Author Glenn Kreisberg (Woodstock, New York), will speak about Native American Stone Structures in the Catskills and Northeast America, Frederick Cook Society Director Carol Smith will discuss Dr. Cook’s writings on the indigenous cultures of Greenland and Alaska, and Sullivan County native, Ryan Mitro, (Woodbourne’s Fare View Gardens) will talk about the work of his new 501c3 nonprofit organization, Sacred Circle of Stones (SCS).
Hurleyville – Sullivan County Museum, Sunday, February 23, 2-4pm
Author Glenn Kreisberg has spent years studying Native American stone structures. His research has led him to believe that scattered throughout the Catskill Mountains and Northeast America are large numbers of standing lithic structures that have mostly been ignored by conventional archaeologists. Often dismissed as colonial era stone walls and field clearing piles, these formations are increasingly emerging as part of a Native American tradition of ritual building practices that reflect a sophisticated world view and sociocultural belief system. By acknowledging these sacred sites and preserving them, we can learn from these early inhabitants.
Glenn’s multimedia presentation will offer GIS, locational, and Geospatial data as evidence, revealing patterns based on the concentration and distribution of site locations on the landscape. Utilising GIS software, hundreds of sites and structures in the region have been documented, providing a basis for understanding these sites in their proper cultural context.
Glenn is an author, radio engineer and NYS DEC outdoor guide who researches archaeoastronomy and landscape archaeology in the Hudson Valley and Catskill Mountains of New York. He served two terms as 1st vice president of the New England Antiquities Research Association (NEARA), is co-founder of the non-profit Overlook Mountain Center in Woodstock, NY. Glenn has studied archaeoastronomy at State University of New York (SUNY) and archaeoacoustics on Malta, through the Old Temple Study Foundation (OTSF) and Heritage Malta. Glenn’s books include Spirits in Stone, Mysteries of the Ancient Past, and Lost Knowledge of the Ancients.
Frederick Cook Society Director Carol Smith will present a brief overview of Dr. Cook’s work as an anthropologist. According to Smith “while Cook is best known as one of the greatest explorers ever to live, he also devoted years of his life to the study of anthropology and indigenous culture. His work was unique in that he lived with the Inuit peoples, learned their language and respected their cultural traditions, during a time in history when indigenous populations were typically exploited.”
Ryan Mitro, is a Sullivan County native and founder of the 501c3 nonprofit organization Sacred Circle of Stones (SCS). SCS’s mission is to steward local natural and cultural resources for future generations, through education, advocacy, conservation, sustainable agricultural practices, and the celebration of indigenous heritage and history. At the heart of his work is the protection of Indigenous ceremonial stone landscapes in Sullivan County, New York and beyond. According to Ryan, many of the stone walls and sacred structures scattered throughout the Catskills were actually landmarks for the Woodbourne South Fallsburg aquifer and its wetlands and springs.
If you would like to have someone come and look at your property to determine if the sites are historic please come and meet Ryan, or reach out to him at Info@sacredcircleofstones.
This free presentation is sponsored by the Frederick Cook Society. Refreshments will be served and donations are welcome. Call 845 434-8044 or visit www.
Photo: Glenn Kreisberg