Tree of Peace and Treaty Trees

These are the very large Oak Trees that mark where Nonnewaug Falls is. Turn right onto the side trail that leads into a grove of hemlocks when you reach them, but consider for a moment just how old those trees might be.

And consider this:

I know you’ve heard of “Bury the Hatchet,” but did you know the rest of the expression?

A piece of Haudenosaunee Oral history: "Peacemaker uprooted a White Pine, exposing a deep cavern with a river at its bottom. He told warriors to cast weapons into this hole and the river carried the tools of war deep in the Earth.

Replanting the White Pine, The Peacemaker said, "To bury the hatchet signifies the end of war, killing and violence."

 

In other words,  “Bury the Hatchet and Plant the Tree of Peace."

 

So could these trees be 300 years old? Would Sachem Nonnewaug have buried a hatchet and then have planted one of these trees when he signed the document to the left? A second treaty was made ten years later. Is the smaller tree related to that?

 

 

See Tree of Peace and Treaty Trees for more...