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Taphophilia (dot) Com...
A repository of morbid curiosities:
Thanatology and Taphophile Issues, Cemetery,
Funeral Industry and Death Related News.
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By Matt Hucke And Ursula Bielski. Discover a Chicago That Exists Just Beneath the Surface - About Six Feet Under! Take a tour of Chicago's permanent residents! Please visit the Lake Claremont Press website to purchase your copy of Graveyards of Chicago today!
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Guardians of the Soul: Angels and Innocents, Mourners and Saints, Indiana's remarkable cemetery sculpture
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West Springfield Massachusetts: Stories Carved in Stone by Rusty Clark features information on early New England gravestone carvers with more than two hundred photos and illustrations. Please visit the Dog Pond Press website.
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Written by DeadGirl
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Monday, 25 October 2004 |
Burial Ground Adds To Masons Island Aura
By KAREN FLORIN
Day Staff Writer
10/23/2004
Stonington
Some of the locals say there is a strange energy on Masons Island, an inexplicable force that makes this land mass at the mouth of the Mystic River a mostly tranquil place to live, but also could have something to do with a number of drownings, freak accidents and other untimely deaths over the years.
These vague feelings, for some, have risen closer to the surface since excavation of a building lot on Old North Road last month unearthed the remains of Pequot Indians who lived here in the 17th century. The final resting place of an estimated 50 to 75 Indians, dating to approximately 1660 or 1670, is sandwiched between two relatively new homes on one of the few lots that remain undeveloped.
Since the discovery, some of the neighbors have been thinking about the land once inhabited by the region's native people and then named for John Mason, the English captain who led the 1637 slaughter of large numbers of Pequots.
I'm sorry if we're invading their (the Indians') space, just like we're invading the space of the reindeer, said a neighbor who walked her greyhound under the steely sky Friday afternoon. The woman, who declined to give her name, said she and other neighbors have been trying to give the Mashantucket Pequots privacy since the discovery. She admitted the find has made her think more about the island's history.
I understand they were buried according to the Indian customs, she said of the graves that were found intact at the site. I understand there were little babies, too.
Tribal members said Pequots traditionally buried their dead on their right side, with knees drawn to the chin and head oriented to the southwest, the direction in which they believed spirits moved. Mashantucket Spiritual Leader Laughing Woman gave non-Indians a glimpse of some of the unique customs of the natives at a press conference this week, while describing the spiritual power of the Masons Island burial ground.
In ancient times, there was a practice among Algonquins of stripping flesh from bones, she said. The bones were placed in large copper pots.
A year later, a Feast of the Dead would take place, she said. Such a practice has not been proven at the Masons Island site, she said.
There are many things we could share with you, but these are for our people, she said.
The existence of the Indian cemetery just yards away from her house does not give her the creeps at all, the greyhound-walking woman said Friday. The burial ground is to be preserved by the Mashantucket Pequots, who have the means to protect a sacred space because they own and operate the world's largest casino. Though the contents of an estimated 20 to 25 graves were inadvertently excavated with a backhoe and pushed around with a bulldozer, the tribe is now treating the site with the utmost respect.
On Friday, a crew meticulously screened the contents of large piles of backfill in the one-third acre lot, looking for, and finding, with unfailing regularity, human bones and items that belonged to the souls those skeletons once supported.
When we get to areas where we're starting to find concentrations (of remains), we start to personalize, said Julie Hartman-Brodeur, a staff archeologist for the Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center. We think in terms of he's' and she's.' ''
As scientists, archeologists might view the site in more clinical terms, and the discovery is likely to lead to deeper knowledge of Pequot activity in the years following the massacre of 1637. But in reality, it's a pretty traumatic situation for everyone, Brodeur said. From the street, the site looks unremarkable. Yellow tape and temporary fencing surround piles of dirt and a relatively deep hole that was once meant to be the foundation of Michael and Christine Wall's new home.
The Walls said they were compelled to do the right thing and report the discovery although, observers said, who would want to live there knowing what lay beneath?
The Walls apparently plan to sell the lot to the tribe. It was that transaction the tribe's pending purchase of the site that occupied the minds of other locals Friday afternoon. Just down the road from the burial site, a group of friends was eating pizza and pondering the falling temperatures in the warmth of the store at Masons Island Marina.
What did they all think about the discovery of the burial site?
I heard they got double for it, said Mary Ellen Marcotte said of the Walls' sale of the property to the tribe, which had not been recorded in town hall as of late this week. The prevailing notion in the marina store Friday was that the couple would now be able to build their home on a waterfront lot, having parlayed their aborted construction into a better deal.
A man behind the counter, who refused to give his name, speculated that the Pequot remains belonged to slaves of John Mason.
Eileen Morehouse, who owns the marina business with her family, said they are busy hauling boats inside for the winter and have not had a lot of time to think about the discovery. Still, it makes her wonder, too.
Somebody came running down a couple of weeks ago and said, Did you hear about it?' '' Morehouse recalled. I just thought it was interesting.
http://www.theday.com/eng/web/news/re.aspx?re=3BFDA6CC-1BCC-41BA-BC66-09375AC06806 |
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Taphophilia?
taphophilia (taf′ō-fil′ē-ă)
ORIGIN:
From the Greek words taphos, meaning "tomb" or "sepulcher" and philia, meaning "attraction or affinity to something, in particular the love or obsession with something"
DEFINITION: 1. An excessive interest in graves and cemeteries. 2. A love or fondness for funerals, graves, and cemeteries. 3. In psychiatry, a morbid attraction to graves and cemeteries
Quote Repository
“I answer the heroic question Death, where is they sting? with It is here in my heart and mind and memories.” Maya Angelou
Shirtless and Sculpted
The Men of Mortuaries 2008 Calendar is now available! All sale proceeds benefit KAMMCARES, a breast cancer foundation.
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