Bob, Wow! That is Awesome. I would so like to come up a see all this
someday. I really love to read about Native American stuff. We have a
mound near Philadelphia, Ms., called Nanih Waiya that has spiritual
meaning similar to your Mohawk cave.
http://www.nps.gov/history/NR/travel/mounds/nan.htm
Larry
On Aug 14, 10:12 am, [email protected] wrote:
> ENTS,
>
> In response to Joe's request for background information, the cave area in
> Mohawk is an important site for a number of Native Americans who, have on
> occasion, done ceremony there. In 1993 William Commanda, the great elder of
> the Canadian Algonquins, and his assistant, medicine man, Frank Decontie,
> graciously came to the site at the request of Jani and me. Jani and I had met
> William and Frank at Plymouth, MA the day before they came to Mohawk. We had
> met them at their request based on the work that Jani was doing.
> Frank held a ceremony in the cave. It was a powerful event and made me keenly
> conscious of the spiritual powers that Frank commanded even though it was
> early on in our friendship. Afterward the ceremony, I asked Frank what he
> thought about the site and asked him if he sensed some higher purpose for
> Mohawk. Frank was never one to give an answer off the cuff. After due
> deliberation, he said that he thought the area, meaning the area of Mohawk
> Trail State Forest that he had seen, was meant to serve as a place of
> teaching and perhaps a meeting ground for different cultures to share, and
> most importantly, connect with the Earth. After hearing that message Jani and
> I oriented the activities of Friends of Mohawk Trail State Forest toward the
> mission of science and education. Frank Decontie was later to serve on our
> board as a Native American advisor. He also assumed that role for the Eastern
> Native Tree Society. Frank was a behind-the-scenes force in both Friends of
> Mohawk Trail State Forest and the Eastern Native Tree Society.
> A short distance from the cave , the William Commanda and Frank Decontie
> white pines stand vigilant watch over the fine Algonquin Pine stand, which is
> one of the show pieces of Mohawk. The Mahican-Mohawk Recreational Trail runs
> through the middle of the grove.
> I should mention that Frank was present at the dedication of his tree. I
> think it met a lot to him and when I take people on a walk through Mohawk, I
> visit Frank's tree and remember him for the great work he did when he was
> with us physically and the work he continues to do. Frank's tree is one of
> the 10 pines in Massachusetts that reach to the historic height of 160 feet a
> towering tree for a towering Native elder.
> I should note that Native American connections to Mohawk Trail State Forest
> and environs are not known outside of limited circles. The true Native elders
> who visit Mohawk don't seek attention. Each has an important mission to
> fulfill. I think Mohawk serves as a respite for them, a place to walk quietly
> and reaffirm their Earth connections.
> I'll conclude with a list of w hite pines in Mohawk that have been named for
> prominent Native Americans or for Native American groups/nations.
>
> Stand Name of Tree Nation Has visited Mohawk Trail SF
>
> Algonquin William Commanda Algonquin Yes
> Algonquin Frank Decontie Algonquin Yes
> Algonquin Ed Perle Maliseet Yes
> Algonquin Talking Turtle Pequot Yes
> Algonquin Algonquin Pine Algonquin
>
> Cherokee-Choctaw Jani Tree Cherokee and Choctaw Yes
> Cherokee-Choctaw Junaluska Cherokee (historic)
>
> Elders Saheda Mohawk (historic)
> Elders Tecumseh Shawnee (historic)
> Elders Crazy Horse Lakota (historic)
> Elders Sitting Bull Lakota (historic)
> Elders Sacajawea Shoshoni (historic)
>
> Pocumtuck Metacommet Wampanoag (historic)
> Pocumtuck Massasoit Wampanoag (historic)
> Pocumtuck Frank James Wampanoag
>
> Shunpike Joseph Brant Mohawk (historic)
> Shunpike Oneida Pine Oneida
>
> Trees of Peace Jake Swamp Mohawk Yes
> Trees of Peace Joesph Tokwiro Norrton Mohawk Yes
> Trees of Peace Tom Porter Mohawk
> Trees of Peace Ed benedict Mohawk Yes
> Trees of Peace John Brown Narragansett Yes
> Trees of Peace Arvol Looking Horse Lakota Yes
> Trees of Peace Paula Horne Lakota Yes
> Trees of Peace Dave Chief Lakota Yes
>
> Bob
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Joseph Zorzin" <[email protected]>
> To: [email protected]
> Sent: Friday, August 14, 2009 8:07:47 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
> Subject: [ENTS] Re: Mohawk Trail State Forest
>
> I brought my video camera- but Bob moves too fast for me so I only got a few
> minutes of video- which I'll process later. I gave up on the video but did
> manage to take a single still shot of an incredible cave. I've now heard Bob
> talk about the cave at least twice but I don't recall the story. Perhaps Bob
> can give a brief commentary on it.
>
> Joe
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Mike Leonard
> To: 'ENTS'
> Sent: Friday, August 14, 2009 5:49 AM
> Subject: [ENTS] Mohawk Trail State Forest
>
> ENTs ,
>
> Here are a few more shots of our hike with Bob at MTSF. My Biltmore stick was
> just a prop used to give more perspective to the size of some of these giants.
>
> The Forestmeister and Bob are in the second photo looking at some northern
> hardwood old growth. Hey Bob I think Joe deserves a tree to be named after
> him. I think he likes sugar maple the best. How about it Joe ? That one to
> the left of you is a beauty!
>
> Some other things I learned and other observations:
>
> 1. Bob told us of a big pine that was cut at MTSF to provide a new ship mast.
> It wasn’t easy taking down the tree and I think it damaged a few on the way
> down. Afterwards there were inquiries from some wealthy people who also
> wanted a new ship mast from MTSF! Thankfully DCR said it was a one shot deal.
>
> 2. The field with the prairie grass big bluestem was interesting. But it was
> kind of shocking to hear that the UMass Ag Dept. plowed the field in an
> experiment which most likely destroyed any archaeological finds that were
> there!
>
> 3. Bob told us about the bear tree by a cool little cave. There was a bear
> who came around who liked to rub this tree and left a lot of scat, etc. Well
> when a UMass wildlife student went back and told his wildlife prof about this
> they went back and scooped and scraped all the bear evidence and the bear
> never came back! What’s wrong with these UMass people anyway? Well it’s not a
> surprise to me since the UMass forestry professors have betrayed my
> profession as well.
>
> 4. By the Elders white pine grove, there is a swath of old growth hardwoods
> (in the 2 nd photo) consisting of some beautiful sugar maple and ash along
> with some decent size yellow birch. As Bob pointed out, the richness of the
> site is indicated by some of the understory plants like maidenhair fern. Even
> if this area was not old growth, it would not be conducive for active forest
> management because of the steep slopes and soils which stay wet a great part
> of the year.
>
> All of this proves that our public lands need more than just Forest
> Management Plans. They need complete Resource Management Plans that look at
> all of the resources of these forests and then we can do a better job of
> zoning the wilderness areas and those areas where silviculture and timber
> production can be done.
>
> The RMPs need to be done first and then the Forest Mgt. Plans can be done for
> those areas that will be actively managed. But as always the battle will be
> how much should be wilderness.
>
> Mike- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
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