Sunday, October 04, 2009

Dear Massachusetts Historical Commission

Dear Massachusetts Historical Commission,

I am writing in regards to an item in your FAQ located on the Review and Compliance section of the Massachusetts Historical Commission website. (http://www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc/mhcrevcom/revcomidx.htm) Here is the entry in question:

I’m concerned that stone piles in a project area may be Native American grave markers. What should I do?
Piles or continuous walls of fieldstones are common in rural Massachusetts wherever there are rocky soils. When historians and archaeologists have conducted thorough, professional research into such stone piles, they have invariably shown that these features are not associated with the Native American settlement of Massachusetts. When it is possible to determine their origin, stone piles prove to be related to agricultural activities such as clearing of fields for pasture or cultivation, and/or marking property bounds during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, pursuits that were once much more common in what may now be residential suburbs. Because stone piles or walls often marked property lines or boundaries between different land uses such as pasture and woodlot, they are often in a linear row or other geometric pattern, some of which may be consistent with cardinal compass points, solstice sunrises or sunsets, or other celestial phenomena. http://www.anthropology.ccsu.edu/fraudsweb/frauds.htm
I am quite concerned that the above entry from your FAQ discourages developers and property owners from investigating potentially important archaeological sites. Furthermore, the entry is a professionally irresponsible generalization which paints a broad brush across the entire Massachusetts landscape. It is not only historically inaccurate, flying in the face of overwhelming historical evidence, but it also directly contradicts the Commission's own mission to identify, evaluate, and protect important historical and archaeological assets of the Commonwealth.

One of the most compelling pieces of evidence we have proving that some piles of stone in Massachusetts could be Indian in origin comes to us from the mid-18th century and Dr. Ezra Stiles.

"Mr. Williams told me that on the Road from Sandwich to Plymouth there is a large Stone or Rock in a place free of stones; and that the Indians immemorially have been used, whenever & as often as they pass this large Stone, to cast a stone or piece of wood upon it. That Stones not being plenty, pieces of Wood is most commonly used, & that there will once in a few years be a large Pile on the Stone, which is often consumed by the firing of the Woods for Deer. That the Ind.s continue the Custom to this day, tho’ they are a little ashamed the English should see them, & accordingly when walking with an Eng. They have made a path round at a quarter Mile’s Distance to avoid it. There is also at a little Distance another Stone which they also inject upon, but pass it with less scruple; but are so scrupulous that none was even known to omit casting Stone or Wood on the other. The Indians being asked the reason of their Custom & Practice, say they know nothing about it, only that their Fathers & their Grandfathers & Great Grandfathers did so, and charged all their Children to do so; and that if they did not cast a Stone or piece of Wood on the Stone as often as they pass by it, they would prosper, & particularly should not be lucky in hunting Deer. But if they duly observed this Custom, they should have success. The English call them the Sacrificing Rocks, tho’ the Indians don’t imagine it a Sacrifice – at least they Kill & offer no Animals there, & nothing but Wood & Stones." (Stiles [1762]1916:252)

Dr. Stiles gives us a great deal of information concerning the Indian practice of casting pieces of stone or wood upon a sacred boulder. I think it is vital to note how secretive the Indians were and how they continued to guide Euro-Americans away from the site for as long as they could. They apparently succeeded in keeping the site hidden clear into the mid-18th century in fact.

Another stone monument unquestionably erected by Indians in Massachusetts was such a remarkable structure that an entire mountain was named in its honor - Monument Mountain. The stone heap was first recorded in 1734 by John Sergeant.

"There is a large heap of stones, I suppose ten cart-loads, in the Way to Wnahtukook, which the Indians have thrown together as they have pass'd by the place; for it us'd to be their custom, every time any one pass'd by, to throw a stone upon it. But what was the end of it they cannot tell; only they say their fathers us'd to do so, and they do it because it was the custom of their fathers." (Sergeant (1734)1911:24-25)

The practice apparently continued into the 20th century in Massachusetts. Dr. Frank G. Speck witnessed the custom first-hand at Mashpee, where he snapped a photograph of a memorial brush heap. (Speck 1945:19)

The region's historical records are teeming with similar reports of stone-and-brush-piling by Native Americans during and beyond the Contact Period. (Jeune [1656]1898:24-25, Hawley [1794]1968:59-60, Belknap 1831:167, Simms 1845:632, Caulkins 1878:37-38, Halsey 1901:24, Speck 1945:21-23)

But Native American stone-piling activities in Massachusetts weren't limited to large monumental heaps of stones and brush. Reports can be found in the record of smaller stone piles that mark Indian graves. A traditional story of the Wampanoag, as recorded by Gladys Tantaquidgeon at Aquinnah, tells the story of the untimely death of an Indian mother and child, whose resting places are marked by a heap of stones. (Simmons 1986:139)

But this is not the only report of stones either used in or piled on top of graves in the region. (Putnam 1913:224, van der Donck [1655]1841:201-202, Tooker 1896:59, Marye 1920:118, Williams 1833:136, Field 1819:85, Barber [1836]1999:199, Ipswich [1667]1913:400, Moorehead 1922:90, Webster [1788]1962:621, Cothren 1854:88, Houghton 1922:65, Hall 1907:78, Randall 1873:13)

Even further evidence exists that Indians in the region built their sweathouses of stones. In the mid-17 Century, Roger Williams recorded how such sweathouses were built:

"Pesuponck; a hot house. This hot house is a kind of little cell or cave, six or eight feet over, round, made on the side of a hill, commonly by some rivulet or brook." (Williams [1643]1968:236)

That description was repeated by Cotton Mather in Massachusetts decades later:

"Their hot-house is a little cave, about eight foot over . . ." (Mather [1702]1855:558)

In Williams's description, it is important to note the use of the words, "cell or cave," and that the sweathouse was, "made," on the side of a hill. Sadly, there are no further descriptions of what materials were used to make those sweat-houses. However we can look to other sources from the region for some insight. In Mohegan territory we find the following description of a peice of land:

"Daniel Comstock in 1730 deeded to his son John, land on the Thames River in what is now the town of Montville. It was 'a piece of meadow, to witt, fresh meadow at a heap of stones at a place called the Hot House.'" (Land IX:149; Butler 1945:11)

Note that the description is a, "heap of stones," much like one would find if a, "cell or cave," constructed of stone collapsed in upon itself over time. Certainly sweathouses constructed of stone are not unknown to Eastern Woodlands ethnography. At the turn of the 18th Century, John Lawson recorded how the Saponis constructed their sweathouses:

"Near the Town, within their clear'd Land, are several Bagnios, or Sweating-Houses, made of Stone, in Shape like a large Oven. These they make much Use of; especially, for any Pains in the Joints, got by Cold, or Travelling." (Lawson 1709:49)

We also find hints of stone-constructed sweat lodges in traditional Indian stories handed down from generation to generation. Charles G. Leland collected such a story from the Mi'Kmaq in the late 19th Century.

"Now the Bear, who had a frame as hard as a rock, felt sure that he could endure anything that a gull could, especially to become a white bear. So, with much ceremony, the Great Enchanter went to work. He built a strong wigwam, three feet high, of stones, and having put the Bear into it he cast in red-hot stones, and poured water on them through a small hole in the roof. Erelong the Bear was in a terrible steam." (Leland 1884:191)

But memorial piles, graves, and sweat-houses are not the only recorded stone constructions created by Indians in the region. There are also reports of fish weirs constructed of stone (Read 1892:14, Rau 1884:200-201, Beauchamp 1897:76), and even Indian barns or storage pits made of stone:

"On Broad Rock Farm, some of the land owned by College Tom, and still in his family, two of the Indian caches for corn can still be seen. They were small hollows in the ground roughly lined with stone, not more than a foot deep at present; perhaps three feet long and two wide." (Hazard 1893:111)

Most remarkable, however, are the reports of stone forts in the region. Queen's Fort, still extant in Rhode Island, is on the National Register of Historic Places as the site of a Narragansett Indian fort (Potter 1835:84). It features stone walls and enclosures built by Indians. Another site in Rhode Island, called Rolling Rock, also features stone walls at a site known to be Narragansett in origin. We also find a similar report of a stone fort in nearby Connecticut:

"Sir I heare a report of a stonewall and strong fort in it, made all of Stone, which is newly discovered at or neare Pequot. I should be glad to know the truth of it from your selfe, here being many strange reports about it." (Pynchon [1645]1985:12)

But no matter what anyone might believe about the history of piled stone on the Massachusetts landscape, one thing is for sure -- the Indians themselves know that many stone structures on the landscape were built by their ancestors. They are fighting for the protection of culturally significant stone structure sites all over the Eastern Woodlands, including in Massachusetts. In 2007, the United South and Eastern Tribes, Inc. passed USET Resolution 2007:037 calling for measures to increase awareness and protection for, "sacred ceremonial stone landscapes found in the ancestral territories," of USET, Inc. member tribes. Both the Mashpee and Gay Head tribes of the Wampanoag Nation are members of USET, Inc.

In light of the overwhelming evidence that Indians in Massachusetts did indeed pile, stack, and build with stone in historic times, and that such sites have archaeological and historic value, I ask that you remove the aforementioned entry in your FAQ. Furthermore, I request that you consider creating a new entry that gives accurate and factual information concerning the historic Indians in Massachusetts and their use of stones.

I urge you to hire experts in this field -- more and more professional archaeologists are emerging everyday to study this forgotten field. I implore you to help guide property owners and developers at discerning colonial stonework from Native American stonework. Stop the destruction of sacred sites. Keep the bulldozers from obliterating the history of a culture and people on our land. We have no idea what amazing discoveries await us.

Sincerely,
James Porter

REFERENCES

BARBER, John Warner. [1836] 1999. Connecticut Historical Collections. Reissue. Storrs, CT.: Bibliopola Press, UConn Co-op.

BEAUCHAMP, William M. 1897. Aboriginal Chipped Stone Implements of New York. In Bulletin of the New York State Museum, Vol. 4, No. 16, (October 1897). Albany: University of the State of New York.

BUTLER, Eva L. 1945. Sweat-Houses in the Southern New England Area. In Bulletin of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society, vol. 7 no. 1 (1945), pp. 10-13. Middleborough: Massachusetts Archaeological Society.

COTHREN, William. 1854. History of Ancient Woodbury, Connecticut. Waterbury, CT: Bronson Brothers.

FIELD, David Dudley. 1819. A Statistical Account of the County of Middlesex in Connecticut. Middletown, CT: Clark & Lyman.

HALL, Edward Hagaman. 1907. Glen Iris, A Great Gift. In The Magazine of History, Vol. V, Feb. 1907, No. 2. New York: William Abbatt.

HALSEY, Francis Whiting. 1901. The Old New York Frontier. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.

HAWLEY, Gideon. [1794] 1968. A Letter from Rev. Gideon Hawley of Marshpee. In Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Ser. 1, Vol. IV. Reprint, New York: Johnson Reprint Corporation.

HAZARD, Caroline. 1893. Thomas Hazard Son of Rob't Call'd College Tom: A Study of Life in Narragansett in the18th Century. Cambridge: The Riverside Press.

HOUGHTON, Frederick. 1922. The Archeology of the Genesee Country. In Researches and Transactions of the New York State Archeological Association, Lewis H. Morgan Chapter, Vol. III, No. 2. Rochester, NY: Lewis H. Morgan Chapter.

IPSWICH Quarterly Court. (March 1667) 1913. In Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County: Volume III - 1662-1667. Salem: Essex Institute.

LAND Records. vol. IX, p. 149. City Hall, New London, CT.

LAWSON, John. 1709. A New Voyage to Carolina. London.

LELAND, Charles G. 1884. The Algonquin Legends of New England. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company

MARYE, William B. 1920. The Old Indian Road. In Maryland Historical Magazine, Vol. XV, No. 2, (June 1920). Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society.

MOOREHEAD, Warren K. 1922. A Report on the Archaeology of Maine. Andover, MA: The Andover Press.

POTTER, Elisha Reynolds. 1835. Early History of Narragansett. Providence, RI: Marshall, Brown, and Company.

PUTNAM, F. W. 1913. Letter to the President of Harvard; The Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology; Reports of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College, 1912-1913. In Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XI, No. 1, Pt. 8 (April 20, 1914). Cambridge: Harvard University.

PYNCHON, John. [1645] 1985. The Pynchon Papers. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.

RANDALL, S. S. 1873. Historical and Personal Reminiscences of Chenango-County, New York. In The Historical Magazine, Vol. 1, 3d Ser. Morrisania, NY: Henry B. Dawson.

RAU, Charles. 1884. Prehistoric Fishing in Europe and North America. Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge 509. Washington: Smithsonian Institution.

READ, Benjamin. 1892. The History of Swanzey, New Hampshire, from 1734 to 1890. Salem, MA: The Salem Press.

SERGEANT, John. [1734] 1911. Historical Memoirs Relating to the Housatonic Indians by Samuel Hopkins. In The Magazine of History, No. 17. New York: William Abbatt.

SIMMONS, William S. 1986. Spirit of the New England Indian Tribes: Indian History and Folklore, 1620-1984. Hanover: University Press of New England.

SPECK, Frank G. 1945. The Memorial Brush Heap in Delaware and Elsewhere. In Bulletin of the Archaeological Society of Delaware, vol. 4, no. 2, May 1945. Wilmington: Archaeological Society of Delaware.

STILES, Ezra. [1762] 1916. Extracts from the Itineraries and Other Miscellanies of Erza Stiles, D.D., LL.D., 1755-1794, ed. Franklin B. Dexter. New Haven: Yale University Press.

TOOKER, William Wallace. 1896. John Eliot's First Indian Teacher and Interpreter, Cockenoe-de-Long Island. New York: Francis P. Harper.

VAN DER DONCK, Adriaen. [1655] 1841. A Description of the New-Netherlands. In Collections of the New-York Historical Society, 2d Ser., Vol. I. New York: D. Appleton & Company.

WEBSTER, Noah. [1788] 1962. Letter to Rev. Ezra Stiles, Jamuary 20, 1788. In American Anthropologist, Vol. 64, August 1962. Washington D.C.: American Anthropological Association.

WILLIAMS, Roger [1643] 1963. Key into the Language of America, J. H. Trumbull, ed. In The Complete Writings of Roger Williams, Vol. I, pp. 61-282. New York: Russell & Russell, Inc.

WILLIAMS, William T. 1833. Letter to a Member of the Publishing Committee; Gardener's Narrative. In Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society: 3rd Ser., Vol. III, pp. 131-160. Cambridge: E. W. Metcalf and Co.

16 comments:

pwax said...

Nicely written.

Norman said...

Excellent! Let us all know if you get a reply and what it says.

mrgames2 said...

Very well written and researched! I have been hoping to see their attitudes change for over 30 years. I would also make sure a copy of this reaches the applicable Indian tribes and organizations.

pwax said...

I want to comment about this statement: "archaeologists have conducted thorough, professional research into such stone piles"

This is false. Archeologists never conducted any thorough research and none was ever published. What you do see is one set of archeologist referring to other archeologists in the same bland, un-sourced, undocumented way. It is why you see use of adjectives like "thorough" and "professional", to bolster the really,really, really truthful nature of what they are claiming.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Great references. Thanks for the important research. Please keep us posted if you get a response.

Valdimar said...

This is very interesting article. I have been working on the possibility
that Icelanders and Greenlanders had immigrated to New England area. 90% of what is in that article applies to customs in Iceland. I have seen cairns in Rhode Island exactly like we have over in Iceland and and if you follow line of standing tall cairns from north of Baffin Island,Labrador in to NF you will understand.The natives say their anshestor. Narragansett Indian said our anchestors are from the North. Our sagas say of tax collectors from Iceland that one round trip took 5 years. They complained to Norse king that was to short time for the job. Take the Narragansett rune stone. That word in name of river at the main departure area in Breidafjorn where Erik the Red departed. Three of those runes are of Icelandic only origin but others general Norse runes.

Valdimar said...

PS. I am not saying the natives had not continue throwing stones on graves that we called drifters graves. We still do that as well as bones (Meat was there lunch) travelers had in the old day´s but those low piles were called ''bone woman''cairns. I think though most other the other stone structure are of Icelandic origin and some Irish as they were part of Icelandic houshold.

Rachel Treichler said...

Thank you for this informative post. I hope the historical society follows your recommendations.

Unknown said...

Good stuff. Thanks for sharing.

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Valdimar said...

Thanks Siegfried.

I see my English writing was not the best but I did not say about those little sacrificing box like square stones pile with tunnel. Some People from NEARA like James Gate call them native sacrificing place where their forefather put meat in side.

We call those structure fox traps. Fox was the only fur animal and predator in Iceland. Those fur animal traps they used meat or even fish for bait. These are also found in the arctic where our Icelandic forefather lived. There is a list skin pelts that were shipped to Iceland from the west. Greenland had very few of those animals.

Valdimar said...

I do have lot of pictures of those stone trap on Google photos is some is interested.

I have been working with friend in RI whom took me to many places over there so have been comparing and just find to much to ignore the fact that Icelanders had been involved and for example merchants usually taught others for their benefits. Foreign Merchants coming in to Icelaand had to get permission to stay over winter often near shore where they would also buy and sell. I could see this in that way on the US east cost.

pwax said...

I want to comment to Valdimar that he does not know New England rock piles. His "fox traps" and "donation piles" and lines of "inukshuk" are simply the rock piles he knows.

Icelanders said...

pwax Tahnks for your comment. How do you know that I do not know about ''piles'' of rocks in New England. You also say.: ''his fox traps'' and ''donation piles'' For your information Inukshuk are not known in Iceland nor Greenland but Cairns like you have on the south side of Narranagset bay in RI. East Labrador have mixed Inukshuk as they are diffrent kind of markers from diffrent people. All the way from NW end of Baffin you have lines of Cairns down to Hudsonbay then another line towards Lake Winnepeg. Another line comes from north of Skagway.AK into inside passage. Incluted is a link of Cairns from Iceland, labrador, Montana and other places yes New England this is only for starters I have site in instagram that may be interesting yes even lots of stone traps. Best Valdimar. Please comment https://photos.app.goo.gl/DAw8iRB4ZUDqoJC1A Click on first pitchure then you will find text.

Icelanders said...

Hi from Iceland Land of cairns and more.

Talking about what we in Iceland call stone traps and you in New England or RI altar or I think Pwax said offering pile. I have over the years studied those traps both in Iceland and compaired to those I have seen in Rhode Island. I want to show you pictures from both places. First c.25 pict are from Iceland and the rest from RI. In RI those traps are of diffrent sizes as there is variety of fur animals but in Iceland the only fur animal was the Artic fox untlil Mink was imported some 80 years or so ago. Enjoy if you will. https://flic.kr/s/aHsk7LSY4b My theory is that icelandic merchants that wintered in RI between trips taught natives to use those stone traps or the merchants used dead time during winters. It was said the natives in RI made offering to their god? with meat but in Iceland the baited those traps with meat. So so and so. https://flic.kr/s/aHsk7LSY4b