A new living shoreline will protect a land that is sacred to the Nanticoke.
By Ken Mammarella
Photos by Lisa Swanger
The boat ride from Rehoboth Beach to Thompson Island began with two rituals.
“We did a traditional blessing,” says Bonnie Hall, “and we did smudging,” a burning of sage and tobacco in clamshells “to purify our spirits, join us in unity, and promote balance and harmony.”
Hall was among about 40 people who visited Thompson Island in mid-June as part of an event to engage members of the Nanticoke tribe in an effort to prevent strong waves and rising seas from destroying its habitats and its cultural significance. For most, it was a deeply profound experience.
“Thompson Island’s rich history resonates deeply with our tribe,” says Chief Avery Penaahtowet, who is also known as Leaving Tracks. “It’s a place of reverence where our ancestors hunted, fished and lived. It’s a mystical place with views of the bay that captivated us and brought me within the whispers of our ancestors, a sacred burial ground that must be preserved for eternity.”
It’s also a place whose bluffs have eroded almost a foot per year for decades.
New Life for a Troubled Shoreline
At the head of Rehoboth Bay, Thompson Island can easily be seen from the Lewes & Rehoboth Canal, which forms its western edge. It can also be seen from an overlook in the nearby Thompson Island Preserve, which is only a mile west of the bustle of the Coastal Highway and Dewey Beach, where it is visible from Sunset Park.
The land is at most 15 feet above sea level. For decades its soil has been washing away, causing large trees to topple regularly. Erosion and rising sea levels also threaten brackish and freshwater marshes and other habitats that are critical for horseshoe crabs, ospreys, terrapins, and endangered, rare or threatened species.
To slow the erosion, the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays plans to develop a living shoreline, which uses natural materials such as coir logs, oyster shells, and native plants to stabilize the shores. The multiyear project will start this fall with the construction of a concrete reef 60 feet to 80 feet offshore. The reef is intended to absorb the impact of wind-driven waves, especially during intense storms.
Since 2015, the center has created six other living shorelines around the inland bays, which help define the geography of Sussex County. “Each living shoreline is different, depending on the individual site,” says
Bob Collins, the center’s manager for programs and facilities and the leader of the project.
The Thompson Island project will also include the restoration of 3.25 acres of tidal marsh, which will promote oyster and fish habitat, and enhance the edge of Lewes-Rehoboth Canal. Living shorelines can last 25 years or more, and they grow more resilient over time.
The first phase starts this fall with the installation of specialized concrete blocks, as high as 5 feet, off the southern shore. The blocks are perforated with large holes that absorb the force of waves, unlike solid seawalls that redirect the energy of the waves. The resulting reduction in energy is called wave attenuation.
The center has several goals for the living shoreline, including improving water quality in the bay, stabilizing the shoreline, reducing sediment and nutrients flowing into the bay, providing resilience to storms and sea-level rise, enhancing habits, reducing access by water and serving as a demonstration site for the concept.
A later stage will involve submerging oyster shells bagged in netting, “making a sack similar to a sandbag,” Collins says. The shells are hoped to become favorite spots for new colonies of bivalves. The shells are collected from local restaurants and cured for at least six months to eliminate bacteria.
The center also plans to install coir logs, which are made of coconut fiber. The logs stabilize shorelines by protecting them from erosion caused by waves. They also encourage the growth of vegetation development, which prevents the buildup of rocks and plant or tree debris that could interfere with the flow of water.
Native plants much later will play important future roles in restoring the land and the ecosystem. The plant list for Thompson Island has not yet been developed, Collins says, but earlier living shorelines have relied on cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora), saltmarsh hay (Spartina patens), and switchgrass (Panicum vigatum).
“Where We Bury Our Dead”
Indigenous peoples lived on Thompson Island for thousands of years. After Europeans arrived in the 1630s, it became farmland. Delaware bought the tract in 1990, and in 2004 it was dedicated as a state nature preserve, the highest level of protection for land in Delaware.
The 68-acre peninsula called Thompson Island has another name: Tawundeunk. “This is the name the Nanticoke use,” according to Delaware State Parks. It means “the place where we bury our dead.”
Archaeologists have found prehistoric burials, items indicating campsites, and pits from looters searching to steal objects without the intent to study their history.
To be sensitive to that history and to discourage more looting, the state does not allow access to Thompson Island or land boats on its beaches. A 2000 agreement lets the Nanticoke hold ceremonies on it and involves them in management decisions.
Delaware recognized the Nanticoke as a tribe in 1881. in 1922, it incorporated and defined its membership to 31 people. Many of their 700 descendants live in rapidly developing coastal Sussex, but members unable to afford the area have moved away, meaning that they no longer have easy access to the water. “Water is life,” Hall says. “Water is our first medicine.” They also no longer join the fishing and crabbing that generates sustenance and deepens tribal ties. In essence, they have lost touch with Mother Earth, who the Nanticoke call Kikun Ahkiyii.
Reconnecting
“It was an extraordinary trip,” says Hall, a Millsboro resident whose Nanticoke name means She Who Cares. “I’d heard these stories passed down but never really understood what that place meant as a tribe. I’d never been there.”
The trip was planned as a boat ride, and Hall says she hopes a landing will be organized in 2025. “I really want to walk it.”
The trip “was an emotional and spiritual journey” that involved “letting go of yourself and letting a higher power take over,” Hall says. For the Nanticoke, that higher power is Kiisheelumukweengw, the Creator or Great Spirit.
“We were the first stewards of the land, the water and Mother Earth,” Hall says. “It’s important to get back to respecting and preserving the environment. It won’t be there unless we take care of it.
The work is funded by several sources, including a Community Water Quality Improvement Grant from the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, a Restore America’s Estuaries Coastal Watersheds Grant, the Community Transportation Fund of the Delaware Department of Transportation, the Delaware State Parks Trust Fund and DNREC’s Nonpoint Source Program. For the work, the center is partnering with state parks and Sovereign Consulting, an environmental consulting and remediation firm.
Funding for the boat trip was supported by a William Penn Foundation Watershed Protection Grant as part of a collaboration with the Delaware Nature Society.
About the Author: Ken Mammarella is a Delaware native and longtime journalist who in his spare time likes to explore the terrain by bike.
Learn more
Thompson Island Nature Preserve Living Shoreline Wetland Restoration https://inlandbays.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Thompson-Island-Living-Shoreline-Factsheet.pdf
The History of Thompson Island at Delaware Seashore State Park https://delawarestateparks.blog/2021/02/25/the-history-of-thompson-island-at-delaware-seashore-state-park/
Map of Thompson Island Preserve https://destateparks.com/wwwroot/maps/delaware-seashore/Thompson_Island2014.pdf