STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Almost 105 years ago, the president of the United States joined with dozens of North American Indian tribal leaders for an unprecedented ceremony to build a national Indian Memorial on Staten Island.

Today, the event remains a little-known footnote to history. But members of a Staten Island-based Native American culture and dance troupe are hoping to change that.

They have written to President Donald Trump, urging him to make good on a broken promise made by President Howard Taft in 1913 to build the memorial.

Taft joined 32 Indian chiefs at the Feb. 22, 1913, ground-breaking ceremony at Fort Wadsworth, near the foot of New York Harbor. Taft even dug up dirt with an ancient ax-head made from Buffalo bone as a sign of respect to the Indians.

The 165-foot bronze monument, slated to be taller than the Statue of Liberty, was abandoned during World War I. And forgotten.

Members of the Red Storm Drum & Dance Troupe -- who often perform and lecture in Staten Island schools -- have sent a letter to Trump asking him to revive the project, on a smaller scale.

The troupe also has planned a fundraiser in September to finance the costs of the monument.

"We want to see if we can give it another shot. Hopefully with this administration, we can get it done," said Margaret Boldeagle, executive director of Red Storm, who is a Lenape Indian descended from the tribe that originally populated Staten Island.

"Staten Island has a rich native American history and our group wants to preserve that history for generations to come," she said.

"The irony of America's great tapestry is that the Native Americans are the true minority. As years go by, our history is being forgotten.

"If you want to make America great, don't forget the great people who were here first," Boldeagle said in the April 28 letter to Trump.

The land that was dedicated for the monument is now part of Gateway National Park, Fort Wadsworth, in the shadow of the Verrazano Bridge.

Boldeagle said the new statue, to be erected by renowned artist and sculptor Gregory Perillo of Tottenville, would be 25 feet tall, similar to his monument to the Lenape that he erected on the grounds of PS 62 in Rossville.

The White House has not yet responded to the letter.

Last month the president donated a portion of his salary to the National Park Service for upkeep of the country's national monuments.

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