Saturday, December 31, 2011

"That Stone Sweat Lodge Would Make a Nice Pig Pen"

“they have neither the tooles, nor skill, nor heart to fence their grounds (p. 95)."
Letter from Eliot to Whitfield, April 18, 1650; Indians of the Nipmuck Country in Southern New England 1630-1750 By Dennis A. Connole

    My take on this is that John Eliot was encouraging Indians to turn existing stone rows into the legal fences defined by the early colonists that justified and signified ownership of land, improved the land in the eyes of English Law. The multi-purpose stone rows that were created by Indians were not only practical devices for land management of resource zones but also contained elements of Ceremonialism, a sacredness and spirituality shown by the careful and artistic placement of the stones, the shapes of the rows themselves, Great Serpent Effigies, sort of as if the whole Ethnographic Cultural Landscape was a big piece of religious architecture, protected by the spirit beings.
    The tooles were the metal axes and wedges used to split rails, I'm guessing, the skills the ability to make "cross and rail" fences and the heart similar to a response to the suggestion that your combination open air stonework cathedral and fire tended rock gardens would make a good enclosures for livestock...
   
Or perhaps:
 "That stone sweat lodge would make a great pigpen."

            I can see how the suggestion would be met with little enthusiasm.
(I added the above Killingworth CT "Pig Pen" photos on April 22, 2019,
the Cross and Rail on Jan. 23, 2020.)

Added 11/10/2020

“Hassanamesit Woods is now a tract of land set aside for hiking trails and outdoor education; however it was once part of a large 10,000 acre area of land inhabited by the Hassanamisco band of Nipmuc. In 1654, “Hassanamesit” or “land of the small stones” (Dough ton 1997) became the third of several praying towns founded by John Eliot to propagate the gospel…

These families were expected to embrace English styles of land ownership in severalty, and “improve” their parcels in such a way that was satisfactory to the Trustees by clearing, fencing, or altering the natural landscape…

map?

Also in 1729, John Hazelton of Sutton agreed to lease 2 meadows that belonged to Sarah and Peter. He paid the Trustees, “for the use of the said Peter and his Squaw Twenty Shillings per Annum for four years” (Earle Papers: Octavo Vol. 1) under the terms that the Trustees would make allowances should Peter care to “improve any part of the grass for his own use” (Earle Papers: Octavo Vol. 1). This agreement, like many others made at the same time with other Native proprietors at Hassanamesit, included the installation of a “good four rail fence” which, at the end of the four-year term, would be left in good condition for the future use of the owner. Interestingly, the same John Hazelton proposed a similar deal with Christian Misco for the use of her meadow and orchard yard. He proposed to fence the area, care for the apple trees, and yield to Misco’s right to any apples, “as she shall have occasion to use for her own eating” (Earle Papers: Octavo Vol. 1)…

 

http://www.fiskecenter.umb.edu/Hassamenesit%20Web/Site%20History%20for%20Webpage.pdf

 




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