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I am so chuffed!
Jan. 25th, 2024 02:48 pmSo, I'm researching a member of the Brothertown Indians, and laboring my way through a scholar's dissertation on their cemeteries. The author notes that all the gravestones in the NY Brothertown cemeteries line up, but the orientation is odd-- neither east/west, the usual Christian orientation, nor head to the southwest, a usual native custom; but slightly south of east. Perhaps because I live in the area, the diagram he posted gave me an idea, and I wrote to him.
"Sir, I am researching the life of Thomas Commuck, and reading your Becoming Brothertown with great interest. Something struck me as I read the chapter about the burial sites in New York. I hope you will forgive an audacious question: Could they have been oriented to face towards their homelands in Rhode Island and Massachusetts? That could account for the not-quite-east orientation.
Your book is helping me fill out my understanding of Commuck, and I am grateful."
He wrote back! And he doesn't think I'm crazy!
"Dear Carol,
Thanks for your kind email. This sounds like an interesting possibility. I would have to have a closer look at the data since it’s been more than a decade now, but in general, I think it is feasible. Good thinking. All the best, C---- C-----"
"Sir, I am researching the life of Thomas Commuck, and reading your Becoming Brothertown with great interest. Something struck me as I read the chapter about the burial sites in New York. I hope you will forgive an audacious question: Could they have been oriented to face towards their homelands in Rhode Island and Massachusetts? That could account for the not-quite-east orientation.
Your book is helping me fill out my understanding of Commuck, and I am grateful."
He wrote back! And he doesn't think I'm crazy!
"Dear Carol,
Thanks for your kind email. This sounds like an interesting possibility. I would have to have a closer look at the data since it’s been more than a decade now, but in general, I think it is feasible. Good thinking. All the best, C---- C-----"
