Indian stones to be protected at Turners Falls airport

[ Originally published on: Tuesday, January 06, 2009 ]

TURNERS FALLS -- The federal government has ruled a group of stones discovered in the path of the planned runway expansion at the Turners Falls Municipal Airport is a ''sacred ceremonial hill'' and eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.

An archaeologist hired by the Federal Aviation Administration had said the stones were rocks left over from a stone wall built in the 19th century.

But, American Indians from the Narragansett, Aquinnah-Wampanoag and Mashpee-Wampanoag tribes said the site was a collection of sacred stones.

The state's historic preservation officer said she did not think the property was eligible for a spot on the National Register.

The issue was sent to keeper of the National Register for a final determination.

''The site is central to the cosmology of the combined tribes and the traditions that have marked Native American sacred and ceremonial practices for numerous generations,'' according to a ruling from the keeper.

''Located in the middle of the Connecticut River region of New England, this site also possesses the potential to yield important information about traditional Native American practices, beliefs and sacred rituals.''

Reacting to the ruling from the National Register, John Brown, tribal historic preservation officer for the Narragansett Indian Tribe, said, ''From our point of view, we simply used modern science to confirm things we already knew from our own history about our own science. The technology of today confirmed the same technology from hundreds and thousands of years ago. The observations of today were no different than the ones we had then. We are not the simple folks that many people think tribes were.

''Now we need to sit down with the FAA and the Turners Falls Airport Commission and determine the next steps.''

Plans to expand the Turners Falls Municipal Airport have been on hold since 2007, awaiting a ruling on the status of the stones. The FAA and the Massachusetts Aeronautical Commission are paying all costs of the project, estimated at $5 million.

The airport still plans to expand its runway, but the project will now be split into phases, Airport Manager Michael Sweeney.

This summer, work will begin to replace the existing runway, built in 1960, and add 200 feet to the Connecticut River side of the airport, he said.

Plans to add 1,000 feet of runway to the Millers Falls side of the airport will be re-designed so the expansion doesn't disturb the stones, said Sweeney, adding that he hopes this work will begin in 2011.

The FAA will work with environmental agencies and American Indian groups on this redesign to ensure their concerns are addressed, he said. ''In the end, it's a balancing act of all the parties' interests.''

Because the current runway is in such poor condition, the MAC and FAA decided to break the project into phases so the current sections can be fixed right away, he said. ''We're very grateful.''

The replacement of the taxiway, originally scheduled for this year, will be postponed until the other two phases are complete, said Sweeney. The cost of that project hasn't yet been determined, he said.

Beyond the hill itself, the whole airport as well as much of the surrounding area, down to the Connecticut River, the islands in the Connecticut River, the confluences of the Millers and Deerfield rivers and parts of the Montague Plains, are among the areas that should also be considered as part of a National Register-eligible historic/archeological district, known as a Turners Falls Cultural Landscape, the ruling said.

The stones at the airport are the central component of a ceremonial landscape, which stretches out in a 16-mile radius from the hill, the ruling said.

To help make its determination, staff from the National Register of Historic Places visited the site, interviewed representatives of the Narragansett, Aquinnah-Wampanoag and Mashpee-Wampanoag American Indian tribes, reviewed data from those tribes and reviewed data from the FAA.

It's important for everybody to work together on deciding the next steps, said Brown. ''I think that being gracious is the only way to go. It's time to educate rather than expatriate or excommunicate.

''Depending on how you look at this, it could be a very positive thing,'' said Brown, adding that the region's American Indian heritage holds the potential for a tourist attraction. ''I'm sure there are those that could find something negative with it, but if everybody sits down and discusses the matter, I think cooler heads will prevail.''

You can reach Arn Albertini at: aalberti@recorder.com or (413) 772-0261 Ext. 264

 

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