Alyssa Biederman Published 3:11 p.m. ET July 20, 2020 | Updated 3:18 p.m. ET July 20, 2020

South Jersey Indian Representative Harvey Blue Wolf speaks about Burlington Island on Monday, July 13, 2020. Cherry Hill Courier-Post

BURLINGTON When Harvey Blue Wolf visits Burlington Island, he sees spirits.

The island has a long history of use by native people such as the Lenni Lenape, who likely used the island for hunting and fishing in the 17th century. Blue Wolf, a descendant of the Lenni Lenape, believes it may have also served as a burial ground for his ancestors.

Thats our ancestors, thats our heritage, Blue Wolf said.

When Blue Wolf steps onto the island, located in the Delaware River between Burlington City and Bristol, Pennsylvania, he thanks the creator for allowing him to visit and performs a quiet ceremony thanking his ancestors, Mother Earth, and Father Sky.

The Board of Island Managers, which oversees most of the 300-acre island, has invited leaders from five native groups to perform ceremonies on the island.

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As soon as a tribal leader gets on the island, they'll say, Over that way, there's a burial ground, said Island Manager Don Rhineheart. It makes my hair stand on end.

Rhineheart said if there were a burial ground located on the island, it would be impossible to recover the remains.

Unfortunately, we are sure the burial ground is underneath 800,000 cubic yards of crushed oils, he said. There's nothing we can do about it.

Its possible theres some truth to this a news article from 1901 reports a man revealing two skeletons but no formal excavation has been done to confirm the location of a formal burial ground.

There have been human remains uncovered, as there have around the entire area, said Meredith Luze, an expert at the Peabody Museum at Harvard University. It's not uncommon to find burials, but I don't know if there have been any studies of concentrations of burials that would indicate a designated burial area on Burlington Island. That doesn't mean that there weren't, but I don't know of any.

A nesting osprey just off Burlington Island, located in the Delaware River between Pennsylvania and New Jersey on Monday, July 13, 2020.(Photo: Adam Monacelli/Courier-Post)

The Peabody Museum at Harvard University and the Penn Museum at the University of Pennsylvania house groups of Lenni Lenape artifacts collected on Burlington Island in the late 17th century by New Jersey archaeologist Charles C. Abbott. These objects show the island may have been used for hunting, fishing and gathering, as well as trading with Dutch settlers who set up a post in the mid-1600s.

Abbott also claims to have found the bodies of two Dutchmen who were killed by natives on the island in New Jerseys first reported murder.

Abbott, who died in Bristol in 1919, was known for romanticizing stories of natives and settlers, so information from him isnt always trustworthy, Luze said.

Nobody knows everything about what went on there, Blue Wolf said. Things got lost and now you go back and you try to piece these things together, which is kind of why I fall to religion.

In Burlington Islands thousands of years long history, its been used as an amusement park, a summer retreat and an Army Corps dumping ground.

Currently, the island is in a state of limbo and is not legally accessible to the public. Last summer, the Board of Island Managers and United by Blue teamed up to remove trash and debris from the island and the board began maintaining about three miles of trails.

Old pilings can be seen at the waters edge of Burlington Island in South Jersey on Monday, July 13, 2020.(Photo: Adam Monacelli/Courier-Post)

The conversation about what to do with the abandoned island is still ongoing. Some leaders want to develop the island as a summer camp or build a museum.

For Blue Wolf, who has been working with the Board of Island Managers for more than 15 years, natural preservation of the island is key. He advocates for it to be used as a place to teach the public about the areas native history.

When you talk about Indians you talk about similar but different, he said. People think all Indians use drums or all Indians use feathers. Weve been so mythologized and for me, culturally and religiously, we do have some claim to the island.

The Lenni Lenape called the island Matinicunk, which translates to Island of the Pines. Right now, three generations of eagles live on the island, in an area that has been roped off by the Board of Island Managers. Blue Wolf said eagles are sacred in the Native American religion he follows.

Blue Wolf said hes afraid the spirits he sees in the woods will retaliate if they are disturbed by more dumping or construction. He has received some pushback after presenting his ideas, something he attributes to stereotypes that people have of Native Americans, like having crazy beliefs or always wanting to take over land.

There's a kind of sadness on the island, he said. I think the sadness comes not so much in the history of the island but the fact that theres so much resistance. After a while you're just beating your head against the wall.

The sense of pride would come if something is accomplished, he said. The darn sad thing is the state that the islands in.

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Burlington Island may be home to a Native American burial ground - Vineland Daily Journal