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POINT ROCKAWAY BURIALS (Iroquois, Ontario)
Waddington, St. Lawrence County, New York: A Look At Our Past, Pauline Tedford & Tom Fife, editors (Ogdensburg, N.Y.: Ryan Press, 1976), 55-56
A very old copper fork (presumably from the French & Indian War time period) was recently found at Sparrowhawk Point, the relocation of Point Rockaway remains.
POINT ROCKAWAY
Point Rockaway is an area located in the northwest part of the township of Waddington…
Until the Seaway, Point Rockaway was almost an island as there was the St. Lawrence River on the north and two creeks flowing into the river from the south with a swampy area in between. Ray Kentner, a lifetime resident of Point Rockaway, relates that the area was once used as an Indian camping ground...
The Point Rockaway area was changed considerably during the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway. In 1954, during the construction of Iroquois Dam, a state archaeologist uncovered seven cremated burials some of which it was thought dated back to 3000 B.C.
Indian Days Recalled by Carl B. Olds
June 15, 1958
Ogdensburg Advance News
Many Indian relics have been found near Macomb and Point Rockaway, Carlton B. Olds, retired Madrid-Waddington District Superintendent of schools told members of Rotary at their luncheon Thursday.
Mr. Olds who now resides in the Waddington area told the group of an experience he had digging with a archeologist from the New York State Department.
Back in 1954 Mr. Olds was contacted by Dr. William R. Ritchie, a New York State archeologist. Dr. Ritchie was looking for Indian relics. The first place they dug was at Point Rockaway. At Point Rockaway they met with quite a big success.
In all history, man has had to revise his thinking from time to time, Mr. Olds stated. Many parts of the United States and Canada have at different times been subjected to glacial action. Formerly we said that the last glacial action in the United States occurred 40,000 years ago. Now we say 10 to 15 thousand years ago, Mr. Olds went on to say.
Quite a few authorities have contended that Indians were here before the last glaciers but again other experts say it is not so.
For the last hundred years artifacts have been picked up in the Macomb region. Dr. Ritchie found beads, pottery, and antler arrow heads along the foot of Limestone ridge. He also found mullers, and nut stones in polishing state.
Traces of Indians have been found in several parts of St. Lawrence County, such as Black Lake, Macomb, along the St. Lawrence River and other streams through the county.
The Indian used stone and clay mostly for his artifacts. Copper was very rarely used. His food consisted of fish, animals, and wild plants, Mr. Olds told the group.
Mr. Olds told the group of several different types of burials the Indians had. Cremation, Red Paint, Bundle and the single burials were the ones the guest speaker touched on. When an Indian died, he was on a platform for some time before being buried.
The Indian population in North America was never great and never exceeded 3 million, the speaker said.
Mr. Olds had several specimens from the Waddington, Macomb and Point Rockaway area to show the Rotarians. Among them were a nut stone, muller, stone axe, stone gouge and a small piece of pottery.
“Why don’t we find more Indian tools?” the guest speaker asked. The reason, he said, is because the tools were made of wood and bone which do not stay time too well. Most of the relics we found are stone or pottery.
W. Allan Newell had charge of the program for the day and introduced Mr. Olds.
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