Indian Corn Mill Traditions and Lore

"A photo taken by Forrest Helander of Madison, CT., shows a stone of bedrock - part of the West Woods Trails which includes an ancient Sachemdom complex that was the domain of the Quinnipiac Sub-Sachemship known as Menunkatuck - with a depression in its center showing centuries of well-worn use. West Woods is a 1,000-acre region of land cared for by the State of Connecticut, the Guilford Land Conservation Trust and the Town of Guilford. Immediately adjacent to this is the Stony Creek Quarry Reserve, which is part of the Branford Land Trust...There are fourteen numbered trails in the West Woods Complex and four more in the Stony Creek Complex. In our language Stony Creek was known as Oiocommock. Along with this mortar and pestle I have photos of a large rock with a rectangular area gouged out, like a trough. There is a stone seat like a throne, an ancient rock-shelter where my ancestors were observed living by a local family around 1850. Yes, they were hiding in plain sight as we call it. Rather than give up our traditions some wandered from rock-shelter to rock-shelter... there are thousands of them in the Dawnland on the old Indian trails we call Mishimayagat. There is a waterfall and an ancient rock formation and stone quarries. These quarries were used by the Europeans in historical times but I also believe they were used in ancient times as quarry sites. There are rocks with pictographic marks and observers thought these were made by Europeans until I indicated identical designs on Algonquian splint baskets and sashes worn by our Sachems across the chest like bandoliers. These complexes were the first places our ancestors used for spiritual, political and social relations..."

By: Iron Thunderhorse, Columnist

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