South Entry Serpent (Nonnewaug CT)

A few other features:

 

Ulun'suti, "the jewel," on the head of the Great Snake (Antares)

 

    “This is a serpent effigy - and the serpent effigies are quite often in dispute because the presumption is that they are stone walls. Most often, they are too low to pen anything in, but we identify them by other means. Usually they do have a head, such as the one you see here. This particular one, just behind the head, also has a space and an orange stone, because we believe that they are related to the serpent effigy that is in the area of Scorpius that the Cherokee referred to as the Uktena, that is, a serpent with an orange stone. In its terra form, it’s (it has) a jewel and it is horned, but this is, as below, so above...” 

Doug Harris

Image lifted from: https://youtu.be/35hswwxcIFI?t=9m9s

The complete text and video can be seen here at the National Park Service website:

https://www.ncptt.nps.gov/blog/ceremonial-stone-landscapes-of-new-england-and-developing-best-practices-to-assess-submerged-paleocultural-landscapes/

This presentation was part of the Proceedings of the Maritime Cultural Landscape Symposium, October 14-15, 2015, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

 Note: DH is likening the Orange stone (as below/in the stone "wall") to the orange colored bright star Antares that is the Jewel on the head of the Great Serpent constellation (as above in the sky), part of what Europeans came to call Scorpius.

 

"Those who know say the Uktena is a great snake, as large around as a tree trunk, with horns on its head, and a bright blazing crest like a diamond on its forehead, and scales glowing like sparks of fire. It has rings or spots of color along its whole length, and can not be wounded except by shooting in the seventh spot from the head, because under this spot are its heart and its life. The blazing diamond is called Ulun'suti—"Transparent"—and he who can win it may become the greatest wonder worker of the tribe. But it is worth a man's life to attempt it, for whoever is seen by the Uktena is so dazed by the bright light that he runs toward the snake instead of trying to escape. As if this were not enough, the breath of the Uktena is so pestilential, that no living creature can survive should they inhale the tiniest bit of the foul air expelled by the Uktena. Even to see the Uktena asleep is death, not to the hunter himself, but to his family." - James Mooney Myths of the Cherokee

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horned_Serpent

Kevin Philbrook Smith: "Real-world implications"

 

       Kevin Philbrook Smith, deputy director and chief curator of the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology at Brown University, writes on a social media archaeology group page: 

    “…The comical looking douchebag in the center of this group of losers has covered himself with Norse iconography – the valknut on his chest, a massive Thor's hammer pointed towards the tiny sore-hammer in his pants, and others including a Sonnenrad (used as the central icon on the tiled floor of SS headquarters' "generals' hall") on his left shoulder. His faux-Native American headdress links into assertions made by some of these groups that North America was the homeland of Aryan/White tribal ("folk/volk") groups, coast-to-coast, until it was overrun by Native Americans just a few centuries before Columbus; and therefore the post-medieval colonization and conquest of North America by Europeans is argued by them to be a justified "retaking" of Aryan lands while their anger against "political correctness" is their assertion of privilege to "restore" the Americas to these presumed Aryan roots. Many of these groups refer to all of North America as "Vinland", misappropriating the Norse sagas' discussions of limited, short-term exploration in a small part of the coastal far Northeast and using the fake Kensington Runestone, the Heavener runes, and "mooring holes" across the Plains as their evidence that Viking long-ships once sailed across the grasslands and up across the Rocky Mountains. As absurd as all of this bullshit is, the images of this asshole and his kind make it clear why supposedly "sober" discussions of Kensington, Spirit Pond, and other fakes' supposed authenticity are not necessarily naive or innocent explorations, but are often either implicitly racist at base or feed into racist, violent, and insurrectionist mythologies with real-world implications.

This flag, the so-called Vinland flag, designed by a Goth Metal band, has been appropriated by quite a few alt-Right, White Supremacist groups with an Aryan-nativist ideology and should be regarded with the same suspicion accorded a Confederate battle flag or Nazi flag seen out of context: 

  I first saw it on the Face Book profiles of some people from Oregon who wanted to join this group. Digging deeper into one of their profiles revealed a clear linkage through prison gangs and “liked” books on insurrection, manuals on how to identify and kill “race-enemies”, militia warfare manuals, etc

    Lest we assume that White Supremacist iconography misappropriated from the past is only linked to Norse symbolism, the Celtic Cross has been adopted as one of the most ubiquitous white supremacist symbols. When reproduced in red and black, the colors most heavily used by the Nazi regime, or in green/white/black (the “Vinland” colors) one should be immediately concerned because a conscious decisi on was made to use that specific symbol with those specific colors.

    Unfortunately, I have had to learn more about this than I would have liked to know...both from looking into the profiles of people who want to join this group and from hosting three small Viking themed events more than 10 years ago with researchers and re-enactors at my museum. The first two were peaceful but two weeks before the third one I was notified by law enforcement and the Anti-Defamation League that Stormfront and other neo-Nazi groups were planning to attend, march, and possibly take over the event. I had to spend two weeks monitoring hate speech, reading posts I never wanted to see, learning coded phrases to understand what was being said, and adding undercover and armed security to the event. We suspected that one of the groups participating in the event must have had at least one member who wore white sheets when not being a Viking, since these were small, local events promoted before FB and social media and the posts on Stormfront included details that would not have been easily known to anyone but the participants.

    For those interested in being aware, this is a good database of hate-group symbols (hand signals, tattoos, flags, and more) – not all of which are Norse or Celtic, but you will find some familiar emblems that have been misappropriated among them, and might want to be aware whenever you see them:"

 https://www.adl.org/hate-symbols

  

Doug Harris Fundraiser

 "Doug Harris has worked on behalf of Indigenous Ceremonial Stone Landscapes in the northeast for three decades. Recently retired from his position as deputy Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, a small stroke has temporarily interfered with his ability to continue this important work. Your support would allow Doug to continue serving the land through preservation projects which include recording the history of Indigenous ceremonial stone landscape research in the Northeast, and opening up the new field of protecting submerged landscapes with underwater archaeologists he met while speaking at the Smithsonian .

    Doug's expertise has resulted in protection of Indigenous Ceremonial Stone Landscapes including the recognition by the National Register of Historic Places of the Turners Falls Sacred Ceremonial Hill site, the widespread education of Massachusetts town historical commissions, the protection in conjunction with Hopkinton Land Trust of Manitou Hassanash (a ceremonial stone landscape area in Rhode Island), and countless individual features he's helped identify and protect on private and public lands.  In addition,  Doug helped challenge the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for not implementing the National Historic Preservation Act as gas lines sought to destroy Ceremonial Stone Landscapes in the path of the right of way through the Otis State Forest in Sandisfield. 

Doug's pioneering work has contributed to the safeguarding of Indigenous cultural heritage, but he credits not himself, but the land and the ancestors .  Doug has cared for the land we are on. Please show your gratitude to him and his longstanding work and expertise by supporting his continuing work with the landscapes, both ceremonial as we understand them,  or submerged as we and he will be learning."

Lisa McLoughlin is organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Doug Harris:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/indigenous-ceremonial-stone-landscapes

Mavor & Dix, Speck and Me

 One day, I happened to look at the "Upton Chamber" drawing from Mavor & Dix and said to myself "Obviously probably the Great Snake - from the inside, in the Underworld where up is down, and high is low, a mirror of this world, and messages were sometimes written backward in caves so the spirits could read them."

I could be wrong...

And Then:

One day I happened to be looking at an illustration of Calendar One and said to myself, "The Giovanna Neudorfer illustration is upside down - and resembles the Frank G. Speck illustration of the Lenape Big House..."

   I turned the image around, put north at the top, and lined the two images up side by side:

I could be wrong...

Stone Chambers, Indians and Astronomy: A Critique of Vermont's Stone Chambers By Byron E. Dix and James W . Mavor, Jr. 

https://vermonthistory.org/journal/misc/StoneChambers.pdf

Turtle Bales and Rhumba Snakes

 

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/551081/collective-nouns-groups-animals

Ice Age Relic/Balance Rock (Watertown CT)

 

Florence T. Crowell Photo

Accessed from:

https://www.facebook.com/334846928460/photos/a.337556648460/10157676881323461

Charlie Crowell writes: “This is Watertown’s WWI Memorial on the triangular green next to the old Town Hall. This photo is from about 1969. This boulder was originally located off Old Baird Road which runs from Hamiltion Avenue across to Woodbury Road. Much of the road is abandoned and impassable today.

Before being used as a monument, this stone was known as “balancing rock.” At its original site, it sat on top of a rock outcropping and was so finely balanced that a small child could push it and to would rock back and forth, but it couldn’t be knocked over. The seemingly precariously balanced boulder was left in that position by the last ice age. The process of dragging the rock to its present site was grueling and laborious. It was done using horses.

In the background you can see one of the old Heminway mansions on Main Street, now owned by the Methodist Church."

Tim MacSweeney: A Balanced Boulder (in its original "found" setting) in Native American Ceremonial Stone Landscape terms - a Drum or Signal Stone if it made a sound when set into motion, like many found throughout the Northeast. What is your source for this story? I'd like to pass it along to Dr. Hoffman (as part of CT Cluster #3 (the Nonnewaug Cluster): https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Products/9781634990493

Charlie Crowell (to Tim MacSweeney): Tim, this story was told in the Town Times, sometime in the 50s or maybe even the late 40s. It was also told back when the project was undertaken in the 20s in the Waterbury papers. Sorry but I don’t have the stories readily available.

Charlie Crowell (to Al Conley):  Richard Sperry, owner the land where the boulder originally sat, wanted to keep it as a balancing rock even after it was moved and set up as a monument. He thought engineers could handle the job, but it never happened.

Tim MacSweeney (to Charlie Crowell): An imaginative investigator might wonder if it is set up on a flat stone - or even a piece of the bedrock removed from the original location near Old Baird Road!

In its original location, it would have been and continue to be considered a Sacred Stone by the Paugussett: https://www.facebook.com/The-Golden-Hill-Paugussett-Indian-Reservation-165294113670095/

 "A total of 487 sites contained balanced rocks. A possible Algonquian term for these is wanashqueompshk, which means "on top of the rock(s)"...largest number recorded at any one site is 38...61.8% (301) were found in combination with...rock piles (215)...split filled boulders (113) and stone rows (111)..." 

From: "Stone Prayers" Curtiss Hoffman  page 90.

Stone Prayers & Sacred Smoke

 

    Rock Art Specialist Edward J. Lenik writes: “The turtle motif occurs on numerous portable artifacts and petroglyph sites in the Northeast…Turtle images appear in several artistic media…stone, clay, bone, shell, wood, antler, and in Historic Contact times as molded lead objects…pendants and gorgets, pebbles, cobbles, stone tools, clay pipes, and wooden bowls.”

“The turtle is a sacred animal, an important spirit for Algonkian and Iroquois peoples (Lenik 2009: 146- 147).”

 

     Edward J. Lenik suggests that the turtle, in “portable artifacts” and “nonportable petroglyphs,” can be a symbol of the Earth, the first animal created, the first clan/first people created, a symbol of longevity, patience, perseverance or fertility (a womb), and if found as a petroglyph on a boulder or outcrop as perhaps the boundary of a Turtle Clan territory such as a Village site or Hunting/Gathering Ground, or a Guardian Spirit of a path or trail. As a stacked stone feature (in “stone prayers” or “stone walls”), I’m going to take what he says into consideration as a possibility as to a possible "icon" that suggests Indigenous construction...

 

   A prayer to the Turtle is a prayer to “All of Creation.” A Stone Prayer constructed to resemble a Turtle is initially a prayer “spoken into the stone (Harris)” during its construction, but it also becomes a place to continue to pray by the person who constructed it and perhaps to that person’s descendants.

   I’m biased perhaps because the first stone constructions that seemed to me to be effigies (a bear and a deer head, each on a boulder), also seemed to be places to burn some tobacco, perhaps for hunting purposes (Speck, Tantequidgeon), but also perhaps as a place for a daily prayer or even after a hunt as inferred by the story of Obed’s Altar from the Saybrook area of CT (https://wakinguponturtleisland.blogspot.com/2014/08/up-there-with-bear.html; http://www.dunhamwilcox.net/town_hist/westbrook_hist.htm).

   Then again, another name for a Sachem (“Peace Chief”) is “our bear” or even “our old bear” and “our younger bear,” names for an elder (perhaps white haired?) sachem and a younger sachem of a Peace (White) Town as opposed to a War Chief at a Warriors (Red) Town (Driver? Trigger??). Perhaps this bear was always associated with the Sachem or Sachems, at the “camp” (or Town/Village) referred in post contact times as Nonnewaug Wigwams near the Fish Weir and planting fields, perhaps even back to the time there was a glacial lake here…

 

PIPE: BEAR HEAD EFFIGY, JACKSON COUNTY , ILLINOIS ,19th Century Length: 2 3/4" Height: 1 1/2" Width: 1 1/2" Weight: 6.1 oz This is an intriguing bear-head effigy pipe from southern Illinois . Carved from a brown-black, extremely hard stone (with hints of green tint seen under direct sunlight) this item was acquired from out-of-state descendants of the original finder. It appears that in the late 1800s, during extended field clearance south of Austin Hollow, Kincaid Township , a cache of stone artifacts was uncovered. This odd bear-head pipe was one of those pieces. The pipe was carved in the image of a bear's head. A projecting snout leads to a smoke bowl. Upright ears animates the bear's presence. A flat bottom has remnants of an oval depression. There are many abrasion scratches, dings and cuts along all sides. The nose / mouth stem area is chipped. This is one of the densest stones I've ever come across in an effigy pipe: an enormous amount of time/effort clearly went into the making of this unusual artifact. Listed exactly as acquired.

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/pipe-bear-head-effigy-jackson-county-1441039424

This is a hand carved Black Bear effigy pipe bowl from the Chippewa Black Bear Pipe Effigy. The piece is from circa 1880-1900 and was recovered during extended field clearance South of Austin Hollow, Kincaid Township, a cache of stone artifacts was uncovered. This odd bear-head pipe was one of those pieces. Measures 3"x1.75"x1 5/8"

https://www.icollector.com/Chippewa-Black-Bear-Pipe-Effigy-circa-1880-1900-Th_i21297482

https://dygtyjqp7pi0m.cloudfront.net/i/23095/21297482_1.jpg?v=8D2035AF4269350

 

Why a Turtle (Again)??

 The Significance of a Stone Turtle

Or a Turtle Made of Stones

Depends on:

Which Turtle in Which Place?

 

Frank Speck tells us what he found out about turtles 100 years ago or so,

More recently Ed Lenik tells us this and that about turtles

  – and admits he only has some “Educated Guesses.”

We colleagues all know by now he’s not the only one to say,

“Only the person who created it knows for sure.”

 

Could be a symbol of the Earth, the first animal, the first clan,

  Could be a symbol of Longevity, Patience, Perseverance or

     Fertility (a womb), Turtle Island (a Homeland), a Hunting Ground

And as Guardian Spirits of Paths and Trails or of Specific Places

When found as a carving on an outcrop – or the shape of an outcrop

Or the shape of a boulder

 Or as heaped up stones resembling the shape of a Turtle,

 Unmistakable head and shell as well as many other details

That may suggest what species the Stone Turtle might be…

 

My first Turtle was a Box Turtle, the Grandfather Turtle

              – or is it Grandmother Turtle??  

At the edge of a Late Woodland or Contact Era Village  

   Where the Mast Forest began (where the “stone walls” disappear),

Perhaps the place to pray, the place to start the ground fire under the big trees,

 By the Creation Turtle seems a good place to begin

A Ceremony for Balance and World Renewal for that specific place,

Crowned by a Cathedral ceiling of oak and chestnut, hickory and walnut…

My second Turtle was uncovered by chickens scratching,

At what seemed to be Farm Junk Piles

Surprised while gathering kindling

By a low domed snapping turtle perhaps

And 20 years or so later I was surprised to see

Another in the retaining wall where I’ve lived for 40 years

Where my wife and I stood in the yard to take our wedding vows,

Just below that second turtle, surrounded by other smaller turtles,

Perhaps graves, perhaps memorials, perhaps signifying Turtle Clan

(Like that Turtle down in Judges Woods in another Memorial)

I just don’t really know…

 Above: Judges Woods. Below: A Diamondback Terrapin Effigy above the Hammonasset Salt Marsh, "Hunting Grounds," like Ed Lenik says, not for a Turtle Clan, but for the Diamondback Terrapin, if you are looking for the simplest answer as to "Why this particular Turtle in this particular place…"

 

 As a modern day observer of Stone Turtles

Or Turtles Made of Stone

The main significance is that the Stone Turtle speaks, saying

“Indigenous hands were on these stones,

Placing them just so in order to resemble Turtles…”