Why is No One Speaking for Two Clouds??
Afro Indigenous (Black Indian), elected war chief of the Ramapough Lenape Indians of Mahwah, NJ, Muriyd ‘Two Clouds’ Williams was murdered less than 24 hours after returning from Massachusetts. He was there trying to solicit inter-tribal help from chiefs against another Indigenous man who came on Ramapough land issuing threats. The dangerous man had been harassing the tribe was years.
When Two Clouds’ body surfaced in a river four days later, Mahwah police (who had been publicly denounced as racists many times by Two Clouds) decided to do no investigation, and in fact, did not even assign a detective to look into the matter. Yet the tribal chief, clan chiefs, and tribal council have not spoken out publicly about the death nor have they demanded an investigation for their tribal member who was found on the very land which he secured for them. It has been nearly two years of silence.
Two Clouds had served the tribe as fire keeper, water protector, environmental advocate, spokesperson, liaison, secretary, council member, and at the time of his death, war chief. He single-handedly fought the town and won back dozens of acres of land for the Ramapough, and is the sole reason they now have tens of millions of dollars worth of assets where they virtually had none before him.
Yet nearly no one in the tribe nor the Indigenous community is speaking for him.
WHY??
Muriyd ‘Two Clouds’ was found dead July 6, 2022 on land that he himself secured for the Ramapough tribe because their tribal chief was on the verge of losing it to the neighboring polo club association. Two Clouds was missing an eye, one full ear, one half ear, his lips, and he was wearing no shoes nor the jewelry and hunting knife he was never seen without. The medical examiner confirmed that he died by drowning, but said that there was no evidence suicide, an accident nor a medical emergency had caused the drowning.
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Beyond Clouds is the organization founded to continue Muriyd ‘Two Clouds’ Williams’ work in human rights/Indigenous rights and education. The blog, YouTube channel, and TikTok will bring you up to speed on the heinous crime which stripped us of such a true leader, and what we’re doing to receive justice.
