Page 1 Volume 3, Issue 3

Volume 3, Issue 3 September 2007

T H E R E G IO N ’ S A R C H A E O L OG I C A L , C U L T U R A L A N D H I S TO R I C A L R E S O U R C E
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Studying Wampum
Before Sullivan Marched Part 2
Spanish Hill Presentation
4th Drumbeats & Bus Tour!
Sloat Family Donates Collection
New Spanish Hill Book
SRAC Around the Community
Our First Home
Coming Events
Check Your Sources (Editorial)
SRAC Crossword Puzzle
SRAC Visit to NYS Museum
Membership Form
S T U DY I N G W A M P U M : A V I S I T T O T H E O N E I DA
1 INDI AN N AT ION BY M A RSH A LL B E CK E R, P HD
1
6 During the winter of 1674-5 members of
8
the Five Nations Iroquois made their most
disastrous raid into Pennsylvania. Ever
8 since they destroyed the Erie, around
8 1653, they had been battering the Sus-
quehannock. With the complicity of the
9
Maryland colonists, who coveted the
10 lands to their north, the Five Nations scat-
10 tered the Susquehannock Confederacy
11
and left all of central Pennsylvania wide
open. Some of these Susquehannock
12 took refuge among the Lenape, who pro-
13 tected their autonomy in exile. These
Susquehannock may have returned home
14
in 1699.

In 1700 the Five Nations Iroquois de-

manded a visit from the Lenape, who had
sheltered one remnant of the Susquehan-
nock Indian confederacy. The reasons
to
are unclear, but we know that after a ten
plans year delay the Lenape organized an ex- Marshall Becker examines wampum belt
Make aturday,
S
spend r 13, 2007 pedition to the Five Nations. The party
c tob e ts was led by the young Sassoonan
O mbea stopped first to treaty with the Provincial
at Dru Time & (Allumapees), and they brought with them Council of Pennsylvania, and to show
g h
Throu l BUS four belts and a number of strings of
specia e page 8 (Continued on page 2)
! Se wampum. This Lenape delegation
TOUR ore info!
for m
WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE SULLIVAN MARCHED PART 2 BY
DICK COWLES
dezvoused at the head of the Canisteo
By the spring of 1778 all of the known To- River where they made dozens of dug
ries had left the Wyoming valley, but their out canoes and proceeded down to Ti-
• Our Vision raiding along the entire Pennsylvania fron- oga and Queen Esthers Town. Here they
The Susquehanna River Ar- tier, although continuous, had not been picked up many Seneca warriors includ-
chaeological Center of Native effective in driving back the remaining set- ing Gencho, the only child of Queen
Indian Studies (S.R.A.C.) is tlers, or even slowing their steady migra- Esther by her Seneca husband Ego-
dedicated to education, re- tion. Frustrated by the virtual stalemate, hund. Gencho had recently arrived at
search and preservation of the the British commanders at Ft. Niagara manhood and was being groomed to be
Native American archaeologi- made plans for a decisive campaign down a chief. This would be his first battle, his
cal, cultural and historical as- the Susquehanna to clear out the entire initiation as a warrior and his mother de-
sets of the Twin Tier Region Wyoming area. Colonel John Butler was cided to join the expedition more as a
of Northeastern PA and placed in command of 450 Tory Ranger spectator than a participant or a leader.
Southern NY. and 800 Seneca Warriors under chief Kay-
ingwaurto. This sizeable expedition ren- (Continued on page 2)

Become a member
The Susquehanna of SRAC
River Archaeological Center oftoday! See
Native Indian back
Studies page for more
~ www.SRACenter.org information.
~ email Info@SRACenter.org
Page 2
STUDYING WAMPUM: A V I S I T
(Continued from page 1)
them the belts and recite the orations
that accompanied these important
pieces that would be presented to the
Five Nations. They wanted the Council
to understand that this was a peaceful
mission that was being undertaken.
Nearly 300 years later another Lenape
made a parallel trip, but a very special
trip to see the wampum bands held by
the Oneida Indian Nation, Inc. The ar-
rangements took only a few months,
rather than ten years, and the travel
time was a leisurely two days rather
than two months. As the Lenape who
made the trip this time around, I can
truthfully say that the results were
equally successful.
There are three central questions we
can ask about each of the approxi-
mately 300 surviving bands of wam-
pum. First, who made it; second, to
whom was it given (presented); third,
why was this “belt” presented. We now
know that wampum bands (and strings)
made for diplomatic purposes, com-
monly called “belts” in English and col-
lier in French, were the most common
WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE
(Continued from page 1)
The Wyoming settlers had by this time
become aware of an army moving
towards them, but did not know how
large. So, they dispatched a runner to
Stroudsburg, the nearest source of
help, and started working frantically
day and night strengthening their de-
fenses. There were several, so called
forts in the area but only two of them
were strong enough to be of any use
holding off a large attacking force.
One of these had the strange name
Forty Fort. It was on the west side of
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TO THE O N E I DA IN D I AN N AT I O N
type of wampum. Diplomatic belts are
only one category of bands that fea-
tures a panel of wampum beads, but
they had elaborate protocols for their
use.
Another type of wampum band was
used only within the Catholic convert
communities. These “ecclesiastical”
bands were made for presentation to
other groups within the Catholic
Church, being presented as “calls”
made to the faithful. We often know
who produced ecclesiastical belts and
to whom they were presented because
the missionaries involved in their fabri-
cation recorded these events, and the
recipients often made note of their re-
ceipt. A third category of wampum in-
cludes ornamental or decorative bands
of wampum (“personal” wampum)
made and used within the same tribe.
These generally remained among their
makers, but some may have been
given as personal gifts to people out-
side the community.
The Five Nations of the League of the
Iroquois formed the center of the Core
Area of wampum use. Within the
League the Oneida people generated,
S U L L I VA N MARCHED
the river across
from present
day Wilkes-
Barre and here
they decided to
make their
stand. So it
was here they
feverishly
strengthened
their stockade
and collected
all of their guns, ammunition and
supplies.
The first shots were fired at a skir-
mish a few miles up stream where a
small group of farmers had insisted,
against wiser advice, on doing some
last minute crop tending. A party of
Butler's Indian scouts stalked and
killed several of them, and when a
mounted party later went out to re-
cover the bodies they, in turn, found
and killed two young Indians. One of
Volume 3, Issue 3
CONT.
presented and received enormous
numbers of diplomatic wampum bands,
generally called “belts.” Most of those
received by the Oneida may have been
held at Onondaga, where the Mora-
vians Charles Frederick and David
Zeisberger were resident in 1754 into
1755 to learn the language. During that
period of the mid-eighteenth century
the “Six Nations Council at Onondaga
had custody of a ‘whole pile’ of wam-
pum belts” that were temporarily in the
cabin occupied by the two Moravian
brethren. Although most of the diplo-
matic belts may have been held at
Onondaga, condolence wampum,
wampum used in ornamentation, and
any possible ritual items would have
been held at various Oneida and other
villages.
Also of note is the fact that very few
examples of wampum now can be
found within the Core Area of wampum
use. Thankfully, the Oneida are actively
interested in gathering and preserving
any examples of these now rare items,
and in understanding how, when, and
by whom they were used.
(Continued on page 3)
PART 2 CONT.
them was shot in the river, the other
was killed on land, and it was on him
they took out all of their vengeance,
scalping him and mutilating his body.
He was Gencho, Queen Esther’s
only son.
A short time afterward Queen Esther
discovered her son's mutilated body.
The young man in whom she and
Echohund had invested their most
cherished hopes lay dead, before
her unbelieving eyes, his mutilated
body dishonored.
What happened next is part of what
is one of the more intense of many
ongoing debates to come out of the
revolutionary war.
During the next two days the raiders
captured three of the smaller outlying
forts without a fight and burned and
(Continued on page 4)
Page 3 Volume 3, Issue 3

STUDYING WAMPUM: A V I S I T TO THE O N E I DA IN D I AN N AT I O N CONT.

(Continued from page 2)
Since every small bit of data helps us
to understand the general issues re-
lating to wampum, I recently made a
study trip with Deb Twigg to examine
the two wampum cuffs held by the
Oneida Indian Nation, Inc. (OIN). The
results of this specific piece of re-
search, which included making note of
two important belts also owned by the
Oneida, deserves to be shared with
all people interested in the Oneida as
well as the general subject of wam-
pum. Anyone interested in any of the
kinds of objects made by Native
American peoples, especially objects
that continue to be of importance in
understanding our shared history, will
be pleased to know what was learned.
The four bands of wampum that we
observed in June 2007 were pur-
chased by the OIN during the 1990s,
in two separate transactions. The
cuffs now held by the OIN had first
been reported by Beauchamp in
1898.
rows deep. It has nine open
squares of white beads ar-
ranged diagonally. The founda-
tion of both is of twine.”
(Beauchamp 1901: 426)
The caption for Beauchamp’s Plate
23: fig. 254 identifies the long band
with five slashes as an “Ordinary belt
of seven rows from near Georgian
bay, Canada.” Beauchamp (1901)
illustrated these two cuffs, and many
of the other items that he identified,
with drawings rather than photo-
graphs. After the 1901 publication,
these cuffs and the related belt that
came from Georgian Bay with them
disappeared from public view.
Recently these two cuffs “re-emerged”
together with the long, 7-row, five
slash dark wampum belt that had
been secured in Canada by Goodwin.
In 2005 the cuffs were prominently
featured in a section of the website of
the Oneida Indian Nation under the
heading "Wampum at the Shakowi
Cultural Center." The Center is lo-
cated ca. 35 miles (50km) east of
Syracuse, NY. By January of 2007 an
even more detailed photograph of
these cuffs was posted on this web-
site (www.oneida-
nation.net/culture/wampum.html) al-
lowing for better descriptions to be
made. Dr. Anthony Wonderley, then
the Tribal Historian, put me in touch
with Brian Patterson (Bear Clan Rep-
resentative to the Tribal Council, OIN
and recently elected President of the
United South and Eastern Tribes) to
make arrangements to have access to
their collections specifically for re-
search on wampum. Mr. Patterson
kindly made all the necessary ar-
rangements for this study to be con-
ducted for the purpose of scholarly
publication. In addition, copies of all
relevant documents were generously
provided by the OIN for this research.
One of the two most important pieces
of information learned from studying
the Oneida wampum concerns their
origins. What I had called The
“Beauchamp Cuffs” are now known to
have come from near Georgian Bay,
Canada ca. 1895. This region, once
home of the Wendat (Huron), strongly
suggests that they were made by the
Wendat, most of whom were long
gone from the area by 1895. Groups
of Wendat who did not leave may
have retained these bands. The pos-
sibility that in 1895 these bands were
in the hands of members of another
culture is possible, but more likely
they were held by traditionalists
among the Wendat, who now are rec-
ognized as the only makers of this
category of wampum band.
The second important finding is that
both cuffs at Oneida include only

“ In 1895 S. H. Goodwin sent

the writer three small belts for
examination, which he had
from near the Georgian bay
[sic], Canada. Fig. 254 shows
one of these, being an ordinary
belt of seven rows, having five
rows [slashes] of white beads
arranged diagonally on the
dark ground. The others were
of unusual form, an expanding
basket shape, broad at the top.
Fig. 169 shows one of these
[that is] 28 rows deep, having
five open white diamonds on a Oneida-Goodwin-Beauchamp Wampum Cuffs
dark ground. Fig. 170 is of the (Continued on page 6)
same general form, and is 27

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Page 4 Volume 3, Issue 3

WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE S U L L I VA N MARCHED PART 2 CONT.

(Continued from page 2)

plundered outlying
farms. Inside Forty
Fort there were
almost continual
arguments about
whether to march
out and engage
the enemy or to
wait for the hoped
for relief column.
Nobody realized
they were outnum-
bered three to one.
The senior officers
generally advised
caution and waiting
but the younger
ones were chaffing
for a fight. Finally,
after some taunting
charges of coward-
ice the officers
agreed to fight and
they sallied forth in good marching
order. A lot of interesting history has
been written about the tactics and the
progress of the battle but it all can be
summed up in a short sentence: They
marched straight into a classic am-
bush. The first volley was a total sur-
prise and took a heavy toll, particu-
larly among the officers. John Butler's
hidden crescent shaped line not only
had the marchers outnumbered, it
also had them partly flanked before
the fight even began, and it steadily
closed around them as the battle pro-
gressed. The marchers fought
bravely and with cool determination
for a considerable time but when they
finally realized they were being sur-
rounded they broke and ran in panic.
Most were run down and killed as
they fled. A few were captured alive
and held as prisoners. Less than a
hundred made it back to Forty Fort.
Most of the officers were killed. By a
twist of fate, one of the casualties of
the battle is now known by historians
to have been one of the Paxton
Gang.
Later that day fourteen of the captives
were brought to a spot along the riv-
erbank where the bank drops steeply
about fifteen feet to the flood plain.
Here also is a large oval shaped flat
rock setting near the bank. The rock,
a little larger than the average coffee
table, is still there today known as
Queen Ester's rock. One of the four-
teen prisoners was named Lebius
Hammond and another was named
Joseph Elliot. Lebius Hammond tells
that small groups of the captives were
forced to kneel with their heads on
the rock while Queen Ester, still
crazed by the death and dishonoring
of Gencho, carried out her vows of
vengeance. She personally executed
them, one at a time, by smashing
their skulls with a large war club. Le-
bius Hammond's version of the story
goes on to say that he and Elliot were
at the rock together and were about
to become the last two victims. He
noticed that whenever Queen Ester
was poised with the war club high
over her head, the Indians seemed to
become transfixed by all of the gore,
the sheer drama of the event and the
anticipation of the coming blow. He
whispered to Elliot, "When she gets
that club over my head, lets bolt and
try to get out of here." With cool
nerves, precise timing and a surge of
fear driven strength, that is exactly
what they did and in an instant they
were both free, running desperately
for their lives down the steep bank
and into the woods in the lower flats.
After a few minutes of desperate
sprinting they separated. Elliot
headed for the river and Lebius kept
on a path through the woods. Then
he tripped and fell headlong down a
low bank into a tangled mass of
brambles and brush. His thoughts at
the time were that surely he would
now be caught and killed, but to his
surprise his pursuers ran on by him
and he was able to remain hidden
until darkness allowed him to make
his way back to Forty Fort. Elliot in
the meantime made it to the river
and, being a strong swimmer, was
able to make it out into the main
stream before his pursuers started
firing. Then by swimming under water
as much as possible he avoided all
but one of their shots. That one hit
him just below his right shoulder and
disabled his right arm. Although pain-
fully wounded he was still able to
swim on his back and keep going
until he reached safety on the far
shore. Once on land he stopped his
bleeding by stuffing moss into his
wound and made his way cautiously
back to Forty Fort.
There is an opposing side to this
story told by all of my Indian friends,
both Delaware and Seneca. They
insist that Queen Ester was much too
refined and gentle a person to have
ever taken part in such a brutal orgy
(Continued on page 5)

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Page 5
WHAT HAPPENED
PART 2 CONT.
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BEFORE
(Continued from page 4)
of human slaughter. They are familiar with
similar versions of this story which are told
in virtually all of the white history books,
and which are all deeply hurtful and dis-
turbing to them. They further point out that
the executioner was described as a very
tall muscular woman and Queen Ester,
although tall and regal, was refined and
slight of build. They also point out that she
would have still been in mourning at this
time and unable to take part in any such
public display. My final comments will be
based on another episode still to come,
and so must wait until then.
On the 4th of July 1778 Colonel Butler de-
manded the surrender of Forty Fort and all
of its guns, ammunition and other military
supplies. He promised to protect the lives
of the survivors in hIe fort providing they
would, in turn, sign a sworn statement that
they would never again raise arms against
the king. He refused to promise to protect
any of their property. They, of course, had
little confidence in his promises. They were
the kind routinely demanded in all similar
situations, and history records they were
just as routinely broken. But they had no
option, and after some token attempts at
negotiation they accepted his terms with
only slim hopes that he would keep his
promise about their personal safety. The
Indians of course were flush with victory
and wanted more bounty from scalps and
prisoners. Butler, however, was able to
persuade them that if they wanted any
more help from the king they would have to
obey his orders. There are many stories of
atrocities after the surrender of the fort but
most historians today believe them to be
exaggerations, amplified by every retelling.
There was plunder on a grand scale, as
was standard practice by all sides in war-
fare at that time. The Indians and Butlers
Rangers both took part in the looting, and
everything of value was either carried away
or burned. The owners watched helplessly
as their most prized possessions were
carried away, often demanded and physi-
cally removed from the wearer. Finally the
buildings and crops were all burned and
destroyed. When all of the looting, burning
and destroying was finished, Butler and his
army headed back to Niagara, confident
they had at last taught the rebels that their
Volume 3, Issue 3
S U L L I VA N MARCHED
cause was doomed, and their only safety
lay in leaving the Wyoming valley forever.
The survivors, stunned by the overwhelming
loss of so many husbands, sons and fathers
were now homeless, without food and with
only the clothes on their back. Many of them
were too elderly, sick or wounded to con-
sider the sixty-mile trail over rough, moun-
tainous wilderness to Stroudsburg. But
there was no alternative. Most of them
banded together, and only a few of the
weakest perished on the trail. Among the
survivors was a twelve-year-old girl named
Mary Whittakar. She and her father had
moved to Wyoming from Minisink, only a
few years earlier and they both made it
back to Stroudsburg and Minisink. Mary
insisted for the rest of her life that Joseph
Brant had saved her life while the Indians
were pillaging inside the fort. All of the set-
tlers were cowering in corners, expecting to
be killed when Joseph Brant held her up by
her hair with one hand while he painted her
face red with the other. "That will save you,"
Brant told her. However, Mary was mis-
taken. Joseph Brant was never at Wyoming
that summer. He was known, beyond all
question, to have been 70 miles away with
his Mohawks at Oquaga. Probably, the In-
dian chief who painted her face red was
Kayingwaurto, the Seneca Chief. Further-
more, a thoughtful reconstruction of the
scene leads to the following set of reason-
able conclusions. Mary was probably not
the only girl to have her face painted red by
the Indian chieftain and the painting was
almost certainly done in plain sight of all the
other frightened survivors in the fort. So
Mary's mistaken identification of Joseph
(Continued on page 7)
Page 6 Volume 3, Issue 3

STUDYING WAMPUM: A V I S I T TO THE O N E I DA IN D I AN N AT I O N CONT.

(Continued from page 3)
wampum beads. No glass beads have
been used in their construction, either
intentionally or accidentally. This sug-
gests that they were not purely decora-
tive. Decorative wampum bands may
include glass and/or brass or copper
beads as part of the construction.
Wampum bands used in diplomatic
contexts have only pure wampum
beads, although an accidental inclu-
sion may appear from time to time.
This leads me to believe that wampum
cuffs may have been official badges of
office, worn only as coat cuffs or
gauntlets by ritual or political leaders
among the Wendat.
We believe that wampum cuffs were
made and used only by the Wendat,
but diplomatic belts generally were
made for presentation. Although the
cuffs probably were made by the Wen-
dat, the long band appears to be typi- match the description with a known
cal belt made for formal presentation band.
(“prestation”) at a diplomatic meeting,
or treaty. If the five-slash belt from We continue our studies of wampum
Georgian Bay was “held” by the Wen- as an important part of understanding
dat, and is of the size generally used Oneida cultural history, and the history
for significant requests made at trea- of each of the many cultures that inter-
ties, it most probably had been made acted in interesting ways within the
and given to them by one of the Five area that forms the present State of
Nations Iroquois or by a colonial gov- New York. Our slow progress towards
ernment. The important question is answering some of our questions de-
now - who made and presented this pends on the co-operation of many
belt? people. The generous cooperation and
shared interest of Brian Patterson and
Over the years I have found that very the Oneida Indian Nation in pursuing
few of the hundreds of diplomatic belts these goals and in furthering wampum
that are mentioned in treaty minutes research is deeply appreciated.
are described well enough to allow us
to match a surviving belt to a specific
event. Most are noted only as “A Belt”
to indicate that a belt had been pre-
sented at that point. The few belts that
are described at all are noted only as
“A Large Belt” or as “A Belt of Seven
Rows.” The two belts now held by the
Oneida Indian Nation are of a size that
could be called “medium.” In the many
surviving documents such belts are
usually noted only at the end of a
statement or request, where the scribe
notes “A Belt” to indicate that the par-
ticular speaker at the treaty has made
the presentation. A “small” belt is
sometimes noted in association with a
minor request, and a “large” belt may
be noted after a very significant re-
quest has been made. In almost all
cases the design elements, if any, are Marshall Joseph Becker, Ph D is an
not described. Only in exceptional SRAC Advisory Board Member and a
cases do we have a record that allows Senior Fellow in Anthropology at the
us to know what the belt really looked University of Pennsylvania.
like, and in even fewer cases can we
25 July 2007.

S PA N I S H H I L L P R E S E N T A T I O N AT THE W AV E R L Y O P E R A H O U S E
SRAC is sponsoring a presentation by Ted Keir and Deb Twigg, on Sunday September 23rd
at 3 pm at the Waverly Opera House in Waverly, NY.

At 3pm, Twigg will give a one hour presentation concerning her ongoing research on Span-
ish Hill, and Keir will be on hand displaying actual artifacts found at Spanish Hill and the sur-
rounding area. This presentation is great for young and old alike and is free to the public.

Twigg will also offer a book signing for her new book " Spanish Hill and Carantouan: The
History, the People, and the Politics." This book is a follow-up to her "Carantouan" booklet
and the 2005 article in the Pennsylvania Archaeologist on Spanish Hill. Deb Twigg and Ted Keir

Donations to SRAC will be gratefully accepted and will go to support their new building on Broad Street Waverly, NY. To
learn more, visit www.sracenter.org.

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Page 7 Volume 3, Issue 3

WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE S U L L I VA N MARCHED CONT.

(Continued from page 5) gain a lot or extra PR if Queen Ester

gress lost some of its interest. The
played the staring role? costs were too high and the difficulties
Brant as the Chief who saved her from of such a large wilderness campaign
death or captivity was not just her mis- So, is it time to rewrite history? Strong too uncertain. Then in November of
take; it was almost certainly the com- arguments and equally strong passions that same year the Tories and Indians
monly held belief of all of her compan- still rail to provide an objective jury with struck again. This time at Cherry Valley
ions in the fort. a convincing answer to that haunting in New York, led by Captain Walter
drumbeat from our past. Butler and Joseph Brant. This time
The following year, however, Joseph there were more civilian casualties,
Brant and his Mohawks did raid Minis- But there is another drumbeat from our most of them carried out by Butlers
ink and burned and destroyed all of the past which is becoming clearer as I Rangers. Congress was turned on
buildings and property. This time, Mary, grow older. It is a patiently relentless again and Washington soon appointed
now thirteen, hid with others in a potato drumbeat telling me that those Con- Major General John Sullivan to com-
hole over which boards had been necticut settlers had no business being
mand the campaign. To guarantee suc-
placed. She remembered being close in Wyoming in the first place. Only a cess he authorized one third of his en-
enough to have touched the Indian's generation earlier, it had been given to tire regular army, over 5,500 men, or-
feet as they stood talking on the the Delaware people on the promise ganized in four regiments; one each
boards, but, fortunately, they never that; if they would leave their ancestral from Pennsylvania, New York, New
looked under the boards. homelands along the Delaware, they
Jersey and Massachusetts. Each com-
could have the Wyoming Valley for
manded by their own Brigadier Gen-
Eighty-eight years latter Mary's great their new permanent homeland. So, if eral.
great granddaughter, Marrietta Doan, some internet hacker ever manages to
married a great grandson or Lebius reach PearlyGates.com, I've got an e- There were several other reasons moti-
Hammond; a young man named Jeffery mail standing by for Grandfather vating Congress to approve the cam-
Sly. Hammond that's even more urgent paign, and debating the relative impor-
than the Queen Ester question. "Dear tance of those various reasons is an
I remember Marrietta Doan Sly. She Grandpa Hammond, now that you have ever-popular pastime among historians
and Jeffery were my great-grand par- lived for a while in a plane where the and reenactors. I am personally con-
ents. level or enlightenment and understand- vinced that, without the powerful stimuli
ing is so much higher, can you explain of the Wyoming Valley and Cherry Val-
So that makes Lebius Hammond my what happened, almost universally, in
great-grandfather's great-grandfather, ley massacres, all of the other reasons
the minds and consciences or all or the combined would not have been suffi-
and Mary Whittakar my firth great- thousands or your friends and
grandmother. You can be absolutely cient for Congress to have approved
neighbors that allowed all or you to, 'Do the necessary funds and manpower to
certain that through all or those genera-
unto the Indians as you would NOT like carry out the campaign.
tions there has never been any doubt them to do unto you."'
that Grandpa Hammond told the truth
about his escape from Queen Ester. I nurture the hope that such a question
After all, he and Elliot were the only two would not embarrass Grandpa
white people known to have witnessed Hammond. In fact I nurture the further
that show and live to tell about it. Some hope that his answer might start out
histories point out that they both proba- with, "I thought you'd never ask."
bly knew Queen Ester because she
was known to have come to Wyoming One or the final outcomes or the Wyo-
to trade. Yet, on the other hand, they ming Valley massacre was the loud
both also reported that the body and and continuous demand for the Conti-
race of the woman executioner was nental Congress to authorize a counter
heavily painted with all kinds or weird invasion or the Iroquois League, large
garish designs. We know Grandma enough to stop forever those frontier
Whittakar, and probably all or her com- raids. Congresses' reaction was, at
panions, were mistaken about the iden- first, favorable and Washington was
tity or Joseph Brant. Could Grandpa officially instructed to start plans for a
Hammond and Elliot have been equally major campaitn starting the following
mistaken about Queen Ester? After all, spring. There was even some discus-
if they had even heard a suggestion sion about a winter campaign, but that
that this gruesome apparition or a was quickly dropped because of insuffi-
woman might have been Queen Ester, cient time for all of the necessary plan-
wouldn't they have been quick to adopt ning, organizing and procurement of Mr. Dick Cowles, SRAC CoDirector
such a rumor? Their story would indeed supplies. During that fall, however, con- of Archaeology/Curation

The Susquehanna River Archaeological Center of Native Indian Studies ~ www.SRACenter.org ~ email Info@SRACenter.org
Page 8 Volume 3, Issue 3

4 T H A N N UA L D RU M B E AT S T H RO U G H T I M E & B U S T O U R !
SRAC's 4th annual "Drumbeats Through Time" is just around the corner and this year we’ve
included a bus tour! This year SRAC members are invited to a special sneak peak at some of
the latest donated items. The doors will open for SRAC members only at 9:00 a.m. During
this private session there will be refreshments and a meeting for members to talk with the
board, ask questions, offer ideas, give feedback, and for us to tell you some of the things we
are working on. This is also a chance for our members to get to know other like-minded peo-
ple in our community. Members are encouraged to bring a friend to join SRAC, and to partici-
pate in this exclusive portion of our annual event. If you are not a member and want to be a
part of this special preview, join now with the form on the back of this newsletter or just come
on October 13th and join at the door. We look forward to seeing many of you there!

The doors open at 11:00 a.m. for the general public. We’re excited about the many artifacts that will makeup our mu-
seum this year. In addition to several private collections, SRAC will have the privilege of sharing some of the recently
donated items in our collection. As usual, we will include new and different local collections that are always the most
popular draw for our event! Do you have a collection that is from our region you would like to show at our event? Con-
tact Ted Keir at 570-888-2718!

We’re also excited about the presentations this year. This year we will have some familiar faces presenting, like our
own Ted Keir, and some new faces like Ralph Rataul, NYS Archaeology Collections who will present "Caretakers of
New York State History - The Role of the NYS Museum.” We met Ralph at a recent visit to the NYS Museum in Al-
bany, and he’s quite an interesting fellow. We think you’ll enjoy him as much as we did.

The speakers will end with our good friend and local expert on the topic, Earl Robinson giving a presentation explaining
the points of interest concerning the events that led up to and included Sullivan's March through our region in 1779.
Afterward, Earl Robinson will be your guide for a tour relative to Sullivan’s March, taking us to see where the events
occurred. The buses will board at 2:45 p.m. and follow the route Sullivan traveled, taking riders from Queen Ester’s
Flats to Newtown Battlefield. Tickets for the tour are $8.00 for SRAC members and senior citizens, $10.00 for general
public.

Not a member? Join now! Go to http://www.sracenter.org/Join/

S L OAT F AM I LY D O N AT E S CO L L E C T I O N

Special thanks goes out to Sam and Barbie Sloat of Milltown, PA for donating two frames of fine points as well as sev-
eral unframed miscellaneous points and one broken pestle from Cayuta Creek in Sayre, site number 36BR20. This is
SRAC's fourth official donation. This is another welcomed donation made in the effort to preserve the evidence of our
local history. The frames will be forever noted as the "Sloat Collection" within the SRAC collection.

Framed points from the newly acquired Sloat Collection

N E W S PA N I S H H I L L B O O K A VA I L A B L E S E P T E M B E R 2 3
Deb Twigg has just completed the latest volume of her research concerning Spanish Hill, called “Spanish Hill and Caran-
touan: the History, the People, and the Politics.” This book covers the people and events that have affected our local his-
tory. Over 100 pages of actual documentation and little known facts that make it a must read for anyone wanting to know
the Spanish Hill story and our rich local history. The book will be available beginning September 23 at 3pm, when Twigg
will offer a book signing at her presentation at the Waverly Opera House. To order the book online go to
www.SRACenter.org/store/. All proceeds benefit SRAC.

The Susquehanna River Archaeological Center of Native Indian Studies ~ www.SRACenter.org ~ email Info@SRACenter.org
Page 9 Volume 3, Issue 3

SRAC ARO UND THE COMMUNITY

It has been a very busy summer for those of us on the SRAC Board! Many of you may have seen us at the Sayre
Farmer’s Market this summer. We also had a booth at many special events like Arts in the Park, the Newtown Battle-
field Reenactment, and others. We continue to make new friends and we are grateful for the all of the positive feed-
back and support from the community we’re so proud to be a part of!

New friends and participants at the Newtown Bat-

Deb talks with John Borits after her recent tlefield Reenactment.
presentation “The Mystery of the Blue Inga Welles, Mark Madill, and Tom Valilee at a
Amulet” recent Bradford County Andaste
Chapter meeting in Burlington, PA

Deb and Marcia Cowles share a

Ted and Dick at the Newtown Battlefield moment after “The Mystery of the
Reenactment Blue Amulet” presentation

Jessica, Dick, and Marcia at the Corning

Historical Society Wingblinger Event

Who’s that dashing fellow in the

Deb speaks to a group at the Waverly Methodist
bonnet? Proof that SRAC has fun!
Church on her favorite topic, Spanish Hill.

Jessica Quinn talks with a

visitor at one of our sum-
mer events.
Inga and Susan on an day
in the SRAC booth
SRAC traveling mini-museum.
Dick and Ted bear the heat at an event.

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Page 10 Volume 3, Issue 3

OUR FIRST HOME

Over the past two years, SRAC has been trying to raise
funds towards one goal. A place that we can call home.
We’ve found it at 345 Broad St. in Waverly!

While many of you have come to see us at local events in

many different places, what you do not see is all of the thou-
sands of artifacts and rare books and documents we cannot
share in that type of venue. Without a building we cannot
provide the services that we envision for our communities .

Our Education and Research Center will be dedicated to pro-

viding regional history and archaeological evidence that be-
gins as early as the first hunters who entered this area hunt-
ing such animals as the great elk and wooly mammoth. It will
house artifacts from hundreds to thousands of years old; and
with the right funding, one day may even house a locally un- Future Home of the Susquehanna River Archaeological Cen-
covered wooly mammoth skeleton. We hope to provide ter of Native Indian Studies
classes for children and adults in not only scientific and his- other section, we see our collections on display with people
torical topics, but cultural topics as well. from miles around saying "I never knew…"
SRAC will open its doors to professionals and students of These are indeed exciting times for not only SRAC, but for
archaeology to allow them to use our artifacts and library to
our community as well. After all, this is OUR history that we
continue research that is relative to this region. We’re plan-
all should take pride in.
ning a monthly lecture series, a kid's club, field trips and
workshops for young and old alike. How can you be a part and/or help support this effort? There
are many ways that you can help. Here are just a few:
As you can see, the Center will be a place of activity. Not
only will it be a place where tourists will want to stop, but it • Join SRAC by using the form on the back of this newsletter
will also be a place for our communities to use for educa-
tional and cultural purposes. • Volunteer to help us with cleaning, painting, or other jobs as we get
the building ready
Phase 1 - Initially, we will have a small museum, a gift shop • Donate funds to help get this building ready
and visitor center, and a lecture workshop area on the main
floor. As you can see in the picture from a few months ago, • If you are a contractor, donate labor to help us get our bathrooms
while the merchandise from the last business was still on the and lighting set up
floor, the area will be more than adequate for our initial
needs; but it will take a lot of work and expense to get it • If you are a business that sells items we may need, donate fixtures,
ready to open. flooring, building materials, etc

Yet amidst the rubble we will need to clean up, the walls we
will need to paint, and a floor we will need to fix, we already
envision interactive learning workshops with kids of all ages,
sleeves rolled up, making pottery or carving soapstone
sculptures... we hear music filling the air from a Native Indian
musician brought in to teach us about this music; and in an-
SRAC is a nonprofit and materials and monetary donations
are tax deductible.
For questions or more information about how you can be a
part, please visit us at www.sracenter.org, call us at 607-
727-3111, or email us at info@sracenter.org. You may also
send mail to SRAC, PO Box 12, Sayre, PA 18840.

COMING EVENTS
Thursday, September 20 (begins noon) Roots of Peace-
making: Indigenous Values, Global Crisis, An International
Day of Peace at the birthplace of democracy day-long pro-
gram at Onondaga Lake Park, Liverpool, NY. It is free with
a Waters Ceremony by Taiko Drummer Koji Kakamura
from the Miho Museum in Japan leading everyone to the
lake, followed by all kinds of featured speakers.
http://rootsofpeacemaking.syr.edu/
13A, west of Ithaca. Contact Audrey Cooper
ajc39@cornell.edu or 607-272-2292, ext. 135.
Sunday, September 23 (3pm) Spanish Hill Presentation at
the Waverly Opera House. Deb Twigg will present an hour
long discussion, followed byTed Keir displaying and dis-
cussing artifacts found at Spanish Hill. For more informa-
tion go to http://www.spanishhill.com/Operahouse.htm

Saturday, September 22 (11am – 6pm) Tutelo Homecom- Saturday, October 13 (9am – 4pm) 4th Annual Drumbeats
ing Festival welcoming Cayuga, Tutelo, Saponi, and kin- Through Time. The largest collection of local native Indian
dred Indian Nations at Tutelo Park, Bostwick Road, off artifacts in one location, special member’s only activities 9-
11am, followed by speakers and a bus tour.

The Susquehanna River Archaeological Center of Native Indian Studies ~ www.SRACenter.org ~ email Info@SRACenter.org
Page 11 Volume 3, Issue 3

CHECK YOUR SOURCES - AN EDITORIAL BY DEB TWIGG

Recently, I read a news article from Kansas about a Malcolm about Native Ameri-
Webber, aka Grand Council Chief Thundercloud IV – self- cans, their history,
declared chief of the non-existent “Kaweah” Indian Nation. and their beliefs.

Reports state that Webber claimed to be born in Oklahoma to Honestly, I am part

Sioux-Cherokee parents. When investigated, the Bureau of In- Dutch, and I have
dian Affairs found his birth certificate stated that he was actually never considered
born in Maine to non-Indian parents and could find nothing to myself knowledge-
substantiate his claim of Indian ancestry. able of Dutch cus-
toms, history or
If this sounds outlandish and that the people he fooled must have beliefs just because
been fools too, you are wrong… I have Dutch blood,
(or think I do.) In-
A gentleman claiming to be Chief Lightfoot Talking Eagle, a stead I would have
graduate of Yale and thought to be the last Susquehannock alive to have to be a stu-
in the 1960's, but later rebuked, made the following statements in dent of it; because
an article in the Evening Times in July, 1966: even though my
grand parents had
"The following information may be helpful to you and your tons of wooden
associates n your efforts to save the Susquehannock Bear shoes and those
Clan Peace Temple prayer mound, mistakenly called cute little porcelain
"Spanish Hill" and to have it rededicated to its pre- kissing Dutch kids,
Columbian purpose as a sacred hill upon which peace and it still wouldn’t make
brotherhood ceremonials were conducted. me feel as though I
could teach anyone
During our conversation over the talking wires last night was
anything about
pointed up that at one time a temple and a Holy of Holies
them. And I certainly don’t use any of it to define who I am.
stood on top of the mound. These should be restored to their
original purpose as proposed in Micah 4:1 8, Zachariah 8:3, But more importantly, if I were to decide that being Dutch was
and Isaiah 2:2 to 4, Isaiah 13-32. “cool” and that people wanted to learn about my heritage, and
that I was part Dutch and therefore had some inherited wisdom
The sacred hill or mound south of Waverly is one of the Bib-
about that culture, there would be no benefit to anyone, with the
lical references listed above. There are many such on this
exception of my own expanded ego by sharing what I thought I
hemisphere that must be restored and rededicated to their
knew. Worse yet, I would be making the truth a lot less clear to
original purpose before the truth and lasting peace can
people who were merely seeking it.
come to Earth. The Susquehannock (Andaste) Bear Clan
Mound in the beautiful "Valley of Peace" is one such One truth that I found when researching Spanish Hill for years is
mound." that we all must understand that all that was written, just as all
that someone may have told you will not always be true. That
Whether or not Mr. Applegate (aka Lightfoot Talking Eagle)
even scholars make mistakes, and certainly no blood line allows
scammed anyone out of money, or defrauded our government, to
anyone to skip the study in their journey to seek wisdom about
me there is a much greater crime that is committed by scammers
any topic.
of this sort. That is dispersing misinformation.
We at SRAC feel a great responsibility to not only teach our com-
I have to be honest here, I have met people who claim to have
munities with factual information, but to indeed check the
some small amount of American Indian blood, yet never studied
sources that we use. Rest assured that when it comes to what
Native American cultures or history, and because they had an
SRAC stands for, we have no interest in making “self proclama-
uncle who had “high cheek bones” or a grandfather with “long
tions” without backing it up with the real thing.
dark hair,” they somehow have inherited some inner wisdom

COMING EVENTS
http://www.sracenter.org/Announcements/drumbeats2007. cial Guest Instrumentalists: Monica Spishock - Tympani
asp and Percussion, Tom Hines - Oboe, Ed Wargo – Flute,
Corky Klinko and his Brass Quartet
Saturday, October 27 Native American Arts & Culture
Festival at Colgate University (Sanford Field House) Sherri
Hopper w/Haudenosaunee Singers and Dancers, the Blues
group Corn Bred, and Inca Son performing Andean music Would you like to receive email no-
and dance. Contact Carol Ann Lorenz, tices of upcoming events? Email
clorenz@mail.colgate.edu. info@SRACenter.org and ask to be
added to our announcements list.
Saturday, December 8 (7pm) The Valley Chorus presents
"The Voices of Christmas". Athens High School Auditorium.
Members will perform the cantata “The Voices of Christ-
mas” along with their usual holiday oriented fare. With Spe-

The Susquehanna River Archaeological Center of Native Indian Studies ~ www.SRACenter.org ~ email Info@SRACenter.org
Page 12 Volume 3, Issue 3

SRAC CROS S WORD PUZZLE

This puzzle is a bit tougher than the previous one! Test yourself to see just how much you are learning about
our regions pre-history! (The answers to last issues puzzle are below.)

ACROSS DOWN

1 Geological material once used by Indians for paint 2 "Place of the Big Horn"
4 Something made in the shape of a spirit 3 Algonquin home
7 SRAC's website is www. .org 5 Once "Teoga"
9 Louise Murray 6 Indian Rock Art
12 Six Nations 8 Earliest (spear) point known
13 Material commonly used to make arrowheads 10 Once lived on the Delaware River
15 Who murdered the Contestogas in 1763 11 In archaeology it means "ancient"
17 Mr. Cowles 14 Early man was a hunter and
18 Mohawk Chief who fought against Sullivan 16 Material that made canoes light to carry
19 Queen Esther's son

Answers to last issue’s crossword puzzle:

Across 13- mammoths Down 6 - Smith
2 - mortar 16 - Champlain 1 - Faces 8 - Murray
7 - Newtown 18 - Tioga Point 3 - Andaste 10 - Carantouan
9 - atlatl 19 - Susquehannocks 4 - Cowles 12 - Seneca
11 - Esther 20 - Delwares 5 - three 14 - Spanish Hill

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Page 13
S R AC V I S I TS T H E N YS M U SE U M
In July of
2007,
three of
SRAC's
Board
Members,
Ted Keir,
Susan
Fogel and
I made a
journey to
Ted Kier and Ralph Rataul, of the the NYS
Museum
NYS Museum
in Albany,
NY in order to record all Native Indian
artifacts from our surrounding NY coun-
ties. We had heard that a prominent local
collector from the early 20th century, LD
Shoemaker had donated his collection to
the NYS Museum, and we felt that it was
important to record these artifacts with
SRAC. This is because we believe that a
researcher should be able to come to
SRAC one day and have a pretty good
idea of the artifacts that may not be here
anymore, but were found in this region.
Once we got there, we were signed in
and met by a representative of the ar-
chaeology department. Then we were
allowed into the highly secured area
where the artifacts are stored by county in
hundreds of large flat file cabinets. Truth-
fully, I was impressed with the volume
from just Tioga, Chemung, Chenango,
and Steuben counties. It took us several
hours to digitally record each drawer and
some specific items - in total 182 high
quality photos for detailed records.
One interesting item from the Shoemaker
collection, which for the most part came
from the Chemung River area between
Waverly and Corning, NY, was a face
item. (see image 1) It also had a sunburst
on the reverse side, which to my thinking
is relative to the Sun/Sky spirit belief sys-
tem. It is approximately 4 inches in height
and 3 inches in width. Interestingly
though, there was yet another of these
faces found within the drawers of the
counties I mentioned above (see image 2)
T H E S R AC B OAR D
Deb Twigg - Executive Director Ted Keir - CoDirector of Archae-
Dick Cowles - CoDirector of Archae- ology/Education and Chairman of the
ology/Curation Board
SRAC WELCOMES TOM VALILEE TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS. TOM BRINGS YEARS OF EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE OF LOCAL ARCHAEOLOGY.
The Susquehanna River Archaeological Center of Native Indian Studies ~ www.SRACenter.org ~ email Info@SRACenter.org
Volume 3, Issue 3
BY DEB TWIGG
and again - it had a face on one side and
a sunburst on the other.
This is the power of recording ALL of the
artifacts we can that were found in our
region. We hope to be able to offer re-
searchers not only the artifacts that we
can preserve and save from auction, but
we also want to be able to help with
showing whatever trends we can. Already
we have two faced items recorded that
we were unaware of which begins to
show a trend of the use of these faced
pieces in our region. I am sure with more
research; we will find the true meaning
and possibly even the specific use they
had. Image 1 - Courtesy of the New York
State Museum, Albany, NY
The last request of our research at the
museum was to see all of the bird-
stones they had. (see image 3) We
were impressed with several high qual-
ity birdstones they have, and all the
different shapes that they were made
in.
While many still have no idea what the
Susquehanna River Archaeological
Center actually strives to be, I hope
that those that read this article realize
that our goals are set high. Simply put, Image 2—Courtesy of the New York State
while we plan to have a museum
Museum, Albany, NY
space open, we are also striving to be
the preeminent Native Indian ar-
chaeological research and educa-
tional center in the region for all ages.
With several hundreds of rare books
and pages of documents and letters
already in our archives as well as
several hundreds of artifacts and hun-
dreds more records of others that
were found in our region, we believe
that this is a goal we can achieve.
If you believe this is a just cause and Image 3—Courtesy of the New York State
a good one for our community, I urge Museum, Albany, NY
you to join SRAC and support the
effort today.
*Special Note: Ralph Rataul, will present: "Caretakers of New York State History: The Role of
the NYS Museum" at Drumbeats Through Time. SRAC will return the favor and give Ralph
full access to view all of our collections before the event.
OF DIRECTORS
Susan Fogel - Chief Financial Officer Jessica Quinn
Inga Wells - Secretary Tom Valilee
Sharon Franklin
Page 14 Volume 3, Issue 3

SRAC
PO Box 12
Sayre, PA 18840

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