversation is also inaccurate. Dr. Gasbarro is the Chairperson
of the TSUC Board of Directors and he spoke with Tom Quick’s descendent but Chief Wounded Bear was not included
in that conversation. Dr. Gasbarro stated that TSUC is a non-profit group and donations were tax deductable. Dr.
Gasbarro also stated that we would help in the fight for the rights of any peoples and, in this case, for the Indians.
This is completely different than “offering tax-free money to fight the Indians” as Chief Wounded Bear stated.
Dr. Gasbarro was also misquoted by the Chief in saying that the Tom Quick Inn meeting “did not count”. Dr. Gasbarro
indicated that the Tom Quick Inn was not handicap accessible and therefore the meeting was not completely public.
Chief Wounded Bear referred to the credentials of those on the panel and then failed to identify the individual
on the panel with the Ph.D. Everyone else was mentioned by name except Dr. Sam Beeler, Director of the New Jersey
Indian Office and the leader of the Sand Hill Band of Delaware/Cherokee Indians - which includes Delaware and Cherokee
Indians in Pike County.
Chief Wounded Bear failed to mention his tribal roots which are Cree/Lakota ancestry (as reported by D. McElligott
in “Tom Quick Monument Discussed at Milford Meeting” on July 11, 2003 on tristatenews.com). It is the Delaware
Indians who are mentioned on the Tom Quick Monument - not the Cree/Lakota Indians - and any resolution to the monument
issue should include consent from appropriate representatives of the Delaware Indians.
TSUC was silent at the Tom Quick Inn meeting out of respect to allow others to have free and open input on the
matter. TSUC had voiced its opinion at its public meeting in May and a Milford Borough Council member was in attendance.
The framework for the TSUC proposal was discussed at the TSUC meeting in June. A resolution or plan for a resolution
was not proposed or announced at the PCHS's and Tom Quick Inn meeting on June 25, 2003. TSUC had completed its
proposal prior to the Tom Quick Inn meeting and the proposal was released on June 26, 2003 to the Council, media
and posted on our web site for full public consideration.
