Indigenous Earthwork Monuments in North America
If we discovered the tools past civilizations used to locate resources or mark seasonal changes we must move to protect their significance to Indigenous history.
For thousands of years, indigenous people of the North American continent constructed monuments of earth and stone. Each structure had a meaning and a purpose. Some honored those who died. Some were used to mark and prepare for the change of seasons. Some pointed the way toward valued resources. Some were landmarks. Some mapped the destinations to be reached from a trail crossing.
If we carefully study the clues left behind, we catch a glimpse of how astronomy, geography, and geometry were used in North America before European conquest and colonization.
Getting Started
Astronomy
Watching the movement of the sun, moon, stars, and planets from a set location was a way to understand a place and time.
These images of sunrise over Grossmugl Mound in Austria show how observing the sky from a specific location can provide a wealth of information. Similar patterns are related to certain mound and stone monuments in North America.
Geometry
Geometry isn’t limited to lessons on a flat piece of paper. Understanding geometry in 3-dimensions starts with seeing the world with both eyes.
Geography
Indigenous oral traditions recount the origin of the continent of North America as Turtle placing mud on its back. The English Translation is Turtle Island.
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