Sherry L. Gould writes:
These footprints are in Henniker NH where the
Abenaki believe foot prints were left here by Medawlinno. People with extremely
powerful medicine, like Passaconaway, could press their feet into solid earth.
There is no oral tradition of what person may
have left these prints in the rocks in Henniker that we have found yet. Just
our traditions of what kind of person was able to do it, and traditions of
Passaconaway's abilities. “We had a
great hike to the footprints today. With input from Bob Goodby and Nancy Jo
Chabot, the outcome is undetermined origin. Dr. Goodby feels the oval indents
could be a natural occurrence, but all agree the defined toes are not likely a
natural occurrence. We need to do more research for Dr. Holton's original files
on the prints, and search for oral history in the area for significance.
The rainy pictures are from today's hike, pictures
by Vicki Blanchard. The sunny pictures are from Saturday's hike with Polly and Angela Fleming (the photographer). I slipped my shoes and stepped in the prints, they are
surely a size 7 and the feel was very smooth and fitting…”
https://www.facebook.com/Abenaki-Trails-Project-130903648704620
“Passaconaway (Child of the Bear) - He was known
as a peacemaker. He had a vision that the newcomers, who arrived in ships from
the east with white sails, were coming on clouds and that they would dominate
the land with their coming…”
https://www.cabinet.com/news/merrimack-news/2019/04/19/native-americans-of-merrimack-their-chief-passaconaway/
Medawlinnoak, “medicine people”
“The convergence of spirit, the elements, and
resurgent prolific life – epitomized by over-arching sky, shaped and shelving
bedrock, sunlight and reflection, deep and strong currents – create a place of
exchange. Spirit is able to move between worlds more readily here; the edges
between the underworld of earth and water, existence on the surficial plane,
and the above world of sky, blur and cross over. Things are in a state of flux,
moving and mixing, intersecting. The constant change of creation is present
here, closer and better accessible. This is one reason that messages of
acknowledgement in the form of petroglyphs are often found at these places.
These ancient representations, placed by medawlinnoak,
medicine people, as they worked to seek balance with and through the presence
of spirit concentrated there, continue to speak their opportune truths into the
present. We see and hear them even now, carrying through the dysphoria and
disturbance of the modern milieu…” Rich
Holsuch - March 31, 2019
https://sokokisojourn.wordpress.com/tag/medawlinno/
