"Crown Prince" of Powhatan Renape

South Jersey tribe's Prince Alarming

By Jason NarkIn fact, more than deer and dogs are afoot among the Powhatan Renape these days. A self-proclaimed leader with an impossibly long name and a confusing past says he's taking the reins and reclaiming the reservation, whether council members like it or not.

"I am the heir to the Powhatan Empire," said Crown Prince Emperor El Bey Bigbay. "I don't deal with the council. The council is null and void."

The Crown Prince--as he wishes to be called--is Trenton native William McRea, 40, known in the capital for the horses he keeps on his half of a duplex.

According to news accounts, McRae has been charged with using fake diplomatic tags, driving without a license and failure to pay child support. He has claimed that U.S. laws don't apply to him because he's a member of the Abannaki Aboriginal Nation, which the Southern Poverty Law Center considers a "fringe black separatist group."Comment:  "Wannabe" may be too polite a term for this fellow. "Con artist" seems more appropriate.