OHIO STATEWIDE FILES - Know your Ohio: Ohio's American Natives [3] *********************************************************************** OHGENWEB NOTICE: All distribution rights to this electronic data are reserved by the submitter. Reproduction or re-presentation of copyrighted material will require the permission of the copyright owner. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. *********************************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Darlene E. Kelley http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00026.html#0006374 April 23, 2000 *********************************************************************** Historical Collections of Ohio Diaries of S. J. Kelly Plains Dealer Know Your Ohio by Darlene E. Kelley *********************************************************************** Ohio's American Natives-- Part 3. The Whittlesey People-- The Whittlesey people were the latest prehistoric residents of Northeast Ohio. Their culture was the culmination of almost 12,000 years of prehistoric occupation which began with the arrival of the Paleo- Indians at the close of the ice age. In contrast to these earliest inhabitants, the Whittlesey people were farmers, who grew corn (maize), beans, and squash in small fields that they carved from the native forest of the area. These crops were supplemented by a variety of wild plant and animal foods derived from hunting, gathering, and fishing. The farming lifestyle required that people stay put for at least the growing season, in village settlements located not only in the Chargrin Valley, but also along the Cuyahoga and Grand Rivers and even the shores of Lake Erie. One of the sites is at what was known as Tuttle Hill, located just a few miles south of downtown Cleveland. This was an aboriginal earthwork which had been identified by Colonel Charles Whttlesey, an accomplished geologist and amateur archaeologist and writer. No eathworks have been found that Whittlsey had described, but it is believed that Tuttle Hill had once been fortified in such maner, as warfare was common during this period. Larger settlements are also been located in the Cuyahoga Valley. There is a site in Independence, Ohio. which shows of a long term occupation by this agricultural population. Thousands of artifacts have been found to support this theory. This is called the South Park site, and was probably occupied periodically over several centuries, beginning as early as AD 1000 and concluding around AD1600 with a year round occupation of 100-200 people. At least one complete post mold pattern of a rectangular house measuring 40 feet by 15 feet was uncovered at this site. The structure resembled the well known Iroquoian long houses of New York State. Charred fragments of bulrush mats and bits of birch bark fround in trash pits may be remnants of materials use to recover the bent-pole framework of such houses. and perhaps to line the sides of maize storage pits. Analysis of plant and animal remains have provided one of the most complete lists of Whittlesey foods. Generous helpings of maize. hickory nuts, and black walnuts, were supplimented with lesser amounts of cultivated beans, squash, wild grapes, plums, blackberries, hazelnuts, butternuts, acorns, and even some wild sunflower seeds. Animal bones revealed that the white-tailed deer, elk, and black bear provided the bulk of available meat. Other skeletal remains included some of the smaller mammals, various fish, game birds, and assorted turtles, frogs, and snakes. Even freshwater clams inhanced a significant part of the Whittlesey diet. Of course, some of these animals may have been collected for use in the making of tools and other items. Artifacts collected from these sites contained assortments of bone, shell, and antler tools. Hollowed out antler tines were used for substitutes for stone arrow tips, and broken bones and sharp spines from catfish were used to punch holes in leather or other materials. Cut and split bones of all shapes and sizes were drilled, ground, or polished for using as eyed sewing needles, fishhooks, pins, an gaming pieces of uncertain functions. When most people think of prehistoric Indian tools, they envision stone arrowheads of all shapes and sizes, but during this Archaic Period in northeastern Ohio, which lasted from 8500 BC until 1000 BC, prehistoric peoples made a wide variety of large flint spear points and knives. But by the time of the Whittlesey People, however, the typical stone projectile point was a small trianglular artifact that served as a true arrowhead. With the possible exception of stone tool debris, the most common kind of prehistoric artifact recovered from Whittlesey sites was the pottery sherd. Pottery sherds served as sensitive indicators of time and place during the later prehistoric period. Whittlesey potters often decorated their vessels with intricate designs. The kinds of materials ( temper ) mixed into the clay paste of the vessel, be it stone grit or burned and crushed shell, tell a story about cultural relationships and time. Shell-tempored vessels appeared in the Great Lakes region no later than AD 1000 and their presence in Northeast Ohio points to long distance cultural contacts that reached to the Ohio River Valley (Fort Ancient Tradition) and perhaps as far away as the central Mississippi Valley. Within this time span, Whittlesey Tradition, sites can be identified as early ( grit-tempored pottery with cord marked surfaces) or late, ( shell tempored vessels with plain surfaces ) based on the predominanant style and composition of the pot sherds found there. If the Whittlesey people were anything like their historically recorded neighbors, the Huron of Georgian Bay, the cook pot was likely the central focus of household activity. It usually contained a thin soup made from grund maize with the addition of venison or fish and perhaaps some squash, beans, or wild plant food. The large cooking vessel boiled and steamed all day long to provide sustenance for any family member, including dog, who wanted to partake. Thick encrustations of burned food residue on the insides of their pottery sherds indicate simular practices. Their ceramics reveals close cultural relationships with another people, the Sandusky Tradition, who lived to the west along the Lake Erie shore as far as Toledo. These two groups probably traded in food and material goods as well as had some direct social interacton, for example, feasts, marriages, and burial ceremonies. There is no evidence, however, that the Whittlesey people were the direct ancestors of any Native American groups that resettled northern Ohio in the mid 18th century. Furthermore, the tribal identity of the Whittlesey Tradition remains a mystery.---- As inhabitants of the Eastern Woodlands for thousands of years, they undoubtedly made wooden tools as well. Unfortunately, these did not survive the years to endure the scrutiny of today's archaeologists. What has survived--- stone, bone, antler, and ceramic remains--- tells us a vivid, though incomplete, story about a people who are now gone. Although we do not know the true identity of the peole of the Whittlesey Tradition, archaeologists will continue working to reconstruct details of their rich lifeway as it once existed along the shores and rivers of Northeast Ohio. ******************************************************