Friday, April 14, 2017

Manitou by the Walking Path — everywhere in plain sight

The Park was bulldozed into civilization as we now know it during the 1970's. The spot was once farmland of course - and someone will prove it to you by showing you the old stone walls, recalling a myth that this was "wilderness" until around 1700. Some old stories survive about Indian incursions and an incident or two in the general area, still sometimes popping up in the news media:  http://www.nhregister.com/article/NH/20120926/NEWS/309269896

    I've walked by this spot a bunch of times, as have many people, at the edge of the modern landscaping,  a boulder with some stones piled on it by the walking path:


 Closer, it seems there are two distinct circles:
One has a distinct Manitou Stone inside the circle of cobbles: 
Looking back to the more white quartzy construction, I pondered if this white quartz cobble might perhaps be a similar such Manitou Stone rolled over onto its side, knocked out of place: 



I was a little surprised to see that the west side of the boulder had been "walled," for lack of a better term, stones stacked up against the side of it: 








   “Once one awakens to their presence they (Ceremonial Stone Landscape Features) seem to be everywhere,” writes Diane Dix. https://nolumbekaproject.org/sacred-site-preservation/

     "Finally, I’d say that while many stone features have been destroyed, there are still thousands left. They are hiding in our back yards, in our state forests, along our waterways—everywhere in plain sight. Help others realize why they should be respectful of these when they find them, help them imagine what it might mean to have a religiously-important structure (e.g. something built to honor someone in your family) technically belong to someone else, or be at risk from vandals, pot-hunters, and developers. These stone structures are examples of how humans found a way to interact respectfully and in a mutually-beneficial way with nature. They are Natural Cultural nodes, blueprints for how we will need to think in the future if we are to survive and allow our natural world survive. They are important beyond the specific, and they should give us hope."  Lisa McLoughlin; Nolumbeka. {http://www.nofrackedgasinmass.org/2017/02/19/preserving-native-sites/}


1 comment :

  1. Anonymous1:53 PM

    “Once one awakens to their presence they (Ceremonial Stone Landscape Features) seem to be everywhere,” writes Diane Dix."

    That is because they ARE everywhere, at least in New England. :~)

    dc

    ReplyDelete