Bushy Run Battlefield reenactment canceled amid new state guidelines

A new state policy may scuttle reenactments of the Battle of Bushy Run.

The battle was part of Pontiac’s War, a pan-Native campaign that opposed British settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains. The British routed members of the Seneca, Cayuga and Lenape nations on Aug. 5-6, 1763.

It has been reenacted at Bushy Run for decades, but new state guidelines may curtail the annual reenactment in Penn Township and similar events at other Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission sites. The guidelines go into effect May 1.

“It’s a ‘no-force-on-force’ policy, which means we can’t have two opposing sides shooting at one another,” said Bonnie Ramus, president of the Bushy Run Battlefield Heritage Society, which is responsible for the site’s day-to-day operations. “That’s what our battle is, and we’re the only recognized Native American battlefield in Pennsylvania — so taking that away from us really defeats our purpose.”

It also means the society will lose the centerpiece of the historical weekend held each summer and will have to make changes to what has been its most significant annual fundraiser. Ramus said money raised from more than 1,500 attendees makes up roughly 50% of the society’s annual budget.

“It will have a big impact on our fundraising,” Ramus said.

In 2021, the nonprofit society brought in $30,494 in total revenue. But expenses ran to more than $52,000, and the group ended the year with a nearly $22,000 deficit, according to tax information listed in ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer.

The society’s website states that members are exploring “regular and new events” to commemorate the conflict on Aug. 5-6. The society will host a meeting at 2 p.m. Sunday for staff, volunteers and community members at the museum, 1253 Bushy Run Road.

State museum commission spokesman Howard Pollman said the new guidelines were put in place by PHMC staff and were not discussed at public commission meetings.

“We were trying to find a way to work things out with Bushy Run, but when they made this decision to cancel as the policy was still pending, that was no longer an issue,” Pollman said.

The policy is similar to one used by the National Park Service.

“In the interests of public safety, education and respect for those who died in violent conflict, the agency was working toward adopting similar standards and practices for our sites,” commission officials said in a statement. “This modification would only limit force-on-force activities – reenactments in which individuals fire weapons at other individuals or engage in hand-to-hand combat. (The commission) would continue to permit reenactors to participate in other aspects of living history, including discussion of battles and tactics and historic weapons firing demonstrations.”

The battle reeanctment appeared to be in jeopardy last year when state officials told staff at the Bushy Run Battlefield that they would need to consult with the Native American nations being portrayed.

Ramus said she and other society members were surprised to hear about the new guidelines that further those restrictions.

“We were led to believe (last year) that the reason there were issues is that we had reenactors who were not Native American,” she said. “We’ve waited months to hear more about the policy, and we were trying to come up with an alternative. But it’s all in the planning stages at this point.”

Brian Harris of Harrison City is a member of Ourry’s Company, a group of reenactors who portray the 60th Royal American Regiment at the battlefield. Harris said the new guidelines make it impossible to show the type of living history that he and fellow reenactors work so hard to emulate effectively.

“My assumption is that the other route they were considering — consulting with Native American tribes, which reenactors are actually Native American, or who’s doing a good job of it — was going to be a little too messy,” Harris said. “Are we pretending? Yes. But history is very important to us. Most of us out there are amateur historians in some way. It’s a passion for us, and we want to do it as accurately as we can.”

Harris said Battle of Bushy Run reenactors reworked the way they present the battle last year “to highlight the tactics of the Native Americans.”

“We reduced things to one battle a day so the public could come talk to us,” he said. “We increased our programs, showing people around the camps. It’s fun and instructive.”

Pollman said state and Bushy Run Battlefield Heritage Society officials had been holding discussions over the past six months about updates to historical interpretation, events and programming.

The state commission “was surprised” when Bushy Run announced cancellation of the reenactment portion of the 260th anniversary event, according to a statement.

Historic sites that are not administered by the museum commission will not be affected by the policy. Fort Ligonier, for example, is privately owned by the Fort Ligonier Association and has staged battle reenactments from the French and Indian War over the years.

“We’ve tried to be very responsible and work with tribal nations on accurately portraying culture,” said Fort Ligonier spokesperson Julie Donovan. “We’re all about education, and we want to be sure that we’re presenting things correctly.”

Harris said the goal for reenactors at Bushy Run is exactly the same.

“At Bushy Run, a real battle was fought,” he said. “And we do have several actual Native Americans — I won’t say a large number — but it’s an all-volunteer adventure out there. And if you put these types of restrictions on people, a lot of it would never get done at all.”

While it appears the reenactment will no longer take place at Bushy Run, Harris isn’t necessarily ready to give it up.

“I’d add the caveat that it’s the end of the battle at Bushy Run Battlefield,” he said. “It’s certainly not our desire to take it off-site, but we will if we have to.”