PINE GROVE — American Indian expert Dave McSurdy shared a striking image he snapped while atop Monks Mound near St. Louis.
The expanse of the mound enabled viewers to see the famed Gateway Arch in the distance.
McSurdy showed slides and shared insight during a special presentation on Indian Mound Builders of the Mississippi Valley on Tuesday to a crowd of nearly 40 people at the Sweet Arrow Lake Clubhouse.
His program explored the civilization of the Mississippi before Europeans arrived.
“There are 22 million cubic feet of soil in that mound,” he said. “It was all done with little baskets of soil.”
McSurdy said it’s believed to have taken 30 years to build it, and the site took its name from Monks who arrived later and began to farm on it. There were several buildings on the mound, including the largest building on the very top, where the chief would have lived and where ceremonies could be conducted.
He also showed images of a Serpent Mound and Cahokia, Illinois, a city of 15,000 American Indians.
Many of their living structures were constructed with thatched roofs, and the sides of the buildings were made of grasses and clay. The way they were constructed allowed inhabitants to remain cool inside, he said.
Mound types usually came in three forms: ridgetop, which had a straight line running across it; conical, with a cone-like shape; and platform, which was the largest mound type where structures could be built upon it.
McSurdy shared images of “Woodhenge,” believed to be from 1000 A.D., which were poles set up in a 410-foot area, and were probably used as a calendar. Another slide showed “chunky ball,” a game played similar to football, where a player estimated how far the chunky ball could go.
He also brought reproductions of several artifacts, including pottery pieces, vessels and pipes, which he said showed the Native Americans’ artistic ingenuity.
McSurdy fielded questions from the audience. Many wanted to know which tribes built the mounds.
“We don’t know that,” McSurdy said, since many of the tribes traveled great distances.
McSurdy brought along a map, detailing the numerous tribes across the U.S., and samples of the types of mounds, so those attending could get an idea of the range. His presentation brought out the curious.
“This is the first one I’ve attended,” said Dave Kruel, Pottsville, who attended the program with his wife, Nancy. “I’ve known Dave and I do have an interest in Indian history.”
Kruel had asked questions about the American Indians’ social lives, if they had leisure time and about the spread of disease by white men.
Although Dave Kruel didn’t think he had any Native American ancestry, Nancy, meanwhile, said she thought there were some relatives on her father’s side of her family who were Native American. She also said her grandmother had lived near Immaculata University, and she remembered searching for arrowheads near her grandmother’s home.
“We found quite a bit,” she said.
Judith Lengle, Pine Grove, said she believed she also had Native American heritage in her family’s history. Lengle asked McSurdy about the reproductions of the artifacts he shared. McSurdy said most of them came from the Hopewell people.
At the conclusion of his program, McSurdy presented Robert Evanchalk with a special gift — a belt buckle handcrafted by Native Americans. McSurdy said he wanted to thank Evanchalk for his service to the park, noting people from surrounding counties come to the park and note how remarkably beautiful and “wild” it is.
“Thank you very much, Dave. I’ll wear it to church,” said Evanchalk, who’s retiring as the Schuylkill County Conservation District’s Parks and Recreation supervisor. Drew Kline is his successor.