Pharr Indian Mounds Natchez Trace

Trade from Afar
Around 2,000 to 1,800 years ago, native people built Pharr Mounds, a complex of eight dome-shaped mounds, spread over 90 acres.
One of the largest Middle Woodland era mound sites in the region, Pharr Mounds, was near a sizable village. The people there attracted trade for everyday items and ceremonial objects. 

A vast trading network stretched from the southeastern US to the shores of Lake Ontario. Over hundreds of linked trails, objects of copper, mica, greenstone, and shell found their way to Pharr Mounds. People from smaller local villages then came here to obtain exotic goods. 
Natchez Trace Parkway. All natural and cultural resources along the Natchez Trace Parkway are protected by federal laws.

Objects and Ideas
Mounds Along the Natchez Trace Parkway 
200 BCE
Middle Woodland Period
Bynum Mounds
Pharr Mounds 
Late Woodland Period 800 CE
Boyd Mounds 
Mangum Mounds
Early Mississippian Period 1000 CE 1200 CE 
Bear Creek Mounds
Late Mississippian Period 1400 CE 1600 CE 
Emerald Mound

People from the Woodland era created some of the finest crafts and artwork in North America. For inspiration, they turned to the natural world and their understanding of the universe. The objects they created in metal, stone, and shell were prized from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico.

Since many of the traded objects had spiritual meanings or were linked to religious ceremonies, it is clear that ideas also traveled with the trade. Though there were local variations, American Indians throughout today's eastern US understood and related to the imagery skillfully applied to pipes, jewelry, fabric, and pottery.

Coming Home 

Coming Home
Like the native peoples who lived near the Pharr Mounds, cultures around the world and throughout time have built monuments and lasting memorials. Mounds like these are among the earliest surviving monuments in North America.

Skillfully designed and built, these mounds are a source of wonder and pride. Spiritually enduring, they become the cornerstone of civic and religious ceremonies and rituals.

Modern Chickasaws feel a strong bond with Pharr Mounds and consider them sacred. Many return here as a part of a pilgrimage to their ancestral homeland.

"I am astounded by the levels of the science of spirituality, community, and organization evident in the creation and existence of Pharr Mounds, and how it relates to the larger region. I am proud of my ancestors."

Kirk Perry
Executive Officer for Historic Preservation
Chickasaw Nation

Pharr Indian Mounds Markers

Pharr Indian Mounds

2017 Aug 26, Saturday, Humming Bird Tagging, Jesse Owens Park Danville, Alabama and Oakville Indian Museum

Each of us, for a bag of sugar, watched the catching and tagging of Hummingbirds.

A Tagged Hummingbird 

Tagging a Hummingbird
Hummingbirds are captured and fitted with a numbered band; if they are recaptured, their age can be determined.

When we left that morning, he had already tagged thirty Hummingbirds.

The tagging took place at the home of a Master Gardener, so we enjoyed a pleasant stroll through her many gardens. 

Our next stop was at the Farmers Market in Killen Park. 
There, we sampled watermelons, chocolate cake, sausage, strawberry jelly, and Mini tomatoes. 
We registered to win a fifty-dollar gift certificate.

It was getting close to dinner, so we stopped at Killen's Subway for lunch, where we both ordered 
a six-inch meatball sub-sandwich, chips, and Coke.

Next, we rode to the Jesse Owens Museum, cabin, and park in Cullman. 

Jesse Owens Statue

• James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens was an American track and field athlete and four-time Olympic gold medalist in the 1936 Games. Owens specialized in the sprints and the long jump and was recognized in his lifetime as "perhaps the greatest and most famous athlete in track and field history."

Jesse Owens Stats

Jessee Owens Timeline

Our next stop was the Oakville Indian Mount Museum. There, we saw thousands of Indian Arrowheads, clothing, hides, books, stuffed wolves, bears, & buffalo. 

Sequoyah 1776-1843
A mixed-blood Cherokee is the only known person in history to develop an alphabet or syllabary. Sequoyah's father was Nathaniel Gist. His mother, Wurich, was a sister to Cherokee Chief Doublehead, who controlled the Lawrence County area from 1790 to his death in 1806. As a young boy, Sequoyah, known as George Gist, moved with his mother to Wills Town in DeKalb County, Al. Sequoyah wrote the Cherokee Alphabet from 1809 to 1821. Sequoyah helped negotiate the 1816 Turkey Town Treaty, which gave up Cherokee claims to Lawrence County and led to the Cherokees' move to Arkansas in 1818. His need and curiosity for writing prompted a desire to help educate his people in the Cherokee writing system. Sequoyah died in Mexico in 1843.

Pottery 

Cherokee Dress 

Sequoyah 1776-1843

Pipes, Tools, and Arrowheads 

 My sister-in-law and I had a busy day: watching the tagging of hummingbirds, visiting the farmer's market, having lunch at the subway, and taking a trip to Cullman to visit Jesse Owens Park and Oakville Indian Museum.