Whew! This past weekend was a very busy one for the Bear Spirit Mountain team. Ingrid & I spent all of the past Saturday at the Taylor's Market Fall Festival in Inwood, West Virginia. It was the first "cold" day of the year but in reality it was around 55 degrees. Not exactly freezing but just a few days before it was close to 90 degrees. Our bodies were very confused and it took most of the day to acclimate to the cooler temperatures. The turnout was good and we got to sign a few more books which is always fun!
Sunday, was a very special day for Bear Spirit Mountain. I was the guest lecturer at the Archaeological Society of Virginia's Annual Conference. I was asked to talk about what's been going on at our site. I won't lie when I say that I was pretty nervous talking to about forty Archaeologists in the room. But I pushed through and I felt the talk went well. I was only given fifteen minutes to speak and it's very difficult to try to explain what we have at our site in such a short time. But, I did my best and mostly highlighted some of what we have found and finished with (30) seconds to spare. :) If you want to see the lecture it's posted under the "home" and "gallery" tabs on our website
www.bearspiritmountain.com
I say it was a special day because my Ancestors voices were heard again. Through me they were telling these professional Archaeologists how amazing they are with the rock structures and art they left behind. I had several Archaeologists come up to me after the talk telling me they would like to take a look at our site. I hope they follow through. Our site deserves a full time team studying it in my opinion. One of them even said " I would like to see your site, but i'm skeptical." I just smiled because all Archaeologists are skeptical of everything. It's like our site Archaeologist Jack always say about his fellow peers, "If I found it it's 100% legitimate. If you found it I don't believe it." Best description ever!
Ok, Onto to a few announcements.
Jack has invited me to lead a team of volunteers to climb Short Mountain in Virginia. Our mission is to record and photograph rock cliffs at the top of the mountain in search of ancient American Indian art. This area has an incredible view of the valley below and would certainly have attracted our Ancestors to it. I was absolutely surprised he asked me but also deeply honored that he trusts me to lead this expedition. Don't misunderstand me, He has taught me sound fundamentals of Archaeology. I am confident in my abilities. I just think so highly of Jack that for me it's a wonderful honor. I will do my best to make him proud and also listen for my Ancestors words when I am there and what they have to reveal to our team. Of course I will do a smudge ceremony at the top and bring tobacco as a gift to them.
Next, Cub Scout Pack 127 from Centerville, Virginia has requested to visit our site at Bear Spirit Mountain. I think it's a wonderful opportunity to show these kids the Old Ways of my Ancestors as well as let them see with their young eyes rock art and structures that is over 12,000 years old. We will also teach them how to make their own prayer sticks. I am really looking forward to this visit. It will be educational for all of us.
Lastly, we have had good response to my book. Thank you to everyone who has bought a copy. I have decided that over the winter I am starting on writing my second book. This book will be the rock art only that we have found to date. We have captured several hundred images and I felt that having a "picture only" book of the petroglyphs, pictographs, outline glyphs and rock structures would be a great compliment to the first book. And this winter I will be doing a lot of exploring at Bear Spirit Mountain of areas we haven't been to yet. If you want to join me contact me. We have so much yet to discover!