Ocumulgee Indian site

[Mellinda]

On a holiday to the USA we visited Ocumulgee Indian Mounds in Macon Ggeorgia.
We spent all day just feeling the spirit of the place so moving.

http://roadsidegeorgia.com/site/ocmulgee_mounds.html

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/935573/lo ... an_mounds/

Peace
Mellinda

[Huathe]

Mellinda,

I have a considerable interest in the Native American mounds of the SE United States. The closest one to my home location is one in Franklin NC which I hope to visit soon this summer. I hope to visit the Etowah and Oculmulgee mounds in Ga sometime soon. There are also some nice ones eastward past Charlotte NC.

Britain has Stonehenge, Avebury, and Glastonbury and Ireland has the sacred sites of Tara and the Boyne Valley. This is Eastern North America's answer to them.

Huathe

[Mellinda]

Hi Hawthorn
Yes wonderful sites, I was so suppressed when our cousins who live in Georga had never visited Ocumulgee or had any interest in them or seemed to have any knowledge of them.

Blessings
Mellinda

[MPutnam]

I cannot speak as to Occmulgee yet because I haven't made it there but I have visited New Echota in north GA many times as a younger lad. I love it! I remember being there and feeling such a deep connection to my ancestors who worked and lived on and with those mounds!

[Art]

It’s surprising to realize how many people are unaware of the extensive farming communities that constructed the mounds or how large the population of North America was prior to DeSoto’s expedition in the middle sixteenth century. Since the population was decimated (primarily by disease) in the wake of DeSoto’s travels (by as much as 60-85%) later European explorers and settlers only found the staggering remnants of once thriving Native American societies.

The Natchez were the last of the mound builders and the only tribe to remain into the historic period. http://mdah.state.ms.us/hprop/gvni.html French records yield a fascinating look at the last of the mound builders and are well worth reading. For a quick glimpse: http://www.concordiasentinel.com/news.php?id=3956

[KeithS]

I visited this site several years ago when on a trip around the southern states. The custodian there was very informative and did say that very few locals visited. I was bowled over by the earth lodge, preserved in its fired-baked state. There were hardly any visitors to the site on the day I went, and most of those had remained near the visitor centre. I had been carrying around a Native American cedar wood flute (and bought a couple more whilst there) and it was wonderful sitting on the top of one of the mounds playing the flute.

Hopefully I didn't disturb anyone, visitors or Ancestors!

[AFDruidAlex]

I wish I had visited this place!!! I just got home from my summer vacation in Georgia. We went to Tallulah Falls, but I desperately wanted to go to anything Native American-related.

What was the feeling like being where the Native Americans built a sacred mound?

[Erithe]

It’s surprising to realize how many people are unaware of the extensive farming communities that constructed the mounds or how large the population of North America was prior to DeSoto’s expedition in the middle sixteenth century. Since the population was decimated (primarily by disease) in the wake of DeSoto’s travels (by as much as 60-85%) later European explorers and settlers only found the staggering remnants of once thriving Native American societies.

It really isn't taught in schools. I think that's one of the reasons for it. While they teach about Native American culture to some extent, history texts for elementary to high school students are usually very ... shoddy, at best, if not flat out incorrect. When I worked at a library, I would often encourage students to read history books other than those provided by the schools in order to get a better grasp of history.

Most U.S. students have no idea there were very solid reasons why the North American coastline did not get settled till it did. It just isn't generally taught. ((I'm sure there have to be some teachers who teach this ... I've just never met them.)) It's really sad, because I think this ignorance leads to the destruction of important sites, false ideologies about native populations, and ... well ... it's fascinating! Tons of kids in the U.S. hate their own history because they think it's boring.

In northern Indiana, there are some huge native archaeological sites that are well worth visiting if you're ever in the state.