Category: Munsee

Our nightly visitors for the past year have been possums. Excuse me — opossums.

Possums without the “o” are phalangeriformes. (I know, it’s hard to pronounce.) They are arboreal marsupials and are native to Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, Tasmania and the Solomon Islands. They might be related to kangaroos.

It’s opossums (with the “o”) who live in North and South America. They’re part of the Didelphimorphia (another funny word) order of marsupials. The Virginia Opossum is the only opossum group found in the United States and Canada, although they also extend south to Central America.

The name “opossum” seems to have originated from the Proto-Algonquian native American tribe. The original word (something like “wa-pa-themwa”) could mean “white dog” or “dog-like beast.” Early American colonists described them as “head like a swine, tail like a rat, and the bigness of a cat.”

Somehow wa-pa-themwa morphed into opossum but many folks simply call them “possum.”

There are approximately 103 kinds of opossums in the world, ranging from the pygmy opossum to the domestic cat-sized Virginia Opossum.

As the old Santa Fe Trail ran from Missouri through Kansas to New Mexico, our property seems to be in the path of the Old Opossum Trail. Where it starts and ends, I don’t know, but those critters like our cat food!

The “dog-like-beast” I trapped early this morning was the 13th opossum we caught, and today is Friday. Therefore, I’ve named it “Friday, the 13th.”

Opossums prefer wooded areas and many live in hollow trees or stumps. But they’ll accept abandoned dens of other animals, rock crevices and wood piles. And since humans have invaded the forests, opossums have adapted to living under houses and sheds. Homeowners consider them pests as they often cause damage to property, lawns and gardens.

They may grow as…

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Robert Chartrand of Chartrand Geoarchaeological Solutions of Williamsburg, Virginia, uses GPS technology to survey an area of the Elizabethan Gardens that archaeologists believe could potentially contain artifacts from the Algonquian village of Roanoac, whose members interacted with English explorers in 1584. Photo: Catherine Kozak

ROANOKE ISLAND — At first take, it was as dull as watching someone mow a lawn. But the man pushing an odd, three-wheeled cart back and forth over an open, grassy area at the Elizabethan Gardens on Wednesday could help archaeologists find one of the most significant locations in Colonial American history: the place where Native Americans had their first contact with the English.

“He’s looking for anomalies below 9 feet,” explained Eric Klingelhofer, a veteran archaeologist and founding member of the nonprofit First Colony Foundation, who was observing nearby.

Robert Chartrand, owner of Chartrand Geoarchaeological Solutions of Williamsburg, Virginia, was using GPS technology to survey about a fifth of an acre within the gardens that archaeologists believe could potentially contain artifacts from the Algonquian village of Roanoac, whose members interacted with English explorers in 1584.

Klingelhofer, one of the foundation’s vice presidents for research, said that reexamination of a previous 1953 exploration done by National Park Service archaeologist Jean C. Harrington indicated that there may be more to find.

During a dig that year at the Elizabethan Gardens, which is owned by the Roanoke Island Historical Association and is supported as a subsidiary of the Garden Club of North Carolina Inc., Harrington had…

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FCF archaeologists zero in on Elizabethan Gardens as site of Native American Village 

By Submitted Story on April 11, 2023

(First Colony Foundation)

This information was released by the First Colony Foundation on April 11.

Ground penetrating radar tests at Roanoke Island’s Elizabethan Gardens may soon reveal the location of an Algonquian village, where local natives entertained the first English explorers to America’s shores in 1584, a spokesman for First Colony Foundation said. Results are expected by May.

The expanded survey, to begin this week, will again be conducted on behalf of First Colony by Chartrand Geoarchaeological Solutions of Williamsburg, VA., which conducted initial ground tests at the Gardens site in January. The goal is to locate evidence for the as yet undiscovered Algonquian village of Roanoac. When completed, the electronic survey will create three-dimensional views of the site, buried beneath at least six feet of sand dune.

“Roanoke is such a place of mystery,” says Eric Klingelhofer, one of FCF’s Vice Presidents for Research. “So much has already been lost to the sands of time, which is why finding the site of this Algonquian village will be an important step forward in in understanding America’s beginnings so long ago.”

Captains Phillip Amadas and Arthur Barlow visited the village during their 1584 reconnaissance mission, aimed at establishing the first English settlement in America. The explorers described the village as consisting of “of nine houses, built of cedar, and fortified round with sharp trees,” as protection against their enemies.

“The Elizabethan Gardens is a memorial to the Lost Colonists and will forever be a part of that mystery,” says Theresa Armendarez, the Gardens’ executive director. “To find artifacts from that time in America’s early history would be an exciting addition to our unique history.”

RIHA historian lebame houston adds: “First Colony Foundation’s research and discoveries have brought us a giant…

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Breadcrumb Trail Links

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Author of the article:

M. Eleanor McGrath  •  Standard-Freeholder community editorial board

Published Apr 07, 2023  •  6 minute read

Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe’s tribal historic preservation manager Bonnie Hartley reads text that was provided with a traditional Mohican basket returned to the community in April 2023, in Stockbridge-Munsee Band Mohican Nation. M. Eleanor McGrath/Special to the Cornwall Standard-Freeholder/Postmedia Network Photo by M. Eleanor McGrath /M. Eleanor McGrath/Special to the Standard-Freeholder

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A significant retraction and repatriation happened in the Vatican this 2023 Easter season.

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Starting with the historical agreement by the Vatican to return, to its rightful owners Greece, three 2,500-year-old Parthenon marble sculpture fragments. And then, what might be interpreted as Pope Francis’ acknowledgement and extension of his first visit to Canada and specific intention to offer an apology to First Nations, Inuit and Metis in 2022, was the Vatican’s formal repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery on March 30.

The statement released on March 30th by the Vatican states in point No. 5, “It is in the context of listening to indigenous peoples that the Church has heard the importance of addressing the concept referred to as the ‘doctrine of discovery.’”

Further on, in point No. 6: “The ‘doctrine of discovery’ is not part of the teaching of the Catholic church. Furthermore, Pope Francis has urged, ‘Never again can…

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A “fragile chain” of barrier islands that shadows the mainland coast of North Carolina for 200 miles, the Outer Banks are well-known in the US for their “sandy, windswept beauty” and rich folklore. And yet they still feel “quiet” and “remote”, says Jacqui Agate in The Daily Telegraph – and make for a wonderful escape from the pressures of modern life. Algonquian-speaking tribes had lived here for 1,000 years when, in 1587, the English established a colony on Roanoke Island – their first in the New World – that later mysteriously vanished. The islands became a playground of the pirate Edward Teach – better known as Blackbeard – and in 1903, the Wright brothers achieved the first controlled, powered flight here.

In the south, the Cape Hatteras National Seashore stretches for 70 miles, its national park status prohibiting development. There are no “tacky souvenir shops” – just miles of woodland, golden beaches and “grass-flecked” dunes. At the park’s southern tip lies Ocracoke, where Blackbeard was slain by Lieutenant Robert Maynard and his crew in 1718, his severed head “hung on Maynard’s bowsprit as a grotesque trophy”. In Ocracoke Village, tree-lined Howard Street is named for the Howard family, descendants of the pirate’s quartermaster. Today, they run Village Craftsmen, “a charming shop filled with curios” made by local artisans. Heading north, you might stop at the Wright Brothers National Memorial, where there’s an interesting museum. Drawn here from Ohio partly by the islands’ steady wind, the brothers then fell in love with the area.

The land where the Lost Colony of 1587 stood is now the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, and another small museum. Still further north, development has “boomed”, but even here there are “postcard sights”, not least the wild horses of Currituck County, most likely the descendants of working horses that escaped from…

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April 5, 2023

New minor in Native American and Indigenous Studies finds strength in partnerships with New Jersey tribal communities

Posted in: Homepage News, Humanities and Social Sciences

Farrah Fornarotto, a junior majoring in Anthropology, with minors in Archaeology and Native American and Indigenous Studies, paints a garden sign with the Munsee language word for carrot.

A month ago, with fields on the Munsee Three Sisters Medicinal Farm empty and snow-covered, a group of Montclair State University students and their professors began the work of getting the farm ready for spring. Hand painting garden signs, they joined efforts to advance Indigenous food sovereignty, and – in writing on those signs “pehpeechkweekush” for “carrot” and other crops in the Munsee language – they were also planting seeds to help revive a Native American language.

“It’s definitely a great place to start, but hopefully it’s not where we stop,” says Farrah Fornarotto, a junior majoring in Anthropology, with minors in Archaeology and the new Native American and Indigenous Studies. “There’s a lot to tackle.”

The challenges date back decades. Munsee Three Sisters Farm provides traditional food for the Turtle Clan of the Ramapough Lunaape (Lenape) Nation, a tribe that can no longer safely farm its own land in Upper Ringwood, New Jersey. Environmental and health issues caused by industrial dumping have led to a generational decline in the Turtle Clan members’ ability to practice their culture, including the Munsee language, which is at risk of becoming as dormant as the winter fields.

An intensive, field-based partnership with the Turtle Clan Ramapough includes work at the Munsee Three Sisters Farm, where Montclair students and professors are helping the tribe’s Indigenous food sovereignty and language revitalization efforts….

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Ephraim Williams’ house in Stockbridge, built 1750-1760. Photo courtesy of Carole Owens.

Dateline Stockbridge: I came to the village 50 years ago. In a half-century I learned its old ways and watched them change. Norman Rockwell images made Stockbridge America’s hometown. The intervening 50 years made Stockbridge a microcosm of America—an echo of old America coping with change.

Sheffield was founded in 1733. Shortly thereafter, the notion of a mission in the westernmost part of Hampshire County was discussed. (Before 1761, Berkshire County was part of Hampshire County).

From 1734, there were negotiations with the Stockbridge-Munsee band of the Mohican Nation about land ownership and embracing Christianity. In March 1736, the General Court in Boston delineated six square miles (23,040 acres) and identified it as “Indian Town.” The land was north of Sheffield along the Housatonic River. A charter was drawn up in 1737. Finally, in 1739, the village was incorporated and named Stockbridge.

That year, John Stoddard surveyed the township. The population was six “English” families and fewer than 50 members of the Stockbridge-Munsee band. Stoddard laid out 32 meadow lots along the river for the Stockbridge-Munsee band. The lots were between two and ten acres each.

The six white families, called “the English,” were John Sergeant, Timothy Woodbridge, his brother Joseph, Ephraim Williams, Ephraim Brown, and Josiah Jones. Each was granted 400 acres totaling 2,400 acres, or 10 percent of the 23,040 acres. The Stocbridge-Munsee retained 90 percent.

Stockbridge was divided between The Hill and The Plain. (Today they are called Prospect Hill Road and Main Street). Generally, the English lived on The Hill; they believed the air was better the higher one lived and good air was the secret to good health.

Generally, the Stockbridge-Munsee band lived on the…

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The parts of an ongoing effort to renovate Corry Area Middle-High School are well-oiled and moving swiftly.

Mike Munsee, director of buildings and grounds, took some school board members and staff on a tour of the renovation areas on Monday.

Redoing a couple of the bathrooms at Corry Area Middle-High School is part of a larger renovation plan. Above is a boy’s bathroom has gotten new tiling and lights.

Chloe Forbes/The Corry Journal

The over $20 million renovation is scheduled to be completed in June of 2024. Munsee explained that the renovation has been broken up into phases as part of a strategy to minimize disruption to the school’s traffic flow and everyday operations.

Phase three is about 80% complete, according to Munsee, who estimates the crew will move into the next phase at the beginning of April.

Up to this point, a section of the school has had HVAC duct work and hot water piping installed, along with new ceiling grid and tiles, LED lighting and ceilings lowered to fit the new overhead created by the systems.

Two of the bathrooms are also being renovated as part of this phase.

The same scope of work is completed in each phase, just in different sectioned-off areas of the school. 

Munsee said this upcoming phase may prove to be the most challenging as it will cut off traffic flow through the library.

Board members Jason Halfast, left, Justin Amy and Jon Maker look up at the duct work being completed during the renovation at the middle-high school.

Chloe Forbes/The Corry Journal

Board member Bill Nichols asked why this work couldn’t be completed in the summer when it would be less disruptive to the flow of traffic. Munsee said…

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The Wendigo is a horrifying creature of Algonquian Native American legends said to devour human flesh to survive a harsh winter. But are they only part of Native American mythology or are there really cannibalistic humanoids waiting in forests for their next victim?

The Algonquians are some of the most extensive and numerous of the Native American groups in North America , and they once lived all along the Atlantic Coast and the Great Lakes Region. However, Wendigo-like creatures are also found in the legends of other Native American tribes, including the neighbors of the Algonquians, the Iroquois. Amongst these peoples, a creature known as the Stonecoat bears some similarities to the Wendigo. But, what is a Wendigo?

Have you ever asked yourself “what is a Wendigo,” this is a depiction of one. ( creepypasta.wikia.com)

A Wendigo’s Insatiable Hunger

Roughly translated, the word Wendigo (also spelt Windigo and Windego) means “the evil spirit that devours mankind.” Another translation, said to be made by a German explorer around 1860, equates the word Wendigo with “ cannibal.” Wendigoag are said to have an insatiable hunger for human flesh – no matter how much flesh they eat, they remain hungry.

This hunger is reflected in their appearance, and accordingly the Wendigo are described as being extremely thin. Despite their gaunt physiques, Wendigo are described by some as giants, measuring at about 4.5 m (14.8 ft) in height.

Whilst there are slight variations as to the physical description of this creature amongst the different Algonquian peoples, it is generally agreed that Wendigo have glowing eyes, long yellowed fangs and long tongues. Most Wendigo are also said to have sallow and yellowish skin, though others…

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