Recently, a group of Kendalites journeyed to Buttonhook Forest for a docent tour of an area once held sacred by the Munsee Lanape, the Indigenous Peoples who lived in this area long before colonial days. They learned of the forest as sacred land of the Native Americans who previously lived in this region—now Chappaqua in the Town of New Castle—and of the significance of stone structures left by the indigenous people. Those stone structures on the land have been authenticated as a complex of prayer stones, turtle effigies, a serpentine wall, and markers of underground aquifers placed by the original inhabitants. The 20.3-acre site is being protected and preserved by a community coalition “Friends of Buttonhook Forest” together with Indigenous stewardship while legal efforts are underway to keep it from being destroyed, and the significance of the stone structures left by the indigenous people.
“The Group”
The docent explained the snake wall. Snakes were sacred to the Muncee Lenape people. The front end of the snake wall extends a very long way without bordering anything. So, it isn’t a wall that a farmer would build. Its winding, curvey structure also indicates that it isn’t a functional wall, at all.
More snake wall
Another example of carefully placed rocks that were probably a ceremonial site.
The split rock at the bottom of the photo indicates the location of an underground aquifer.
Photos by Harry Bloomfeld