Mississippi's "Emerald Mound"

As the Indian nations have not the assistance afforded by the means of writing and reading (mainstream teachings), they are obliged to have recourse to tradition, as Du Pratz, 2 vol. 169, has justly observed, to preserve the remembrance of remarkable transactions or historical facts, and this tradition cannot be preserved, but by frequent repetitions (mouth to ear); consequently many of their young men are often employed in harkening to the old and beloved men, narrating the history of their ancestors, which has thus been transmitted to them from generation to generation. (Get an 18th century archeologists view of the mound.) “In order to preserve them pure and incorrupt, they are careful not to deliver them indifferently to all their young people, but only to those young men of whom they have the best opinion.”

Referring to an important traditional memory preserved by the Indians, Jenkins wrote, “They hold it as certain fact, as delivered down from their ancestors, that their forefathers, in very remote ages, came from a far distant country, by way of the west, where all the people were of one color, and that in process of time they moved eastward to their present settlements.”

Historical Indians familiar today as the “Delaware,” anciently known as the Lenni Lenapees, did indeed come from the west in great numbers, and desired to return to their original homeland in the east, along the Atlantic seaboard. As she told me in a personal interview, Mary Moulder, from the Six Nations of the Grand River, Ontario, Canada, recounted how “these ‘Delaware’ long ago resided in the eastern portion of the present day United States, but had at one time, picked up and moved far to the western regions of this land.”

In the western land area there occurred an influx and mixing with a “yellow race,” according to Pottawattomi Chief Shup-She. And then, according to their own history as recorded “mouth to ear,” the Indians decided to return to the land of their forefathers to the east. 

Although mainstream archaeologists dismiss oral traditions as “unverifiable hearsay evidence,” the folk memories of Native Americans were heard and recorded with more respect and interest by early researchers, known during the 19th century as “antiquarians.” Among the first of these was John Johnston, an agent of the Shawnee tribe, in 1819, when he penned a letter dated July 7 (reproduced by Schoolcraft 32 years later in Indian Tribes of North America). Johnston wrote, “The people of the Shawnee nation have a tradition that their ancestors crossed the sea. They are the only tribe with which I am acquainted which admit to a foreign origin. Until lately, they kept yearly sacrifices for their safe arrival in this country. (Get an 18th century archeologists view of the mound.) From where they came, or at what period they arrived in America, they do not know.”

Significantly, the Algonquians retained a tradition, still alive when Johnston made his written report, to the effect that foreigners did indeed reside in America during former times. His Algonquian informants told him, “It is a prevailing opinion among them that Florida had been inhabited by white people, who had the use of iron tools (after 1200 B.C.). Blackhoof [a celebrated chief] affirms that he has often heard it spoken of by old people, that stumps of trees, covered with earth, were frequently found, which had been cut down by edged tools (Archaeologia Americana Volume I, page 273).

The “Delaware” belong to the Algonquian Nation. The leading spokesman for the Algonquian Nation today is Vine Deloria, Jr., who I quoted in previous issues of Ancient American Magazine, from a talk he gave to a large party of his peers (archaeologists, anthropologists and historians), as the evening speaker. Mr. Deloria told his audience that his forefathers had anciently come from a troubled land, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, sailed up the St. Lawrence River, and into the Great Lakes, settling North America from the center outward.

Other Algonquins describe the vessels in which they arrived as “turtle boats.” “In Who were the Talligewi?”, author Frank Coryell writes, “The Delaware, whom the Indians of every tribe addressed in reverence of their antiquity as “grandfathers,” (the first ones) were accustomed to relate as an authentic tradition that eastern North America was at one time occupied by a white people. The Indian name for this was Tellegwi, Allegwi or Alleghans.  

“They were not savages or nomads but a nation of fixed habitation and great culture. Whence they came or when, are points upon which the traditions are silent.

“But the traditions of the Delaware, the Sac, the Shawnee, Natchez and even other tribes attest the fact of their presence, their civilization and their power. In the dim past, continue the traditions, the savage Iroquois emerged from the great western country and began to hew their conquering way to the present abode.

“The Delaware at the same time began migration to the east but took a route much to the south of the Iroquois. Both tribes were confronted and halted on the banks of the Mississippi...by the strange Allegewi. But the Iroquois forced their way restlessly across, the weaker Delaware soon formed an alliance and began a merciless war against their common enemy.

“The Allegewi, in a number of terrific battles, were driven southward and finally stood desperately at the bay of their favorite land, Kentucky. Here they built huge mounds for fortifications, for burial places and for temples. How long their last stand respited the Allegewi no one knows, but finally at the falls of the Ohio they staked their lives and fortunes on the issue of one great battle and lost? Their people were expelled and their civilization forgotten.”

Authenticity of Allegewi tradition is additionally supported by Coryell: "In the Walum Olum, a metrical translation of an ancient hieroglyphic bark record discovered in 1820, the main tradition is given in much the same way as the Delaware tradition.”

Concerning the Falls of the Ohio as a battle location, Chief Cornstalk gives the following account of a numerous light skinned population living in the Ohio Valley: “Among those who received the oral tradition first- hand was George Rogers Clark and two U.S. Army colonels, who heard it repeated at Point Pleasant from Chief Cornstalk. He told of a ‘race of white or light-skinned people, originally from the East,’ who dwelt in large numbers long ago in the Ohio Valley. Chased by warring Red Men, these ancient white people fled westward to the falls of the Ohio River, near Louisville, Kentucky, where a bloody skirmish took place. Several hundred paleface survivors sought refuge on an island below the falls. With tomahawks raised and arrows aimed, the Indians attacked again. Not a single white person lived to tell the story. In apparent material confirmation of the Indian account, early settlers found many human bones on the island.” (History of Kanawha Valley, by Virgil A. Lewis; see Ancient American, Volume 10 Number 62, page 2 to 3, for a full report on Hale’s findings.)  

The Walum Olum or "Red Score" is the migration legend of the Lenni Lenape, or Delaware Indians, translated by Constantine Rafinesque (1783-1840), a professor at Transylvania University, in Lexington, Kentucky, and published by the Indiana Historical Society, containing numerous historical references to the Talligewi (“Ancient Ones”). Translated and interpreted by linguistic, historical, archaeological, ethnological and physical anthropological studies, the Walum Olum is the only document of its kind. That such a record actually exists, written in hieroglyphics by North American Indians, goes a long way to back up arguments for ancient writing in Eastern North America during ancient times. The following is a portion of the English translation of the Walum Olum by Rafinesque:

“The Great River (Messussipu) divided the land, and being tired, they tarried there. Yagawanend (Hut-maker) was next Sakima, and then the Tallegwi were found possessing the east. Followed Chitanitis (Strong-friend), who longed for the rich east-land. Some went to the east, but the Tallegwi killed a portion. Then all of one mind exclaimed: War, war! The Talamatan (not of themselves) and the Nitilowan all go united (to the war).

“Kinehepend (Sharp-looking) was their leader, and they went over the river. And they took all that was there, and despoiled and slew the Tallegwi. Piniokhaszewi (Stirring-about) was next chief, and then the Tallegwi were much too strong. Teuchekensit (Open-path) followed, and many towns were given up to him. Paganchihilla was chief, and the Tallegwi all went southward. Haltanwulaton (the Possessor) was sakima, and all the people were pleased. took all that was there, and despoiled and slew the Tallegwi. Piniokhaszewi (Stirring-about) was next chief, and then the Tallegwi were much too strong. Teuchekensit (Open-path) followed, and many towns were given up to him. Paganchihilla was chief, and the Tallegwi all went southward. Haltanwula-ton (the Possessor) was Sakima, and all the people were pleased. South of the lakes they settled their council-fire, and north of the lakes were their friends the Talamatan (Mercer, 1885, line numbers removed).”

The Walum Olum reports that it was the Messussipu, or “Great River,” that the conquering tribes had arrived at before the war started. Messussipu is another Delaware form of “Mississippi.” The words "great" (Messu) and “fish” (Namaes) are associated, because they are almost homonyms in the Lenape language, and both are found in the Alligewi traditions. The Mengwe (Iroquois) and Talamatan (Hurons) were originally the same people, since they constituted one language family or linguistic stock (Mercer, 1885).

Chief Shup-She of the Pottawattomie (Algonquin) Nation gives the following account of his tribe’s ancient history and migration to this land, as recorded by Dr. Milton R. Hunter: “We were very interested in Mr. LaHurreaus’ (Chief Shup-She) explanation of the migration of people to ancient America, who the peoples were, and where they came from. He said that the Indians had traditions of their ancestors living in America continuously from Adam’s time, and that the population on this land had been augmented from time to time by four or five migrations. These migrations all came to America from the East...he said that one group of colonists came to American about four thousand years ago in boats, like tortoise shells...He also told of the coming of the yellow race and that they brought to America the bad practices of scalping, real human sacrifices and much sex immorality. Part of these people married and merged with the Indians and became the Aztec Indians of Mexico and others moved eastward across the U.S. and became the Algonquin.”  

(From Milton R. Hunter’s report of his meeting with Chief Shup-she of the Pottawatomie Nation, 15 June 1951, in possession of Wayne May.)

The Natchez Nation was located in what is now the southern states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. Chief Hutke of the Natchez says, “We have always been upon this ground (first inhabitants), as it is the place of our beginning. Concerning the war with the mound builders (Allegewi or Alleghans), we, the Natchez warriors, led the way in that fight.

“The alliance with other nations made the decision in council to eliminate the people of the mound builders because of their great wickedness. They were practicing many sexual abominations, adultery was common place and they didn't honor their wives and children, as men are obligated to do before the Great Spirit. We men of the Natchez Nation honor and uphold our women and children. A Natchez man practicing the traditional ways of our people would never strike a woman” (Personal interview with the Sun Chief, Hutke of the Natchez Nation, Natchez, Mississippi, March 18th, 2005, Wayne May).

Anciently, the Natchez came from the east, as recounted by a Great Sun Chief, and recorded in The History of Louisiana page 5-6: “The ancient speech, he replied, does not say from what land we came; all that we know is, that our fathers, to come hither, followed the sun, (east to west) and came with him (the sun) from the place where he rises; that they were a long time on their journey, were all on the point of perishing, and were brought into this country without seeking it.” (Get an 18th century archeologists view of the mound.)

It is not clear what part of the North American continent that they landed upon, however, it may have been somewhere along the coast of present day Mexico and Texas. The Natchez speak of their difficulties with a “stone-building” and “slave” society which was heavily established on the western lands that bordered the great water (Pacific Ocean). Again, to quote The History of Louisiana, pages 5-6: “The Great Sun Chief speaks: Before we came to this land (present day Louisiana area) we lived yonder under the sun, (pointing with his finger nearly southwest, by which I understood that he meant Mexico), we lived in a fine country where the earth is always pleasant; there our Suns had their abode, and our nation maintained itself for a long time against the ancients of the country (what nation? Maya ancestors?), who conquered some of our villages in the plains, but never could force us from the mountains. Our nation extended itself along the great water (gulf side) where this large river (Mississippi) loses itself (into the Gulf of Mexico); but as our enemies were become very numerous, and very wicked, our Suns sent some of their subjects who lived near this river (Mississippi), to examine whether we could retire into the country through which it flowed (Mississippi River valley). The country on the east side of the river being found extremely pleasant, the Great Sun, upon the return of those who had examined it, ordered all his subjects who lived in the plains, and who still defended themselves against the ancients of the country, to remove into this land, here to build a temple, and to preserve the eternal fire.”

Having spent time in Louisiana with the Great Sun Chief Hutke, I was taken to the Natchez’s most sacred and oldest temple mound, the largest earthwork in North America after Cahokia’s Monks Mound, across the Mississippi River in western Illinois from St. Louis. Today, it is preserved by the state and open as Emerald Mound State Park.

The site, located about eight miles northeast of present day Natchez, Mississippi, is well marked and easy to find. The Natchez people visit the mound every year to perform ceremonies there. The main attraction, now open to the public, is the Natchez pow-wow held at the original site that was once the capital of the Natchez people before their forced relocation in present day Oklahoma.

The Ojibwa (Chippewas) also have their own legend of the Alligewi they refer to as the Mun-dua. Ojibwa William W. Warren published a history of his people in 1858 worth quoting:

“One tradition, however, is deemed full worth of notice, and while offering it as an historical fact, it will at the same time answer as a specimen of the mythological character of their tales... During their residence in the East, the Ojibwa have a distinct tradition of having annihilated a tribe whom they denominate Mun-dua. Their old men, whom I have questioned on this subject, do not all agree in the location nor details.  

Another Fascinating Story Supporting 

The Book of Mormon

“Their disagreements, however, are not very material, and I will proceed to give, verbatim, the version of Kah-non-dum-a-win-so, the old chief of Sandy Lake: There was at one time living on the shores of a great lake, a numerous and powerful tribe of people; they lived congregated in one single town, which was so large that a person standing on a hill which stood in its centre, could not see the limits of it. This tribe, whose name was Mun-dua, were fierce and warlike; their hand was against every other tribe, and the captives whom they took in war were burned with fire as offerings to their spirits.

“All the surrounding tribes lived in great fear of them, till their Ojibwa brothers called them to council, and sent the wampum and war- club, to collect the warriors of all the tribes with whom they were related. A war party was thus raised, whose line of warriors reached, as they marched in single file, as far as the eye could see. They proceeded against the great town of their common enemy, to put out their fire forever. They surrounded and attacked them from all quarters where their town was not bounded by the lake shore, and though overwhelming in their numbers, yet the Mun-dua had such confidence in their own force and prowess, that on the first day, they sent only their boys to repel the attack.

“The boys being defeated and driven back, on the second day the young men turned out to beat back their assailants. Still the Ojibwa and their allies stood their ground and gradually drove them in, till on the eve of the second day, they found themselves in possession of half the great town. The Mun-duas now became awake to their danger, and on the third day, beginning to consider it a serious business, their old and tired warriors, mighty men of valor, sang their war songs, and putting on their paints and ornaments of battle, they turned out to repel their invaders. The fight this day was hand to hand. There is nothing in their traditional accounts to equal the fierceness of the struggle described in this battle. The bravest men, probably, in America, had met- one party fighting for vengeance, glory, and renown; and the other for everything dear to man, home, family, for very existence itself!

“The Mun-dua were obliged at to least give way, and hotly pressed by their foes, women and children threw themselves into, and perished in the lake. At this juncture their aged chief, who had witnessed the unavailing defense of his people, and who saw the ground covered with the bodies of his greatest warriors, called with a loud voice on the Great Spirit for help. Besides being chief of the Mun-duas, he was also a great medicine man.

“Being a wicked people, the Great Spirit did not listen to the prayer of their chief for deliverance...immediately a dark and heavy fog arose from the bosom of the lake, and covered in folds of darkness the site of the vanquished town, and the scene of the bloody battle. The old chieftain, by his voice gathered together the remnants of his slaughtered tribe...

“The whole day and ensuing night they traveled to escape from their enemies, until a gale of wind, which the medicine men of the Ojibwa had asked the Great Spirit to raise, drove away the fog; the surprise of the fleeing Mun-duas was extreme when they found themselves standing on a hill back of their deserted town, and in plain view of their enemies.

“‘It is the will of the Great Spirit that we should perish,’ exclaimed their old chief; but once more they dragged their wearied limbs in hopeless flight. They ran into an adjacent forest where they buried the women and children in the ground, leaving but a small aperture to enable them to breathe. The men then turned back, and once more they met their pursuing foes in a last mortal combat.

“They fought stoutly for a while, when again overpowered by numbers, they turned and fled, but in a different direction from the spot where they had secreted their families: but a few men escaped, who afterward returned, and disinterred the women and children. This small remnant of once a powerful tribe were the next year attacked by an Ojibwa war-party, taken captive, and incorporated in this tribe. Individuals are pointed out to this day who are of Mun-dua descent, and who are members of the respected family whose totem is the Marten” (William Warren, History of the Ojibwa People 1885, pp. 91-94).

The Ojibwa account makes it clear that a hill involved in the story was at the center of a “town” extending as far as the eye could see. It seems that the Indians were near a large lake, certainly in the Great Lakes region. The battle Warren described took place not far from the St. Lawrence River, meaning the “lake” mentioned was most likely Lake Ontario. Their Chief was apparently a great "medicine man,” and the Ojibwa and their allies annihilated them completely, a genocide sanctioned by the Great Spirit because of their wickedness. This part of the account is in agreement with the Natchez.

Jenkins reported similar information picked up by a Christian missionary traveling among the Indians west of the Mississippi River, in the mid-18th century: “Reverend Du Pratz, who had taken so much pains in the year 1764 or 65, to travel far westward, to find Indians who had never seen a white man, informed the writer of these memoirs, that far to the northwest of the Ohio, he attended a party of Indians to a treaty, with Indians from the west of the Mississippi. Here he found the people he was in search of -- he conversed with their beloved man who had never before seen a white man by the assistance of three grades of interpreters. The Indian informed him that one of their most ancient traditions was: That a great while ago they had a common father who lived towards the rising of the sun (eastward), and governed the whole world.

“That all the white people's heads were under his feet; that he had twelve sons, by whom he administered his government; that his authority was derived from the Great Spirit by virtue of some special gift from Him; that the twelve sons behaved very badly and tyrannized over the people, abusing their power to a great degree, so as to offend the Great Spirit exceedingly; that he being thus angry with them, suffered the white people to introduce spirituous liquors among them, made them drunk, stole the special gift of the Great Spirit from them, and by this means, usurped the power over them, and ever since the Indians’ heads were under the white people's feet. But that they also had a tradition that the time would come, when the Indians would regain the gift of the Great Spirit from the white people, and with it their ancient power, when the white people's heads would again be under the Indians' feet” (Ten Tribes of Israel, Timothy R. Jenkins, page 81). (Get an 18th century archeologists view of the mound.)

While it is true that some immigrants to ancient America crossed over an Arctic land-bridge into Alaska from Asia, Native American oral histories describing additional prehistoric arrivals from over the seas should not be dismissed as mere “hearsay.” When a common thread of history runs repeatedly through the oral traditions of many tribes, we are obliged to take notice. This thread weaves a story affirming, “they came from the east.” No, these native peoples are not the lost tribes of Israel, but a strong Semitic influence is nevertheless stamped deep within their customs and traditions. Let us at least keep an open mind and study the data that can be salvaged from the early records and journals of our first European settlers. Truth is like cream in the milk; it will always rise to the top. So, let it rise.