Thursday, August 27, 2020

“And the stone wall was broken.”

 

qusuqaniyutôk NI “a stone wall”

     ● qusuqaniyutôkansh "Stone walls" 

             qusuqaniyutôkanuk "On the stone wall" 


    Qá qusuqaniyutôk nohkshô:  “And the stone wall was broken.”  Mohegan Proverb

http://www.moheganlanguage.org/?s=qusuqaniyut%C3%B4k&partialsearch=1

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

More Than One Mastodon (CT)

 

May13, 2009  woodbrgct 038 (1)


Naugatuck "High Place" Mastodon 









Thursday, August 13, 2020

Monday, August 10, 2020

Messages in Stonework 01(Nonnewaug CT)

“A Guarding Great Snake who knows your intentions…”

"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 cannot 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..."  - James Mooney

"According to Mooney (1900:458-459), the name Uktena is derived from akta, or eye, and implies being a “strong looker,” as everything is visible to it (i.e., it can see thoughts). From the same root is derived akta’tĭ, “to see into closely” which is also the Cherokee word for a magnifying lens and telescope. So the name Uktena implies that it sees thoughts and it does so in an accurate way; knowledge that comes in useful to predict enemy tactics (Jannie Loubser - E-mail communication July 21, 2015). "


Nonnewaug Indigenous Stonework, entry to Pomperaug Plantation’s Watch House (c. 1700) along Indigenous Stone Snake bordered roadway, a Great Snake that knows the intentions of the new people entering this new space, separated yet connected by stone to other places…


Saturday, August 08, 2020

Nonnewaug Stone Fish Weir (CT)

 

I’ve only ventured out once in the past few months, for a whole bunch of good reasons.

I went the long way around to look at the remains of the Nonnewaug Fish Weir, the “Fresh Water Fishing Place,” according to William Cothren in his History of Ancient Woodbury.






Back to 1996, just before the storm damaged the weir, the most intact I've ever photographed it...