A TRADITION OF GIANTS The Elite Social Hierarchy of American Prehistory Narrative and Commentary Ross Hamilton 1 Page Copyright © 2007 by Ross Hamilton: All rights reserved. No portion of this book, except for brief review, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without written permission of the publisher. For information contact Ross Hamilton, 4202 Sibley Avenue, Silverton, Ohio—45236 Cover art courtesy of the Library of Congress; book design by Ross Hamilton. Title of work: A Tradition of Giants Alternative title: The Elite Social Hierarchy of American Prehistory Library of Congress registration number: TXu 1-608-346 Effective date of registration: November 19, 2007 Amendments and additions added 9-16-2012 2 Page The Great Peacemaker, Passaconeway Believed by some as perhaps the greatest Sachem who ever lived, Passaconeway was the last of the great kingly chiefs of old. He was a giant among men, physically and spiritually, believed to have stood at least seven feet in height. A powerful medicine man and chieftain of the Penacook tribe, Passaconeway was elected bashaba (emperor) of a confederation of tribes united to stem an aggressive Mohawk nation. In his twilight years this great man traveled in the Maine-New Hampshire-Massachusetts region where he was revered as the mouthpiece of the Great Spirit by both Native and European folk alike. Tradition stays that Passaconeway was a genius, gifted with magical or divine powers employed in his peacemaking efforts. His true power, however, lay in his ability to kindle the fire of peace and brotherly love in the hearts of all irrespective of race or tribal restrictions. After his death in 1679 at age 120 years, a Native witness told of his bright ascension over a New Hampshire mountain sacred to the lodge of the Great Spirit. To him, as to his previous incarnation as the Peacemaker Deganawida, we say ‘Gitche Migwetch’: Big thanks from our little hearts! (figure and history of Passaconeway thanks to C.F. Potter’s History of Mansfield, New Hampshire, 1851. Illustration colorized by the author) 3 Page Table of Contents Acknowledgements and Dedication 7 Introduction and Abstract 9 Problems for Anthropology 13 Six Reasons of Loss 13 Marginalization 14 Bigotry and Proselytizing 15 Credibility and Conflict 16 Anecdotal Evidence 16 Gigantism or Acromegaly 17 Double Rows of Teeth 17 Tall Women 18 Skeletal Disarticulation 20 Strange and Unusual Accounts 20 A Heritage of Surpassing Bearing 23 Reflections on a Venerable Tradition 23 The Influence of Academia and Non-Native Investigation 24 The Tall Man as Champion 25 Roles of Chieftains 26 The Mound Builder Legacy 29 The Native Record 30 Pioneer, Township, and Old County Records 31 Concentrations of Evidence 31 Revisiting Sacred Ground 33 Looting as a Cottage Industry 34 The Early Science and its Expediencies 37 Period of Infancies 37 Formalized Investigation 37 Morton, Gallatin, Squier, and Davis 38 The Roots of Racial Determinism 40 The Smithsonian Influence 45 Holocaust of the Antiquities 46 Henry’s Manifesto 47 A Brief History of the Museum 48 Powell and Thomas 48 4 Uncovering Large Skeletal Remains 50 Page William Henry Holmes 52 The Hrdlička Era 52 Skullduggery at the National Museum? 56 Modern Policy 58 Recognition of the Adena People 61 Frederic Putnam’s Ohio Discoveries 61 The Work of William S. Webb 62 Webb’s Kentucky Big Man 64 The Carnegie’s Don Dragoo 64 The Robust People of Dragoo’s Region 65 The Adena Jaw 67 In the Shadow of Hopewell 68 True Hybridism 68 Coming Out of the Shadows 70 The Archaic People 71 Incestuous Breeding? 71 A Laying Over of Theories 72 The Possible Origins of the Adena 75 The War: Lenape Legend and Legacy 75 Cyrus Thomas’ Contribution 77 The Lenape Family 78 War Mounds vs. Post-War Mounds 78 Allegheny and Adena, Archaic and Woodland 80 Weaving Legend and Science 83 Robert Lowie’s Exclusion of Oral Tradition 83 Matching Accounts: the Adena as Lenape 84 Agreement among Anthropologists 86 A Secondary War 89 Northern Nations Combine, Council the Southern 89 A Possible Origin of the so-named Hopewell Culture 90 Webb and Baby’s Earlier Adena Timeline 91 The Stone Giants 94 Very Tall Men in Iroquois Country 95 The Eastern Movement of the Adena 99 A Susquehanna Connection 99 5 Captain Smith and the Susquehannock Tribe 101 Page Large Skeletal Remains of Old New England and Vicinity 103 The Southern Movement of the Adena 106 The Copena People 107 Adena Dominance in Hopewell Times 108 Large Skeletons of Western Tennessee 110 Osage Big Men Related to Adena 112 Legendary Giants of the Great South 114 Summation and Loose Chronology 114 Strange Tidbits Involving the Smithsonian 117 Long-lived Men of Stature 118 Early Spanish Accounts 119 Other Evidence in Historical Times 120 6 Page Acknowledgements and Dedication A Tradition of Giants was originally researched and archived by Patricia Mason, Vine Deloria, and the author. Counseling and contributions from direct oral tradition were admitted through Vine Deloria, Billy Frank, and Jake Swamp, with a special observation from Albert White Hat. Further insight and advice came from Dave Thomas, American Museum of Natural History, and Floyd “Red Crow” Westerman. Tireless assistance and selfless service subsequently came from Dr. Brandon Brygider of New York. With time, additional contributions have come from Dave Cain of West Virginia, Dale R. Broadhurst of Hilo, Hawaii, Wayne May, Steve Quail, Joyce Tice, Jeff Wilson, Hugh Newman, and Ted Sojka. Special thanks go to New England and East Coast research specialist James Vieira, and to our ‘bulldog’ researcher Micah J. Ewers. Also, many thanks to my friend Tiokasin Ghost Horse at WBAI in New York City for his non- stop support in getting this information aired to the public. Our original mission was to be a positive force in restoring and reviving much information lost. It was Vine Deloria’s wish to get the attention of both native leadership and anthropologists through the dissemination of information helpful toward understanding more of American prehistory. This work is dedicated to the memory and life work of Vine Deloria, whose love for Native People was without tribal boundaries; with special remembrance of Vine’s devoted friend, Floyd Westerman, who believed in the Tall Ones. The Sacredness of Indian Graves In reply to an inquiry made by Secretary George Martin of the Kansas State Historical society, Attorney General Jackson handed down an opinion to the effect that it is just as much of a crime to open Indian graves even in the interest of archaeological research as it is to open the graves of white people. He says the law nowhere permits the opening of graves for archaeological or scientific research. "I know of no reason," he says in conclusion, "why Indian graves should be despoiled any more than another. The rights of the red man should be respected as much as those of whites or blacks. All the natural instincts and feelings of humanity cry out against the violation of sepulture. Except in the interest of justice or prompted by motives of love and duty, the sanctity of each deceased person's 'six feet of earth' should not be disturbed." Ohio History, Volume 16 p.420 (date unknown) “…Pits were dug into the center of mounds, or tunnels at base level were run into the center of a mound from one side, and if the mound failed to yield Hopewell artifacts in abundance it was often abandoned without any real attempt having been made to discover the reasons for its construction. “ 1 William S. Webb and Charles E. Snow, The Adena People 7 Page John Smith’s 1608 Map showing a Susquehanna Male (upper right) Beneath the lower leg of the figure in the upper right are these words: The Sasquesahanougs are a Gyant-like people & thus atyred” And from Smith’s writings regarding the figure of a man: “They measured the calf of the largest man’s leg, and found it three quarters of a yard about, and all the rest of his limbs were in proportion; so that he seemed the stateliest and most goodly personage, they had ever beheld. His arrows were five quarters yard long, headed with the splinters of a white chrystal-like stone…” Published in London, 1624 Map courtesy Library of Congress Originally entitled: Virginia discovered and discribed by Captayn John Smith, 1606; graven by William Hole. 8 Page Introduction and Abstract During the excavation many human bones were unearthed that crumbled to dust upon exposure to the air. One of the skulls found was said to be big enough to fit over a man’s head. As singular as this may seem, similar reports of the time emanated from over 20 other Ohio counties.2 It is one of the great enigmas of Western and world anthropology: who were they, from where did they come, and why did they disappear? The facts declare that where we live today, people of an implausible stature once resided in numbers enough to view their social order as different from any known to ethnologists. In America, a great human mystery lingers ghostly over the land, languishing nearly away. Over the face of the country, throughout Ohio and the adjoining States, the extinct race of giant men…have written a mystic record of their existence in hieroglyphics perhaps uninterruptible…And this dead race of giants…who were they? 3 We know very little about the prehistory of the Americas, especially perhaps North America. Environmental changes coupled with social and political upheavals alter everything quickly and thoroughly.