Nonnewaug Falls
A sacred site is a
place in the landscape, occasionally over or under water, which is especially
revered by a people, culture or cultural group as a focus for spiritual belief
and practice and likely religious observance.
In addition, to
satisfy this stem definition and reflect its wide and rich variety, a sacred
site must also have one or more of the following nineteen characteristics found
under the headings: Descriptive, Spiritual, Functional and Other. Having more
or less of these characteristics does not imply that the site is more or less
sacred but it may usefully reflect the complexity and rich variety of its
sacred qualities.
1. Descriptive
Nonnewaug Stone Fish Weir
Literally, "Fresh Water Fishing Place"
a.
It is a specific focus
within a wider and possibly dynamically interconnected sacred landscape.
b.
It is, or is founded
upon, a natural topographical feature, e.g., a mountain, mound, rock, cave,
tree, grove, forest, spring, well, river, lake, the sea, an island, etc.
c.
It is recognised as
carrying special manifestation of wildlife, natural phenomena and ecological
balance.
d.
It is embellished with
man-made symbols or artifacts, e.g., rock-carvings, painting, holy or religious
objects.
Tobacco Sacrifice Stone
Bear's Head Effigy "Rocking Stone"
e.
It is partially or
wholly man-made, e.g., menhir, temple, church, wayside shrine.
Great Turtle Effigy
tûnuppasuonk kodtonquag - "turtle effigy in
stone" (Nipmeuw).
f.
It is a memorial or mnemonic
to a key recent or past event in history, legend or myth, e.g., a battle site,
creation or origin myth.
2. Spiritual
a.
It is recognised as
having a palpable and special energy or power which is clearly discernible from
that of a similar landscape or surrounding.
b.
It is recognised as a
special place which acts as a portal or cross-over to the spirit world.
c.
It is recognised as
the dwelling place of guardian or ‘owner’ spirits which care for and oversee
the site and possibly its wider environs.
Great Snake Effigy
Also:
Qusukqaniyutôk: (‘stone row, enclosure’ Harris and Robinson, 2015:140, ‘fence that crosses
back’ viz. qussuk, ‘stone,’ Nipmuc or quski, quskaca, ‘returning, crosses
over,’ qaqi, ‘runs,’ pumiyotôk, ‘fence, wall,’ Mohegan, Mohegan Nation
2004:145, 95, 129) wall (outdoor), fence, NI – pumiyotôk plural: pumiyotôkansh.)
d.
Its spiritual forces
or ‘owner’ spirits are in a mutually respectful dialogue with local people with
specialist knowledge acting as guardians or custodians, who play important
roles as mediators, negotiators or healers between the human, natural and
spiritual dimensions.
The now desecrated grave site of Sachem Nonnewaug,
"the Keeper of the Peace at the Fresh Water Fishing Place."
(Destroyed mid 1800s)
Possibly:
Káhtôquwuk (Narragansett), allegorically, a 'stone
prayer.'
a pile, a
heap, that which is heaped high, by placing one (stone) above another.
Possibly:
Wâunonaqussuk or ‘Honoring Stone’
“Individual deaths and memorial services for those persons
are marked with waûnonaqussuk (Natick Nipmuc wâunonukhauónat – ‘to flatter,’
Trumbull 1903:202, verb stem wâunon- ‘honor’ + qussuk ‘stone’ = wâunonaqussuk –
‘honoring stone’ + quanash pl., also Narragansett wunnaumwâuonck –
‘faithfulness, truthfulness,’ wunna, ‘good,’ wáunen, ‘honor,’ + onk, abstract
suffix, O’Brien 2005:37, Wawanaquassik, ‘place of many honoring stones,’-
Nochpeem Mahikkaneuw/Wappinger, Ruttenber 1992b:373).”
A Quantitative Assessment of Stone Relics in a Western
Massachusetts Town
Nohham Rolf Cachat-Schilling
https://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1202&context=bmas
See also:
See also:
e.
It is identified as a
place where the ancestors are present and especially respected, e.g., burial
grounds.
f.
It is a place of
spiritual transformation for individual persons or the community, e.g.,
healing, baptism, initiation, religious conversion, rite of passage, funeral,
vision quest.
3. Functional
a.
It is a special place
where relationships, both interpersonal and throughout the whole community, can
be expressed and affirmed, often through a specific form of observance, e.g.,
prayer, songs, chants, dance, ritual or ceremony.
The Stone Fish Weir known as Nonnewaug (circa 1996)
b.
It is a place
especially associated with resource-gathering or other key cultural activities,
e.g., gathering medicinal plants or material for sacred or ritual ceremony or
objects, fishing, hunting, cultivation, burial of ritual objects, giving birth.
c.
It is a specific
pathway or route between significant or sacred places, e.g., songline, sacred
pathway, pilgrimage route. It is a focus of past or present special visits of
religious observance or pilgrimage.
d.
It is a cultural
sacred-secret, with its location and/or specific religious function only known
to a limited number of people.
e.
It has a significant
relationship with astronomical order and/or calendrical phenomena, e.g.,
astronomical alignment, celestial-Earth correspondence, seasonal ritual or
festival.
4. Other
a.
It clearly satisfies
the stem definition but has unique cultural features that are not represented
in the previous eighteen characteristics.
Using the definition,
a sacred site could then be described as satisfying the Thorley/Gunn definition
(TGD) in one or more characteristics out of the four categories. These could
be, if necessary, reduced to a briefer encoded form, e.g., TGD categories 1, 2,
etc. To give two practical examples, Stonehenge in England could be represented
as “TGD categories 1. a, d, e; 2. a, e; 3. e, f” and a sacred beach for fishing
in New Zealand Maori culture might be represented as “TGD categories 1. b; 2.
e; 3. b.”
