[at-l] The Old Man of the Mountain - Another Perspective

[s.landis at comcast.net (Steve Landis)]

  This will be published in the Daily Hampshire Gazette
as an editorial column this week. The author is Missisquoi Abenaki.

Steve

***********************************************************

"Abenaki Songs for the Old Man of the Mountain: Live Free"

Sometime in the hours between darkness and dawn
the Old Man's spirit walked away from the mountain
Sometimes, when they are ready to travel
alosada, n?neg?nniak . . . that is how the old ones leave us
paliwl?bi, bedegw?bi. . . when we are looking away

At some unknown hour, between May 2 and May 3, 2003, one of the most
prominent geological formations in Abenaki territory fell apart, when the rocks
that made up the feature known as the "Old Man of the Mountain" tumbled into
Profile Lake, popularly known as the "Old Man's Mirror."

Five red granite rock ledges, forty feet high, situated high up on Cannon, or
Profile Mountain, across from Franconia Ridge, formed a facial profile with a
prominent brow and outthrust jaw. Those mountains, thrust out of the earth
millions of years past, were left in their present form when the Wisconsin
glaciation retreated some 12,000 years ago. Generations of W?banakiak, or
Abenaki Indian people, commonly known by such place names as Pennacook,
Pemigewasset, Pequawket, Cowasuck, Missisquoi and others, have continuously
inhabited Vermont and New Hampshire, the territory known as Ndakinna ? our
homeland ?  since the glacier's retreat.

When asked how New Hampshire got so many rocks
and where the glaciers got to
Yankee farmers would say, them glaciers went back fer another load
an'  left th' Old Man here, alone, to wait on 'em

Despite Yankee foklore about Indian disappearence, there are still extensive
networks of Abenaki families living throughout Ndakinna. There are also
many Native oral traditions about the stone faces and other anthropomorphic
rocks and mountains. Some formations represent the work of the creator; others
stand as the physical evidence of the movements of ancient earthshapers, like the
glaciers (bemidegwadsoiak), or mythical beings like Gluskabe, who pushed up
earth and carved out rivers. Some traditional stories say that the stone beings took
solid form so they could watch over the people, and that they only move when
transformation is called for.

The oldest stories of the Old Man say the rock face shared his knowledge
and experience with those who brought gifts of tobacco. One 17th century
story relates how the "Great Stone Face" terrorized a band of Kanien'kehake
Mohawk warriors, turning them to stone. In another story, he himself turned
himself to stone, out of grief.

Colonial settlers created their own romantic fictions about Abenaki history as
they claimed the local landscape. In 1805, two different parties of white travellers
claimed to have "discovered" the face. Writer Edward Roth, in his 1864 book
titled "Christus Judex ? A Traveller's Tale," said the stone face had been happy
before white men arrived. He claimed that the efforts of French missionaries to
Christianize the Indians caused the stern expression, and that this change was a
foreshadowing of "the utter annihilation of the Indian race and name." Nathaniel
Hawthorne believed the rock face resembled Daniel Webster, but Daniel Webster
declared the face to be an advertising sign, hung out by "God Almighty," to "Show
that in New England He Makes Men."

In 1916, Charles Greenleaf, proprietor of the Profile House tourist resort, hired
Edward Geddes to install 1,350 pounds of anchor irons to secure the ledges.
Subsequent caretakers found that the rock face, even with the addition of rods,
turnbuckles, and cement, demanded constant tending to prevent cracking. The State
of New Hampshire, now grieving for the loss of its cherished landmark, is already
considering a reconstruction.

Many of New England's indigenous people, however, believe that it would be a
mistake to restore those rock formations that natural forces have shaped to their
liking. When you inhabit a place for thousands of years, you learn that change,
even in great earth formations, is inevitable. Some traditions call it a good sign when
certain of the old rock people decide to move around. Many of my kin believe that
the spirit of the old chief embodied in the rock face has been freed from his modern
imprisonment, and is walking the land again. On Sunday, May 4, an Abenaki drum
group, including members of the New Hampshire Intertribal Council, gathered by
the lake, at the foot of the mountain, to sing honoring songs.
Some of us wrote poems for the Old Man.

Nanibosad, the night walker, whispered to him that night
when the caretakers were looking away,
the turnbuckles and chains and braces broke
the Old Man yawned, and smiled, and dove, headfirst, into the lake
ah, kadosmida,
he is saying,
wligonebi, the water feels good
the people need me



- Marge Bruchac, Missisquoi Abenaki, is an historical consultant and traditional
storyteller, and a member of the Board of Directors of Historic Northampton. Her
article "Earthshapers and Placemakers: Algonkian Indian Stories and the Landscape"
will be featured in the upcoming text, "Indigenous Archaeologies: Politics and Practice,"
Wobst and Smith, London: Routledge Press 2003.