Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1870-04-14
Indian Relics in SyyantOn.

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Indian Relics in SIyantOn.
Rev. John B. Perry, formerly of Swan
ton, now Professor in Harvard University,
has delivered before the Boston Society of
Natural History a short address upon In
dian Relics in Swanton, VT, which has
been published and from which we quote
literally:
In the vicinity of Swanton Falls, in
Franklin County, Vt, many Indian relics
have been found from time TO time. These
have either come to light accidentally, or
they have been discovered amidst the
ruins of old wigwams, and in places Of
burial They consist of implements of
which the Red Man made use of in hunt
ing and fishing, in agriculture, perhaps
also in a rude kind of weaving or netting /;
also of weapons of war, and of religious
emblems. They are of special interest as
indicating the degree of advancement to
which the Aborigines had attained.
In the neighborhood referred to, there
are remains of two Indian burial-places.
These are of different ages. The first
claiming our notice is situated about two
miles below the Falls, on a sandy terrace
of considerable thickness, which rests on
underlying clay. 1t is near the Missis
quoi river. and undoubtedly belonged to
the ST. Francois tribe, branch of the
great Algonquin race inhabiting that per-
ton of Northwestern Vermont when it
was first settled by whites. This burial
place was apparently connected with an
old Indian village III the neighborhood,
which consisted at an early day of about
fifty huts, and was called Missisquoi,
after the estuary or stream, on the banks
on which stood. It was unquestionably
used as a place for the interment of the
dead at a comparatively recent date; still
some circumstances have led me to sus-
pect that portion of it served the same
purpose at much more ancient period,
and long before it was thus employed by
the st. Francois tribe. Its main features,
however, clearly refer it TO the last named
Indians On this ground have been dis
covered in abundance implements made
of stone, both hatchets and axes, spear and
arrow-heads, gouges and ohisels; also
rude specimens of earthern ware of seve-
raj descriptions, with various trinkets, as
beads and other articles of adornment. In
times of high water, evhen the river is
swollen, human bones have been often
washed out of the bank on which this old
burying-ground is situated. Among these
it is said that bones, in q few instances,
have been met with, of such size as to
indicate that the individuals to whom
they belonged must have been of extra
ordinary stature. Though it bs by no
means certain, still ID is possible, that
these were the remains of a more ancient
people that inhabited the country at far
earlier day.
This conjecture leads me to notice the
other burial place already referred to. It
is situated on what is called in the neigh
borhood the "old hemp yard" This is
about two miles north of Swanton Falls,
and is not very far from the line which
separates the township of Swanton from
that of Highgate. The above cited name
was given to this locality, not, as often
affirmed, because hemp was eften raised
on the ground, but because when the first
settlements were effected it was densely
covered with thrifty Norway pines, which,
as the tradition has it, grew as thick and
straight as hemp.
This latter place of sepulture Is of great
antiquity. It belonged to race long
since extinct, race which inhabited the
country before either the Iroquois or the
AlgonQuin-the two great contempOra-
neous nations of Red Men in the region
came upon the stage of action. OF the
origin of this burial ground, and of the
people whose remains were here entombed,
the ST. Francis Indians, as l am credibly
informed, knew nothing. Respecting
them, they even had no tradition, as l
was once told by one of the few surviving
members of the tribe. Upon the graves
the largest trees were in full vigor, or
already waning-and we are ignorant
how many had previously matured, and
gone to deeay-when the region was first
settled by whites. Indian relics are often
found directly beneath huge stumps,
which still remain as a witness of the
trees which must have taken root, -four
ished for centuries, and grown old on the
resting place, and since the disappearance
of this more ancient people. ...-.-
From these graves have collected
pieces of earthen ware, adorned with Gu
rious hieroglyphics of undoubted antiqui-
ty, and which to my mind give almost
unmistakable evidence, if not of Asiatic
origin, at least of a people closely allied
in their sentiments and habits TO the ma
tions of the East Reference is now made
more particularly to earthen tubes, some- |
what in the shape of flute or pipe, from
an inch to an inch and half in diameter,
and from about fifteen inches to two feet
in length, ornamented with hieroglyphics
of moral or religious character. These |
symbols, so far as I can make them cut, |
are closely akin to those employed as well
in the Eleusinian rites, as inthe old Cyri-
baic mysteries of Samothrace. Amongst
these remains there are also specimens
which might seem at once to hint at the
Noaehian deluge, and to symbolic the
deliverance from it. A canoe, with what
appears to be a bird, perhaps a dove, |
wrought in stone, is one of the emblems
referred to. This, when compared with
some of the Mexican antiquities inter
preted as having such significance,
seem certainly with as much clearness as
they, to point to the food associated with
the name Of Noah. Some of the arrow
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