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Miscellaneous Native Stone
Constructions
W. Virginia-
Stone pavements, perfectly
level, one being "one hundred and ninety-two feet in length and
about fourteen feet wide." Another was "one hundred and
ninety-two feet in length and about fourteen feet wide" with a
"stone circle crowned hill between them"
New York- The
Oneida Stone, namesake of
the Iroquoian tribe:
"He
regarded the Oneida Stone as a proper emblem or representative of the
divinity which he worshipped. This stone we saw. It is of a rude,
unwrought shape, rather inclining to cylindrical, and of more than an
hundred pounds weight. It bears no resemblance to any of the stones
which are found in that country. From whence it was originally brought,
no one can tell. The tradition is, that it follows the nation in their
removals. From it the name of the nation is derived, for Oneida
signifies the upright stone. When it was set up in the crotch of a tree,
the people were supposed invincible. It is now placed in an upright
position on the earth, at the door of the old man's house. A stout man
can carry this stone about 40 or 50 rods, without resting ; and this is
the manner in which it may be said (with the help of a little
priestcraft) to follow them in their removals."
The stone is reportedly turtle shaped.
Connecticut-
Sleeping Giant in Hamden,
a natural landscape formation invested into Native traditions.
Georgia- Native Americans are associated with two of
Stone Mountain's historical curiosities. The first, named
"Devil's Crossroads," was a flat boulder roughly 200 feet across
and 5 to 10 feet thick. It was cleft by two straight cracks
about four feet wide, one running north-south and the other
running east-west. The cracks joined at right angles in the
center of the boulder and the juncture was capped by another
flat rock 20 feet in diameter. The second curiosity was a wall,
made of loose fragmentary stone, that encircled the top of the
mountain. The wall was discovered by Reverend Francis R. Goulding on a visit in 1822 and later described in a book he
wrote entitled Sapelo. The purpose of the wall has never been
explained. Historians believed it was used for ceremonial
purposes. The wall was so old that the Creek and the Cherokee
did not know who had built it, either. They referred to the
builders as "the old ones."
http://www.stonemountainpark.org/
North Dakota- Medicine Rock State Historic Site (National
Register listed in 1986): From the journal of
Captain Clark, 16
January 1805:
"A delightful day. Put out our clothes to sun. Visited by The
Big White and Big Man. They informed me that several men of
their nation were gone to consult their medison stone*, about 3
days' march to the southwest, to know what was to be the result
of the ensuing year. They have great confidence in this stone,
and say that it informs them of everything which is to happen,
and visit it every spring and sometimes in the summer. "They,
having arrived at the stone, give it smoke, and proceed to the
woods at some distance to sleep. The next morning, return to the
stone, and find marks white and raised on the stone,
representing the peace or war which they are to meet with, and
other changes which they are to meet." This stone has a level
surface about 20 feet in circumference, thick and porous, and no
doubt has some mineral qualities affected by the sun. The Big
Bellies have a stone to which they ascribe nearly the same
virtues."
* Medison Stone - This stone is on Medicine Hill, in Medicine
Rock State Historic Site - Grant County, North Dakota
The telling stone sits on a
state historic site
Alberta-
The Iron Creek meteorite
now in the Provincial Museum of Alberta. This 320-pound
stone was "a medicine-stone of surpassing virtue among the
Indians over a vast territory. No tribe or portion of a tribe
would pass in the vicinity without paying a visit to this great
medicine."
South Dakota-
The Medicine Rock with
"three human footprints of enormous size."
Minnesota-
Pipestone National Monument,
a National Register listed site first
established by Congress in 1937.
Schoolcraft on the sacred
Pipestone Quarry to which
"almost every adult had made the pilgrimage to the sacred rock and drawn
from thence his pipe-stone."
Colorado- A 5,000 year old
stone circle, apparently
ceremonial.
Georgia-
Shaking Rock: "Once the site of
Native-American camping grounds, the shaking Rock is a natural
phenomena that Oglethorpe County shares with Ireland. A 10-15
ton rock sits on top of a mass of granite. The rock was so well
poised it could be moved with the pressure of hands. Time and
the elements have disturbed the balance. . ."
Wisconsin-
Devil's Lake State
Park, home to several earthen effigy mounds including bear-, lynx-
and bird-shaped mounds. The
Sheboygan Indian Mound Park
is home to 18 of an original 34 mounds called the Kletzien Mound
Group that were created between 500 and 1000 A.D. They are
listed on the National Register.
http://agency.travelwisconsin.com/PR/Travel_News/OtherKits/Heritage%20-%20NativeAmerican.shtm
Ohio-
Turtle Rock effigy
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