Exchanging wampum in a gesture of reconciliation, members of New York's oldest church apologized Friday to Native Americans for their suffering that began 400 years ago.
"We consumed your resources, dehumanized your people and disregarded your culture," the Rev. Robert Chase, a minister in the Collegiate Church, told representatives of the Lenape tribe at a "healing" ceremony at Bowling Green.
"We express sorrow for our part in these actions," he said.
The ceremony, marking Native American Heritage Day, brought tribe members together with congregants of the Collegiate Church, formerly the First Dutch Reform Church.
"I had to dig deep in my heart and ask, can I truly forgive?" said Lenape elder Carmen McKosato Ketcher, her voice shaking.
"Yes, we forgive you," she added. "But don't forget, we are alive and well."