Indian Rocks Park cairns
What are Rock Mounds?
Simply stated, a Rock Mound is a man-made pile of stones. Another word for Rock Mound is Cairn. The word cairn comes from the Scottish Gaelic: càrn (plural càirn).
When they are laid out in a deliberate pattern they are known also as petroforms.
Petroforms in North America were made by Indigenous Peoples for a variety of reasons, such as religious, healing, astronomical and others. They often have sacred significance.
They are typically seen on hillsides, ridges and natural rock formations.
Cairns have been used from prehistoric times to the present, for a broad variety of purposes. Some of these purposes include: landmarks, burial monuments, ceremonial purposes, to locate buried items (such as caches of food or objects), to mark trails, and for purposes relating to astronomy and/or agriculture.
According to a Mountain Stewards study published in 2016:
Other researchers consider the rock cairns, particularly when in a shape pattern, to be Petroforms. Wikipedia states that “Petroforms in North America were originally made by Indigenous Peoples, who used various terms to describe them. Petroforms can also include a rock cairn, an upright monolith slab, sculpted boulders, or simply rocks lined up or stacked for various reasons. They were originally made in North America by native peoples for astronomical, religious, sacred, healing, mnemonic devices, and teaching purposes. Some petroforms were used as astronomical calendars, with rocks aligned to solstice and equinox sunrises and sunsets. They are often found in higher areas, on hills, mounds, ridges, and natural rock formations.”
What Research Has Been Conducted in Indian Rocks Park?
All the mounds, except a few in the area which have been restacked, are as the Indians left them. The Indians used large, sedimentary, flat rocks, probably collected from nearby streams and floodplains, to give the mounds their distinct shape. By placing smaller rocks at the center and larger, flatter rocks on the outside, the Indians created the cairn shape.
Margaret Clayton Russell of the University of Georgia, conducted an archeological investigation in 1970 of the rock cairns in Indian Rocks Park. Russell examined two of the cairns and found no relics, bones, or other artifacts like pottery or jewelry. Her research confirmed that the cairns are not burial sites.
According to Russell: “The mounds represent an archeological unknown; they are frequently clustered on southeast slopes of hills, an important ritual direction in the aboriginal southeast, and are found throughout the Appalachian and Piedmont area of Georgia. They are ceremonial or religious in nature and represent one of the early Indian cultures of this area.”
Other than archeologists and anthropologists, recent research (2016-2021) has been conducted by Don Wells of the Mountain Stewards. Don Wells uses a combination of Native Science (a term coined by Native Americans from the wisdom of tribal elders), GPS technology, and psychic archeology via the ancient practice of dowsing. The findings from Mr. Wells’ research have yet to be confirmed via western science. His understanding of Indian Rocks Park, based on his research, will be revealed as you continue along the trail.
What are Energy Lines?
Energy lines are like earth’s capillaries that spread energy and information from place to place. Energy lines are approximately one foot wide and travel in and out of the ground. The energy line is considered upwelling (positive) if it is coming out of the ground or down-welling (negative) if the energy is going back into the ground. Positive and Negative energy lines were used for different purposes by native american tribes.
Where two or more lines pass each other it is said to be sacred and powerful, even a healing place. Many describe some of these places as earth’s chakras. Many of these sacred sites are also ancient landmarks (i.e.Stonehenge and the Great Pyramid of Giza).
Large energy lines (10-150 feet wide) are like the earth’s veins and arteries, and are known as Ley Lines. Ley lines are often in line with underground streams and magnetic currents. Many cultures around the world have an understanding of these unique lines; China calls them ‘dragon lines’, South America ‘spirit lines’ and Australia ‘dream lines’. What is also fascinating is that where these lines meet they also align perfectly with the astrological constellations!
What is Native Science?
Dr. Gregory Cajete, Pueblo Indian, has defined Native Science as a “wide range of tribal processes of perceiving, thinking, acting, and ‘coming to know’ that have evolved through human experience with the natural world.” Dr. Little Bear, Blackfoot Indian, noted that “The native paradigm consists of several key things. One of them is constant motion or constant flux. The second part is everything consists of energy waves. In the Native world, the energy waves are really the spirit. And it is the energy waves that know. It is not you who know, it is the energy waves that know. You know things because you are also made up of energy waves, or a combination thereof.”
Native Science
Is connected to the environment in a holistic way both spiritual and physical
Is subjective: sensing the energy of the place and reading the signs
Uses Qualitative and Empirical Data
Listens to the tribal elders and pays attention to what they say
What is Dowsing?
Used for centuries by many cultures, dowsing is a method to locate water and mineral sources, as well as intangible energetic pathways. Dowsers use divining rods made from such materials as copper rods, pendulums, and forked twigs. The divining rod is a tool, it does not hold any special properties. The tool allows the dowser to read the energy, in order to gain more information about a plot of land, a person’s energy, to gain clarity, to find geopathic stresses, to get info about a situation with yes or no questions, to help with space clearing, to find water or energy lines.
There is no scientific proof that dowsing works and most in the academic community will not accept it as an acceptable tool for research. However, it is an ancient practice with enough empirical data to suggest that it has a place in research studies.
“Science has been and can be defined many different ways depending on who is doing the defining. But one thing that is certain is that “science” is culturally relative. In other words, what is considered science is dependent on the culture/worldview/paradigm of the definer.” -Dr. Leroy Little Bear, Blackfoot Indian
Unraveling the Mystery of the Cairns
In 2016, the Mountain Stewards were invited by the Big Canoe Conservation Committee to research Indian Rocks Park and interpret its history. Each rock cairn was surveyed using hand-held GPS devices and its location plotted in Google Earth. Next, several members of the crew outfitted with dowsing rods walked the entirety of Indian Rocks Park to locate the boundaries or edges of underground streams and energy lines. Once the streams and energy lines were located, the crew recorded the GPS coordinates and also plotted this information in Google Earth.
All of the rock cairns were determined to be centered directly over underground streams of water, which has been determined to be a spiritual practice of Indigenous peoples. Also, earth energy lines were associated with both sites.
The survey resulted in the identification of two rock cairn sites, one constructed of 8 large rock cairns and one constructed of 7 small rock cairns. The large rock cairns were discovered to be laid out in the celestial pattern of the Big Dipper and the small rock cairn site in the formation of the Pleiades.
Ceremonial Funeral Site
Historical reports from native americans indicate that ceremonial funerals and burials were reserved for the tribal elite such as chiefs, medicine men, beloved elders, and spouses of prominent tribal members. The purpose for a funeral ceremony may have been to provide a connection for the journey for the deceased to reach the afterlife. Funeral ceremonial sites are often located on a high place where there are at least two upwelling energy lines. Research conducted by the Mountain Stewards indicates that it is possible the deceased’s body was placed directly over the upwelling energy lines and would remain there until the spirit had time to leave the body. Once that was determined, the remains would be placed in a burial grave field, within several hundred feet of the upwelling energy location.
At this location, centered between Rock Cairn 2 and Rock Cairn 3, the Mountain Stewards determined that there are two upwelling energy lines. This was not a burial site, but it would have been of great spiritual significance to the Indians, and may have been where a funeral ceremony was conducted. The fact that the rock cairns are laid out in the celestial pattern of the Big Dipper further suggests that there is a celestial spiritual connection to this ceremonial site.
History of Mayan Occupation
Research from the Mountain Stewards between 2016 and 2021 indicated that this vicinity contains a Mayan common grave field that is about 500 years old and contains approximately 65 graves. It also contains a grave site for the tribal elite.
Regarding Mayan occupation in this area, the Mountain Stewards said:
On Monday 14 June (2021), I traveled to Indian Rocks Park. Using sacred tobacco and burning sage, I conducted a ceremony at the park to remove the negative energy and to open a dialog with the Indian spirits guarding the park. Using dowsing and asking yes/no questions, I have learned a more accurate history of the park area.
In 1440, a group of 35 Mayan families moved to the site and established a village there on the east side of the hill containing the large rock cairns. The Mayans built the large rock cairns as a ceremonial site for burials. There are a number of earth energy lines passing through the site and all the rock cairns are sitting above underground streams. Somewhere around 1611, the Mayan community ended its occupation of the area when the last of them died off.
History of Apalachee Occupation
When the Mayan occupation ended in approximately 1611, the area remained unoccupied for about 50 years until 1664, when the Apalachee settled here (west of the hill that contains the large rock cairns). Their village had about 15 families. It is believed that the Apalachee had many ceremonial sites in this area. There was a Council Site located within the village area which was used for normal day to day affairs. This area here is believed to have been a Birthing Site due to the energy lines and underground streams found at the creek. Other sites included a War Planning Site, Burial Site, and Vision SIte.
The Apalachee village remained in this area until about 1697 when they left and headed south toward Florida where most researchers have them located.
Small Cairn Site
The seven small rock cairns at this site were found by the Mountain Stewards to be in the formation of the celestial pattern of the Pleiades. It is believed to have been built by the Apalachee around 1670 and used as a council site. Because of the downwelling (negative) energy associated with this site, it is considered to have been used for war planning or negative discussion topics.
According to Robert Powell, PhD:
“Some Native Americans believe that all tribes in North America originated from the Pleiades. In this view the Native Americans are actually descendants from that star cluster and have been given a task by the Pleiades to tend and care for Mother Earth.”
https://sophiafoundation.org › uploads › 2017/04
History of Creek and Cherokee Occupation
Don Wells, of the Mountain Stewards, provided this information following his research and interpretation in 2016:
“From 1697-1750, the area occupied by the Mayans and Apalachee remained vacant until the Creek Indians moved in one mile to the southeast of the rock cairn site adjacent to the two creeks that now make up Lake Petit. The Creek Indian remained in that location from 1750 until 1794 when they suffered an outbreak of smallpox that killed almost 90 of their members. The few remaining moved further to the SE in the vicinity of where Waterford Development in Big Canoe is located. A number of graves have been identified in that area related to the remaining Creek Indians.
About ten years later in 1800, a group of Cherokee moved into the site previously occupied by the Creek’s (near Lake Sconti) and remained there until the Indian removal in 1838. Neither the Creeks nor the Cherokee seemed to have used the rock cairn sites to the NW. However, both of these tribes considered Mt. Oglethorpe sacred and buried some of their members there.”