3 Southold Indian Museum and NY Marine Rescue Center

Native American Hunting and Fishing History
by Rocco Maner

Mostly everyone has seen the stereotypical image of native Americans only using bow and arrows. While they did have them later, the first Native Americans used the atlatl; pictured in the image above. It is a small wooden handle that acts as a lever in which a miniature spear can be launched from with more force than a person could do on their own. Additionally, the heads of the spear were shaped very distinctly, with a substantially longer body to be wedged deep into the spear itself. The Atlatl was used from the paleo – Indian era to the Archaic periods which would be from 11,000 BCE to 1,000 BCE. This weapon would be used to hunt all kinds of game, including the massive woolly mammoth for a time.

 

The great woolly mammoth went extinct around about 10,000 years ago for two primary reasons, climate change and hunting. Woolly mammoths were prized game for the sheer size of meat they would provide for native American as well as the fur which could be used for clothing to stay warm in the waning ice age. Additionally, the mammoths' tusks and bones were prized as it would be used to make tools and used for artwork. One could only imagine the effort it would take to bring down a massive animal like a woolly mammoth using only spears or the atlatl. It would require coordination between the whole tribe and a massive amount of danger for everyone involved as a woolly mammoth could be as tall as 4 meters and weigh up to 8 tons.

 

Fishing was just as important as hunting mammals and birds to native American survival; especially for nations who lived next to coast such as the Shinnecock on Long Island. Featured in the image is a multitude of artifacts that would have been used for fishing at the time. Large smooth stones used as anchors, a part of a canoe that would have been crafted by the natives out of tree bark, fishhooks made of bone and sharpened stones, and a tool used to spear fish. Furthermore, Native Americans developed complex net trapping systems that were designed to take advantage of fish behavior and kept the fish alive until they were collected. This kept the fish fresh, and natives could release ones they did not want or were not big enough to eat yet.

 

Both hunting and fishing were an everyday practice for native nations all over North America. They hunted mammals of all sizes, birds, fishes, crustaceans, reptiles, and mollusks to make up a very complex and healthy diet. From centuries of harvesting these food sources they continued to develop more complex and efficient techniques such as going from the atlatl to the bow and arrow. Additionally, they were active stewards of their environments for example, differing species were to be harvested based on the season. This allowed species to recover from hunting and kept the populations healthier and prevented both overpopulation and underpopulation. Furthermore, no part of an animal was wasted in native culture that could be used for survival. Mammals not only provided meat but also furs and leather for clothing and housing, clam shells were used for wampum, and bones of many different animals would be used for tools and decoration.

How did animals shape our world?

by Jade Salas

 

All Northeastern Algonquin groups were broken up into clans. This division of the group into subgroups was vital in the development of their societies. Clan systems gave the Algonquins a way to determine social standing, cultural traditions, and a way to govern. How did these clans differ from each other? Through the use of local animals! All Algonquin groups had a designated animal that would define the clan. As seen in the Southold Bird Effigy Pipe, a glossy ibis is carved into the pipe. With this artifact and knowledge provided by the Shinnecock, we can determine that the clan that once belonged to the Southold region was the Ibis clan.
 

Another example provided by the museum was the Southold Beaver Effigy pipe. Beavers were once a staple animal in Long Island; known as ‘nature’s engineer’ by most, these animals are talented in constructing their habitats. Meaning, so was the Beaver Clan. The Beaver Clan was equally skilled in building as their animal counterpart, and were phenomenal in resource management. In modern times, we can see practices similar to this as well. Many countries have a designated bird to embody the spirit of their culture. For example, Guatemala has the Quetzal, or the United States has the Bald Eagle.

Symbolism at the Southold Indian Museum
by Juliana Hart

The first stop of our day was at the Southold Indian Museum. The Southold Indian Museum contains artifacts from across North America but focuses on Long Island native history. Our guide walked us through the main floor and the basement, taking her time to point out artifacts of interest and explain the history behind them. After our tour, we had the opportunity to walk through on our own and revisit items and displays that piqued our interests. After a quick look at the displays on the main floor, I returned to the basement.

In the basement, one can find many artifacts focused on symbolism. There was a large medicine wheel on the wall (Image 1), many ceramic bowl effigies (Images 2 and 3), and carved stones (Image 4). An effigy is a sculpture or a model of a person.
 

Image 1 shows a medicine wheel which depicts the four seasons/elements/cardinal directions. White stands for north, air, and winter. Yellow stands for east, fire, and spring. Red stands for south, earth, and summer. Black stands for west, water, and autumn.

 

Image 2 is of a ceramic bowl with a vessel head effigy. This bowl is from the Arkansas/Missouri area and is a typical style of bowl from that area and Long Island. Most effigy bowls would have 4 heads with one head facing in each cardinal direction. The Southold Indian Museum has another effigy head bowl in its collection that has more than one head. The effigy head places further emphasis on the importance of cardinal directions to native cultures.

 

Image 3 is another face effigy bowl. This vessel is from present day Brooklyn. It is an example of what a Long Island pattern looked like. The face is flatter against the bowl, and there in a facial effigy on each quadrant (north, south, east, west).

 

Image 4 shows a carving of a spiderweb in sandstone. This piece of sandstone was found on the south shore of Long Island. Spiders and spiderwebs are common symbols across native cultures and often are a symbol of patience, creation, and weaving.

Symbols on these artifacts explain core values in an indigenous society and can differentiate clans. Certain clans might have symbols that describe what they do. For example, a beaver symbol may indicate that clan does a lot of building. Many symbols are of the cardinal directions (north, south, east, and west).

Overall, the Southold Indian Museum was full of interesting artifacts and had an excellent tour guide. I enjoyed learning about different symbols and hope to see more artifacts like these ones on a future trip.

Fish Ladders

by Maximillian Chronister

 

Image 1 above shows the fish ladder from the Peconic river we visited on Friday. This style of ladder is referred to as an air duct ladder and is primarily intended for alewives to use to reach the water above the damn. This ladder was created in 2016 in an effort to restore the alewives' natural spawning ground.
(photo 1 credit- Cyd Bloomfield, https://you.stonybrook.edu/somas/2021/09/27/mar-355-riverhead-fish-ladders-new-york-marine-rescue-center-sept-24-2021/)

 

 

Image 2 shows a fully grown alewife, these fish belong to the family Alosidae making them close relatives to herrings and menhadens. These fish were once plentiful in coastal water across the northeast, however they are reliant on the many rivers and streams that have been heavily blocked and dammed over the last century. Luckily there have been widespread efforts to make these rivers accessible again for these fish to travel up.
 (photo 2 credit- https://dwr.virginia.gov/wildlife/information/alewife/)

 

Image 3 shows the eel ladder at the Peconic river dam we visited on out field trip. The design is vastly different from the fish ladder and utilized pipes to form a passageway for the eels to squirm up. American eels are very capable climbers and can even scale the vertical damn if needed.
(photo 3 credit- Cyd Bloomfield, https://you.stonybrook.edu/somas/2021/09/27/mar-355-riverhead-fish-ladders-new-york-marine-rescue-center-sept-24-2021/)

 

Image 4 shows an American eel which can be found throughout the east coast. These eels are catadromous meaning they spawn in the oceans and live out their adulthood in freshwater.  Because they are much more capable at getting through obstacles, they have not been affected by damming to the same extent as the alewife.
 (photo 4 credit- Victor Vrbovsky/Engbretson Underwater Photography)

Turtles at the Marine Rescue Center

by Aelish Mullaney

For the third week of MAR 355: Coastal Cultural Experience, students were taken to the Southold Indian Museum and the NY Marine rescue center. While the museum was filled with wonderfully rare artifacts and knowledge on Indigenous life before the colonization of North America, my amazement for this trip lay within the visit to the rescue center. It's there we saw the tools and resources allocated to helping wildlife in need as well as where I met some of the most passionate people in the marine science industry. I’d like to talk about the 2 residents that stood out the most to me at the NY Marine Rescue center, Chesnut and Pegasus.

Chestnut is a green sea turtle who has been a permanent resident of the rescue center for over 15 years now. Back in 2010 Chestnut was severely cold stunned, which occurs when a reptile's body has been exposed to extreme cold for too long resulting in the body shutting down to survive. She was also struck by a boat, which caused acute shell damage. As a result, air now gets trapped under her shell, making her body grow upwards instead of outwards.It's because of this she has buoyancy issues that don't allow her to dive, which is what ultimately deemed her unreleasable. Fortunately Chestnut has healed enough to be living quite the life at the rescue center, where she is unbelievably spoiled and serves as an education ambassador to teach about the rehabilitation of Animals at the Long Island Aquarium.

 

The other resident I’d like to talk about is Pegasus, the loggerhead sea turtle. Pegasus was rescued by the Baltimore aquarium after she was found floating and lethargic off the coast. Pegasus was found to have buoyancy issues and was treated via velcro weights being attached to her shell to help her dive down to deeper depths. Once she had mastered the pools in Baltimore, she was transferred here where the rescue center had a 10 ft deep pool for her to swim in. Now Pegasus happily spends her time resting on the bottom of the tank, and I am personally happy to say that she will be released back into the wild on September 23rd on Tiana beach.

 

Chestnut the green sea turtle. Looking at Chesnut's shell it's evident that something's not right, she has a large bubble of air trapped underneath her shell as the result of an injury which causes her to float, therefore deeming her unreleasable.

 

Pegasus the loggerhead sea turtle. Pegasus came up to say hello to our class as we approached her tank and showed off her ability to dive and come up as she pleased thanks to the rescue center.