Native American Spring Time Rituals
Gennaro Ferraro, Environmental Educator
The two indigenous tribes thought to have possibly occupied Rye were either the Siwanoy or Mohegan; it is difficult to say for certain which. Native American artifacts have been discovered from Manhattan Island, some dating back three thousand years while others in the Lower Hudson Valley can be up to twelve thousand years old. Although European settlers called many Algonquian speaking tribes the Delaware Indians, many locations such as Mamaroneck, Nyack and Manhattan adopted the names of the tribes who once lived there.
The Siwanoy believed a Great Spirit, or one of the lesser spirits controlled all aspects of life. Through rituals they would attempt to appease good spirits while discouraging evil ones in the hope of good weather, bountiful harvests and successful hunts.
According to Siwanoy legend, the seasons were controlled by the four directions of the wind, three of these directions being known as "grandfathers"; the fourth would blow warm spring winds from the South and was known as "Our Grandmother Where it is Warm". The seasons changed because the four grandparents were constantly gambling; when winter turned to spring, the Southern Grandmother had defeat ed the Northern Grandfather.
Certain natural indicators allowed the natives to judge how far into a season they were. The shadbush (juneberry bush) was used to signal the return of Shad fish, while trout lily marked the arrival of trout. The tiny but loud frogs known as Spring peepers were a clear sign spring was well underway.
Early in spring, Native Americans would begin preparing the land for crops through a Corn Planting Ceremony. Labor was divided with men turning the soil while women and children planted maize. A system, we know as "The Three Sisters" was developed where corn, beans and squash are all planted within proximity to one another. The corn acts as a trellis for the beans to grow on while the squash shades the garden bed keeping soil moist. The beans return the nitrogen both the squash and corn require back to the soil, through the process of nitrogen fixation.
