Sacred Sites
Our Home and Native Land
Guardian makes offerings and smudges the Grandfather Rocks at the Thunder Clan Shamanic Complex in Stamford
Photo by K. P. Thrane
As the old Indian saying goes, “ALL LAND IS SACRED” but to the Quinnipiac Sachemdoms we hold certain places to be very sacred. QTC (Quinnipiac Tribal Council) Press has a publication available entitled There’s more than rocks, trees and streams in the woods (72 pages, profusely illustrated). ACQTC Duda Little Owl explains that Grand Sachem Iron Thunderhorse “brilliantly combines archaeology with Native history, stories, and traditions into a beautifully illustrated, delightful reading experience.” This publication explains how these sites are connected to local lore and what elements are still to be found there today. QTC Press also has other publications that focus on selected sacred sites, such as Sacred Cultural Landscapes: The Ways of Algonquian Sachemdoms and Implications of a Thunder Clan Shamanic Complex in Western Connecticut (84 pages, profusely illustrated).
The key Sacred Sites within our homeland around Greater New Haven, CT, are given here, briefly. These include:
- East Rock — Wappintumpsc
- West Rock — Mautumpsc
- Sleeping Giant — Koueonk Mogosketomp
- Lost Lake at West Woods — Tanhich Nippisse
- Fort Wooster Park — Sketambough-Menuhkenum (the site of the Quinnipiac palisaded stronghold)
Wappintumpsc is the home of Hobbomock, the Quinnipiac Culture Hero and Stone-Giant, where he and his twin Maushop dwelled until the fatal flood that took Maushop’s life. After he drowned, Hobbomock buried him under rocks and earth. His burial mound is what is called West Rock today. Sleeping Giant Park is the body of Hobbomock who was slain by the mighty Thunderbirds. Hobbomock also built a special mound at the summit of East Rock and early in the 20th century the Euroamericans built a Soldiers and Sailors Memorial right on top of this mound. Hobbomock also built the now famous “Giant Steps”, a stairway of stone that leads 325 feet from the base of a traprock formation to its summit. Sadly, as the photo below shows, the Giant Steps has been desecrated with grafitti. Each year, following the ACQTC annual celebration (3rd weekend in July) our members and allies make a pilgrimmage to East Rock where special Prayer-ties and offerings are left to the spirit of Hobbomock. State and local governments have failed miserably in the protection of our sacred sites, so ACQTC has formed a special Task Force called Gechannawitank - Guardians of Sacred Sites.
Graffiti on a rock formation near the Giant Steps
Photo by K. P. Thrane
(daughter Christina on the rocks)
