Making Pictures in Stone: American Indian Rock Art of the Northeast

273 Pages·2008·3.454 MB·English

by  Edward J. Lenik

Making Pictures in Stone

M A KING PICTU R ES
IN STONE
American Indian Rock Art
of the Northeast
Edward J. Lenik
THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA PRESS
Tuscaloosa
Copyright © 2009
The University of Alabama Press
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0380
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Typeface: Bembo
∞
The paper on which this book is printed meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information S ciences- Permanence of Paper for
Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lenik, Edward J., 1932–
Making pictures in stone : American Indian rock art of the Northeast / Edward J.
Lenik.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8173-1629-7 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8173-5509-8
(pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8173-8077-9 (electronic) 1. Algonquian Indians—
Northeastern States—Antiquities. 2. Petroglyphs—Northeastern States. 3. Rock
paintings—Northeastern States. 4. Picture-writing—Northeastern States.
5. Northeastern States—Antiquities. I. Title.
E99.A35L46 2008
709.01′13089973—dc22
2008014002
For John W. Briggs, natural philosopher and friend, who helped me l ocate
and document rock art sites in Maine.
The makia’wisag were dwarfs who lived in the woods. They were the
ones who made the pictures and scratchings on the rock which stood on
Fort Hill.
—Fidelia A. H. Fielding
Mohegan
When I was a boy, everybody was sent to dream. The old people placed
us on a rock where voices had been heard. Sometimes they would build a
small enclosure to shelter us during the fast. This place was the Dreaming
Rock. And there I received my education. How will you know the Dream-
ing Rock? The markings my grandfather placed on that rock are his visions.
You see, when you look at that rock, it is still dreaming. That’s why those
markings last. The Dreaming Rock’s spirits let you see their dreams.
—Fred Pines ( Sah- kah- Odjew- Wahg- Sah)
Ojibwa

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xv
Preface xvii
1. Algonquian People in the Northeast 1
2. Ezra Stiles: Pioneer Rock Art Researcher in
Eighteenth- Century New England 8
3. Culturally Altered Trees 23
4. Nonportable Rock Art Sites 35
5. Landscapes in Myths and Legends 105
6. Portable Rock Art 116
7. Pendants and Gorgets 118
8. Decorated Tablets, Pebbles, and Cobbles 150
9. Sculpted Heads and Effi gy Faces 165
10. Decorated Stone Tools 191
11. Nonutilitarian Effi gy Stones 208
12. Dreams, Visions, and Signs 219
References 225
Index 243

Illustrations
1. Map of northeast region 2
2. Portrait of Ezra Stiles 9
3. Drawing of Dighton Rock petroglyph by Ezra Stiles 10
4. Stiles’ drawing of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, petroglyphs 12
5. Stiles’ drawing of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, petroglyphs 13
6. Stiles’ drawing of petroglyphs on Portsmouth Rock A 14
7. Stiles’ drawing of petroglyphs on Portsmouth Rock B 15
8. Stiles’ drawing of petroglyphs on Portsmouth Rock C 16
9. Stiles’ 1768 drawing of Tiverton, Rhode Island, petroglyphs 17
10. Stiles’ 1768 drawing of Tiverton, Rhode Island, petroglyphs 18
11. The Hebrew inscriptions on Pinnacle Mountain 21
12. Composite drawings of Iroquois pictographs, ca. 1666 28
13. Tree carving in Newfoundland, Canada 30
14. Wikhegan map on birch bark, ca. 1840 31
15. Wikhegan map on birch bark, ca. 1885 32
16. Wikhegan map on birch bark, ca. 1800 33
17. Boundary Rock, ca. 1899, Nova Scotia 36
18. Pictographs at Black Lake, New York 38
19. Sketch of pictographs on the Saint Lawrence River 39
20. Sketch of pictographs on the Saint Lawrence River 40