Week 5 of 32 • Page 4
Week 5 of 32 • Page 1
Across
1. mineral formed in thin sheets
4. American Indians who enjoyed music
9. something native to the area
10. _______ Mound Indians;
wanderers who ate shellfish
Down
2. born with no color to its hair or skin
3. mound that was in line with the
summer solstice sunset
5. before Christopher Columbus
discovered America
6. black volcanic glass
7. Fort _____ Indians; last of
prehistoric American Indians to live
in Indiana
8. great craftsmen of early Indiana
Vol. 9 Issue 1
A.
B.
• Moon Myths
• Albino Animals
• Indiana Regions
A
You have gained from this issue a great deal of knowledge about the Woodland Cultures. Pictured here are some
samples of prehistoric drawings. Almost all of them came from pottery found in various burial mounds. See if you can
match the drawing with the word or phrase that most closely describes it. There are a couple of tricky ones!
_______2. Buzzard
Week 5
Were Adena and Hopewell Burial
Mounds Also Used as Observatories?
American Indian Drawings Matching Game
_______1. Thunderbird
First Quarter
THIS WEEK
Mound
Builders
_______3. Eagle Man
C.
_______4. Winged Serpents
D.
burial mound found in Anderson,
Indiana, is believed to have some
interesting uses. Researchers found
burials, pottery and other artifacts after an
extensive excavation during the summer
of 1968 and 1969 by Indiana University.
Archaeologists believe the artifacts are
from the Hopewell culture. These findings
are common for burial mounds. But
Ball State University Archaeologist Don
Cochran said he believes the mounds were
used as an observatory.
In the late 1980s, he did an experiment
and found out that some of the smaller,
surrounding mounds were in line with
certain points in the sky. For instance, a
nearby mound called Fiddleback mound
was in line with the summer solstice sunset.
A circular mound was aligned with the
winter solstice sunset. And some shallow
earthwork nearby shows the rise of a bright
star known as Fomalhaut.
Cochran also plotted the locations of
mound groups built around the same time
in New Castle, Richmond, Cambridge
City and Winchester. Connecting the
groups with lines, the result resembles
the Big Dipper. Cochran does not suggest
that they were attempting to recreate
the constellation, but he does find the
resemblance quite amazing. “It is our job
to see if we can determine why they were
located there,” Cochran says. Cochran’s
findings are many years old, but only time
will tell if any more answers are found.
One thing’s for sure—Cochran’s research
indicates that the mound builders were
amazing people.
Come Visit Our Mounds!
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was
related by either blood or marriage to 11
other United States Presidents. Those
presidents were: John Adams, John Quincy
Adams, Ulysses Grant, William Henry
Harrison, Benjamin Harrison, James Madison,
Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, Zachary
Taylor, Martin Van Buren and George
Washington.
If you’d like to make any editorial comments about our paper, please write to us at
[email protected].
Almost 3,000 years ago, the American
Indians began working together to build
the first mounds. Mounds are huge piles
of Earth often used as places to bury their
dead and to worship. Mounds were also
built as homes for the chiefs. Many mounds
remain in Indiana today. Some can be seen
at Mounds State Park, near Anderson. One
of the largest mounds can be found at Angel
Mound State Historic Site near Evansville.
Mounds State Park
This beautiful state park was developed
near Anderson in the 1930s. It includes
the best example of mound building in
the state of Indiana. There are 10 mounds
located within the park’s boundaries. They
range from a few inches tall to many feet
high. They were built by the Adena and the
Hopewell cultures around 150 B.C. and
were used for religious ceremonies.
The largest and best preserved is the
Great Mound, which is about a quarter of a
mile in circumference. You really need to
see these mounds in person to appreciate
them. Grab the family, pack a picnic, take a
hike and learn about those people who lived
in Indiana so many years ago.
Angel Mounds
Angel Mounds includes a 103-acre
archaeological site that was once the location
of the ancient Mississippian culture.
This means that it was the center of the
community and the chief lived there. The
village stretched out for miles in every
direction, with the chiefdom in the center.
This settlement was the largest known town
of its time in Indiana, but the Mississippian
people eventually deserted it. No one
today knows why. At Angel Mounds, a
community has been reconstructed to
include family dwellings and ceremonial
structures.
The Angel Mounds village was the
largest settlement in Indiana during this
time. Eventually, the settlers deserted it,
however, although no one knows why.
Today, visitors to Angel mounds will find
that the village has been rebuilt, with family
dwellings and places of religious worship.
Week 5 of 32 • Page 3
Week 5 of 32 • Page 2
Mound Builders of
Indiana
The Moon in Myth
This week, we’re studying an exciting, mysterious early civilization of Indiana history—the mound builders. This period
covers the Hopewell, the Mississippian and the Fort Ancient Indians.
Middle Mississippians
The Middle Mississippian Indians settled near rivers in
southwestern Indiana. They were advanced in agriculture far
beyond the earlier American Indian tribes. They built large, wellplanned villages around a large, open piece of flat ground, which
was used for tribal dances and ceremonies. All of the mounds
had flat tops, such as Angel Mounds near Evansville. The Middle
Mississippian Indians lived better than the American Indian
tribes who came before them. In the center of their houses, fire
pits were dug. They must have enjoyed music, for flutes made
of bone were found in the villages. Games were played, too,
because dice made out of bone were also discovered.
Shell Mound Indians
The Shell Mound Indians were wanderers who moved from
one place to another in search of food. They did not build
permanent houses. These American Indians usually camped
near rivers, where they caught shellfish in the White, Ohio and
Wabash rivers. They would take the meat from the shells and
throw the shells into a pile. Slowly the piles would grow quite
high. From digging into these mounds of shells, archaeologists
learned many interesting things about the Shell Mound Indians.
They learned that these American Indians heated liquid for
cooking by dropping hot rocks into the liquid. The cooking
containers were usually made of animal skins, though they were
sometimes made of wood or bark. The Shell Mound Indians also
made tools and jewelry from the bones of animals. They cut the
bone, polished it and carved different designs into it.
The Hopewell Culture
The Hopewell Indians lived in Indiana about A.D. 200 to 500.
These American Indians built not only burial mounds, but they
also built earth walls. The walls were built into different shapes.
Some were built in squares or circles, and others were formed to
look like animals.
Like the other mound builders, the Hopewell hunted and
traded, but they were also farmers. They had small farms and
gardens in which they grew corn, squash and beans. They even
grew tobacco, which they smoked in their intricately carved stone
pipes. Most important, they learned to survive the harsh winters
by storing food. These intelligent people dug pits where they kept
food for use in the winter.
The Hopewell men are great craftsmen at work. Their
work is some of the very best found in pre-Columbian (before
Christopher Columbus landed here) North America. They are
To the people living long ago, the moon was a god or
goddess of special mystery and power.
holding items made of mica (a mineral formed in thin sheets)
from the southern Appalachian Mountain, shells from the Gulf of
Mexico, copper from the upper Great Lakes and obsidian (black,
volcanic glass) from the Rocky Mountains. The Hopewell must
have been great traders with members of other cultures all over
the country.
The Mysterious Mound Builders
The ancients honored their dead by building huge earthen
mounds over their graves. Some mounds are multi-layered
and contain many bodies. The wealthiest were buried in the
most important areas. The mounds were also built for religious
purposes. Building these mounds required leadership and a lot of
organization.
Fort Ancients
The last of the prehistoric American Indians to live in Indiana
were the Fort Ancient tribes, who lived in southern and eastern
Indiana. These American Indians farmed the land and hunted
using the bow and arrow. The houses of the Fort Ancient Indians
were not all built alike. Some were round, whereas others had
four sides. Skins, bark or mats were used to cover the houses.
Musical instruments were also discovered where their villages
once stood. Like the other American Indian groups, they too built
mounds.
West Central Region
L
afayette and Terre Haute are the two largest cities in
West Central Indiana. This region has excellent farmland
and is a center for food processing and manufacturing.
Kids love Wolf Park as well as Fort Ouiatenon, the first
military post in Indiana, in Lafayette. Have a fun time there
every October at the Feast of the Hunter’s Moon. You’ll get
a taste of life at a French fort in the 1700s. The Tippecanoe
County Historical Museum is also in Lafayette. The museum
contains pioneer tools, a Victorian parlor setting and an exhibit
about 19th-century manufacturing.
Purdue University is across the Wabash River in West
Lafayette. Terre Haute is located in the lower Wabash Valley.
Here, you can hike, fish and cross-country ski. You’ll find
Indiana State University and the Rose-Hulman Institute of
Technology in Terre Haute. While you’re in this area, go on
over to the Children’s Science and Technology Museum of
Terre Haute. There are many festivals offered in this region.
Music lovers will want to attend the Dancing in the Streets
Festival in Lafayette in late July every year. It features ‘50s
and ‘60s music, classic cars, live entertainment and food.
There is also a Riverfront Jazz and Blues Festival here every
August. Terre Haute hosts the Annual Ethnic Festival every
September and an Arts Festival in April.
Rockville has Civil War Days in June. More than 2,000
people recreate this period with war skirmishes, pioneer food,
merchandise and crafts. There are drills, battles, battle camps
and concerts. Rockville also has Billie Creek Steam Harvest
Days in September. Enjoy a chicken and dumpling dinner and
a tractor pull. Don’t miss a covered bridge tour—Park County
is the Covered-Bridge Capital of Indiana. Have a great time
visiting our West Central Region!
© Indiana Studies Weekly • Toll free phone (800) 361-0502 • For pricing information go to www.studiesweekly.com • For ordering information or questions e-mail [email protected] • For editorial comments and feedback e-mail feedback@
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Not only did the moon outshine the other nighttime lights,
but it also changed its shape and had its own strange motion in
the sky. The moon had visible markings that fascinated people
on every land for thousands years.
Some said the markings were a rabbit on the moon;
some said that it resembled a frog. Other people said the
markings were a human face — a Man in the Moon.
In Scandinavia, however, there was no Man in the Moon, but
instead two children, and they were carrying a pail of water.
Little of the myth remains except an old nursery rhyme:
Jack and Jill
Went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water…
Once, long before this myth became a nursery rhyme,
this story may have helped people remember how,
throughout the month, the moon waxes (gets larger) to the
full moon, then wanes (gets smaller) to the new moon and
increases to full again. You see, Jack gets his name from
the Scandinavian word “jakka” — to increase, and Jill’s name
comes from “joila” — to dissolve.
Take this article with you on the next full moon and see
if you can find the markings.
Albino Animals
A
“Native American” or
“American Indian?”
Some individuals and some entire
tribes of Native Americans prefer
to be called American Indians. Some
are offended by the name Indian
because the name was a mistake that
Christopher Columbus made when
he sailed to America and thought he
had reached India. It is considered
correct to use the terms Native
American, American Indian, Indian
or indigenous (native to the area)
people, according to the tribes’ Web
sites. Everyone agrees that we are all
proud to be called Americans.
n albino animal is one that is born without color to its hair or fur.
Most American Indian tribes thought albino animals had a special
spirit, and so these animals were not to be hunted or killed. Because
the albino lacked a natural ability to blend into its environment, it was
unfair game for the native hunter.
American Indians believed anyone who did hunt these
creatures would be cursed. For instance, Delaware
Indians believed that if an albino squirrel were hunted
and killed, the hunter would lose his hunting abilities.
If an albino deer were killed, the hunter might later
lose his life in a freak hunting
accident.
Among all tribes, the albino
animal had spirit connections.
One of the strongest among
the Plains tribes was the white
buffalo, a definite symbol of
great wisdom. Even today,
hunters respect the American
Indian customs concerning
albino animals.