Copyright © 2003 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

As many of you may have heard, New Hampshire's "Old Man of the Mountain" collapsed over the weekend. I thought you might appreciate my writing on the topic. The headline is inspired by the NH state motto: "Live Free or Die."

"Abenaki Songs for the Old Man of the Mountain: Live Free"
Sometime in the hours between darkness and dawn
the Old Man’s spirit walked away from the mountain
Sometimes, when they are ready to travel

"alosada, nônegônniak . . . that is how the old ones leave us
paliwlôbi, bedegwôbi. . . when we are looking away
When asked how New Hampshire got so many rocks
and where the glaciers got to
Yankee farmers would say, them glaciers went back fer another load
an' left th’ Old Man here, alone, to wait on ‘em

Nanibosad, the night walker, whispered to him that night
when the caretakers were looking away,
the turnbuckles and chains and braces broke
the Old Man yawned, and smiled, and dove, headfirst, into the lake
ah, kadosmida,
he is saying,
wligonebi, the water feels good
the people need me

"At some unknown hour, between May 2 and May 3, 2003, one of the most prominent geological formations in Abenaki territory fell apart, when the rocks that made up the feature known as the "Old Man of the Mountain" tumbled into Profile Lake, popularly known as the "Old Man's Mirror."

Five red granite rock ledges, forty feet high, situated high up on Cannon, or Profile Mountain, across from Franconia Ridge, formed a facial profile with a prominent brow and outthrust jaw. Those mountains, thrust out of the earth millions of years past, were left in their present form when the Wisconsin glaciation retreated some 12,000 years ago. Generations of Wôbanakiak, or Abenaki Indian people, commonly known by such place names as Pennacook, Pemigewasset, Pequawket, Cowasuck, Missisquoi and others, have continuously inhabited Vermont and New Hampshire, the territory known as Ndakinna ? our homeland ? since the glaciers retreat.

When asked how New Hampshire got so many rocks and where the glaciers got to Yankee farmers would say, them glaciers went back fer another load an’ left the Old Man here, alone, to wait on em Despite Yankee foklore about Indian disappearence, there are still extensive networks of Abenaki families living throughout Ndakinna. There are also many Native oral traditions about the stone faces and other anthropomorphic rocks and mountains. Some formations represent the work of the creator; others stand as the physical evidence of the movements of ancient earthshapers, like the glaciers (bemidegwadsoiak), or mythical beings like Gluskabe, who pushed up earth and carved out rivers. Some traditional stories say that the stone beings took solid form so they could watch over the people, and that they only move when transformation is called for.

The oldest stories of the Old Man say the rock face shared his knowledge and experience with those who brought gifts of tobacco. One 17th century story relates how the "Great Stone Face" terrorized a band of Kanien’kehake Mohawk warriors, turning them to stone. In another story, he himself turned himself to stone, out of grief.

Colonial settlers created their own romantic fictions about Abenaki history as they claimed the local landscape. In 1805, two different parties of white travellers claimed to have "discovered" the face. Writer Edward Roth, in his 1864 book titled "Christus Judex ? A Traveller’s Tale," said the stone face had been happy before white men arrived. He claimed that the efforts of French missionaries to Christianize the Indians caused the stern expression, and that this change was a foreshadowing of "the utter annihilation of the Indian race and name." Nathaniel Hawthorne believed the rock face resembled Daniel Webster, but Daniel Webster declared the face to be an advertising sign, hung out by "God Almighty," to "Show that in New England He Makes Men."

In 1916, Charles Greenleaf, proprietor of the Profile House tourist resort, hired Edward Geddes to install 1,350 pounds of anchor irons to secure the ledges. Subsequent caretakers found that the rock face, even with the addition of rods, turnbuckles, and cement, demanded constant tending to prevent cracking. The State of New Hampshire, now grieving for the loss of its cherished landmark, is already considering a reconstruction.

Many of New Englands indigenous people, however, believe that it would be a mistake to restore those rock formations that natural forces have shaped to their liking. When you inhabit a place for thousands of years, you learn that change, even in great earth formations, is inevitable. Some traditions call it a good sign when certain of the old rock people decide to move around. Many of my kin believe that the spirit of the old chief embodied in the rock face has been freed from his modern imprisonment, and is walking the land again. On Sunday, May 4, an Abenaki drum group, including members of the New Hampshire Intertribal Council, gathered by the lake, at the foot of the mountain, to sing honoring songs. Some of us wrote poems for the Old Man.

Nanibosad, the night walker, whispered to him that night when the caretakers were looking away, the turnbuckles and chains and braces broke the Old Man yawned, and smiled, and dove, headfirst, into the lake ah, kadosmida, he is saying, wligonebi, the water feels good the people need me.

- Marge Bruchac, Missisquoi Abenaki University of Massachusetts, Amherst