While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is
here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate
for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting
ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!
Bird-stones. A name given to a class of
prehistoric stone objects of undetermined purpose, usually resembling or
remotely suggesting the form of a bird. In many cases the resemblance is so
slight that without the aid of a series of specimens, grading downward from the
more realistic bird representations through successive simplifications, the life
form would not be suggested. In its simplest form the body is an almost
featureless bar of polished stone. Again, the ends are curved upward, giving a
saddle shape; but usually the head, tail, and eyes are differentiated, and in
the more graphic forms the tail is expanded an d turned upward to balance the
head. The most remarkable feature is the pair of projecting knobs, often on
rather slender stems, representing the eyes, giving some what the effect of a
horned animal. These objects are most plentiful in the Ohio valley and around
the great lakes, and occur sparingly in the S. and to the westward beyond the
Mississippi. Although many kinds of stone were used in their manufacture, the
favorite material was a banded slate which occurs over a wide area in the
Northern states and in Canada. They are shaped with much care, being symmetrical
and highly polished. The under side is flat or slightly concave, and there are
two perforations at the extremities of the base intended to serve in attaching
the figure to the surface of some object, as a tablet, a pipe stem, a flute, or
a staff or baton, or to some part of the costume, or to the hair. There is good
reason to believe that these and the various related objects banner stones,
boat-stones, etc. had kindred uses in religious ceremony or magic (see
Problematical objects. Gillman (Smithson Rep. 1873, 1874) was informed
by an aged Chippewa "that in olden time these ornaments were worn on the heads
of Indian women, but only after marriage," and suggests that the bird-stones may
have symbolized the brooding bird. Abbott (Primitive Industry, 370)
published a statement originating with Dr E. Stirling, of Cleveland, Ohio, that
"such bird effigies, made of wood, have been noticed among the
Ottawa of Grand
Traverse bay, Mich., fastened to the top of the heads of women as an indication
that they are pregnant." The probability, however, is that these bird-stones
were used or worn by the men rather than by the women, and Gushing's theory that
they were attached to a plate and fixed to the hair is plausible.
This site
includes some historical materials that may imply negative stereotypes
reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. These
items are presented as part of the historical record and should not be
interpreted to mean that the WebMasters in any way endorse the stereotypes
implied .
Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Frederick Webb Hodge, 1906
