Star Mounds: Legacy Of A Native American Mystery

Ross Hamilton on ‘Star Mounds: Legacy of a Native American Mystery’

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1) What was the inspiration behind creating your book Star Mounds: Legacy of a Native American Mystery?

Ross Hamilton: The inspiration behind Star Mounds took on a threefold aspect. First, Native American leader Vine Deloria Jr kindly tutored me for over 5 years to be certain I understood the temperament of Native peoples—their way of looking at Western culture, and their spirituality, generally speaking. He showed me a new appreciation for Indian stories and the antiquity many of them carried with them and how that antiquity caused them to become sort of ‘dehydrated’ i.e. made succinct due to the many centuries of time oral traditions often undergo. Second, I was initiated by Iroquois chieftain Jake Swamp, founder of the Tree of Peace Society, into the religious mysteries of the great Peacemaker. From he and Vine I learned love from the heart for Indian people. Between Vine and Jake, I was reborn into a completely different understanding of the way the American continent once was, and how the coming of the European and African races altered things radically, destroying the fabric of the people’s social and spiritual continuity. Third, from childhood (I was born in New York and raised in Pennsylvania and Ohio) I needed to know why I felt a seriously deep magic and almost heavenly inspiration about anything Indian. After working with Vine and being befriended by Jake, I realized there was a lost mythology equal to or surpassing anything the ancient Egyptians or Greeks had gifted our world culture, and that the key to recovering it lay in the Star Mounds—the interpretation of them with the stars correctly laid in projection over them. It didn’t hurt that I’d been a student of archaeology and anthropology for about twenty years already.

2. Could you tell us about the mysterious Serpent Mound and earthworks of the Ohio Valley?

Ross Hamilton: I’ve written several books on the Serpent Mound and related works of the Ohio Valley and can say that more needs to be written. There is no other site in the ancient world as intriguing as the Serpent and its park acreage, and this isn’t said without considerable thought. It has a complete astronomical record possibly tied in with its coils—an archaeoastronomer’s dream. Its design, going by astronomical science, may predate both the pyramids of Egypt and Stonehenge. Astonishingly, it apparently utilized seven or eight classical geometrical axioms to form itself, and these all working in harmony with the multifaceted astronomy. These geometrics aren’t so hidden that it requires a genius to sort them out. Too good to be true?—well there’s much more. What we see today may only be the remnant of a platform upon which a serpent or dragon effigy once laid. This effigy itself may well have been utilized as a very sophisticated lightning totem in those bygone times—a sacred instrument of a spiritual science utterly incomprehensible today but well comprehended before recorded history. In those long ago days before the great disconnect came over our planet, the ancient landscape masters constantly processed the energies of atmosphere and earth to provide a truly paradisiacal environment for the people. The Serpent was, like other mánitous of its kind, a great medicine maker, that may in theory have served man and land alike aiding in bringing forth the full potential of both. All that has been forgotten now though.

3. Would you share some of the Native American stories that demonstrate the knowledge of the Universe known by indigenous people and how they revolved around these earthworks?

Ross Hamilton: One of the opening stories in Star Mounds is that of Grandmother Spider. It is possibly one the oldest and best preserved among several tribal traditions, including the Cherokee and Shawnee. In the story, the Animals (mánitous) are each and all in need of the light, and the world is in a twilight stage. They have been brought up to the surface after having been inside the Mother Earth for a very long time. The story describes many of the animals’ journey in seeking the light of the Sun (the true light of their inner selves), and how each fails to bring back the light from the Sun people’s lodge some distance away. Finally, Grandmother Spider declares that she herself will go, but only after she carefully bundles each animal spirit in her special gossamer so each mánitou will not want for anything while she is away. When she returns, she has a spark of the true light and places it in each bundle. After that, she mounts to heaven (the Sky World) and connects the stars together so that each group of stars complements the Animal figures on the Earth, reflecting the old spiritual law “as above, so below” reflected in the teachings of the Lakota People.

The story of Grandmother Spider is heavily pregnant with meaning, and as I’ve attempted to explain, these stories, some of them perhaps thousands of years old, have become fragmented and relieved of much of their original detail. The two-eyed spider was apparently symbolic of geometric and architectural erudition among initiates of certain secret Native societies. If we see Grandmother as a symbol for a grand medicine society of architects, surveyors, astronomers, and builders, we may begin to glean the story of how the collection of earthworks in the Ohio Valley were all at one time under the creative aegis of such a secret social order.

4. What about the Ohio earthworks mystified archeologists the most?

Ross Hamilton: At this late date in history we are beginning to grasp the remarkable advancements in astronomy, geometry, and numbers possessed by the ancient people of the Ohio Valley. Over time, what has mystified archaeologists most about these ancient temple foundations is the fact that in spite of their having been known since the late 1700s, no one knows when, how, or by whom they were designed. Also, they are titanic in size, many measuring thousands of feet across. There have been some great facts put together by archaeologists, but no unifying theory that will lift the veil of mystery regarding their true purpose. In Star Mounds, a new theory is proposed backed by much apparent evidence. This new theory suggest that the non-burial earthworks—many of which reflect the discoveries of Pythagoras, Archimedes, and Euclid—were actually refurbished by indigenous people between 2 and 3,000 years ago because they were falling into utter ruin. In other words, these temple complexes may have been designed over 5,000 years ago as part of a grand plan to bring the heavens down to meet the earth.

5. What are some other earthworks and mounds that are significant that are located across North America?

Ross Hamilton: Throughout the Deep South and up the course of the Mississippi, places like Louisiana’s Poverty Point and St. Louis’s Cahokia bear testimony to a higher civilization that once existed here yet all in almost unrecognizable ruination now. Yet in spite of the great loss the Ohio Valley works stand in a class by themselves for reasons explained in detail in Star Mounds.

6. Do you think these mounds were built for future generations to relay a message to them? And if so what message exactly?

Ross Hamilton: Of course these places bear messages to us if we only have the patience to ferret these bits of information out and attempt to translate them into our current understanding of things. In a manner of speaking they have to be ‘rehydrated,’ meaning that love has to be one of the tools of the process. As I’ve stated above, Serpent Mound could be interpreted as having multiple layers of meaning although time is required to digest them all intellectually. Once one has taken the time to do this however, the enlightenment is comparable to any illuminating the vital areas of education necessary to move our world culture ahead along the path of peace and prosperity. Certainly if an exact message were needed, it would be that in spite of the destructions of the modern world being foisted over these ancient works, and in spite of the seemingly intentional misinterpretation being forced upon us all unwittingly by they professing themselves experts on the subject, a certain pleasing mystery, very attractive, beckons us to reconsider the past. Message in a bottle? Perhaps, but when the ancients encoded information into their structures, it was done more as if they were writing a poem than an effort to convey vital information to the end of some inheriting culture’s approval. I will say this however: there is a strong environmental message in these ancient masterpieces that needs to be discerned by many more people. When we rise to that level, such knowledge could prove instructive on how the planet could with time be transformed into a place that our current aspirations consider unattainable.

7. I have always loved Native American stories told through folklore and especially Coyote. Is there another story you could share with us for our readers?

Ross Hamilton: The godlike personage Michabo was the original trickster—another name for an adept magician. The stories of Michabo, the Great Hare, are apparently accounts of the greatest medicine man that ever lived. In Star Mounds, I’ve made the attempt to reconstruct a few of his stories, and it was no easy task. Let me give you an example from one of the picture captions. His lodge is still there today, only completely in ruins and covered over by hundreds of tons of topsoil and tree growth. We call it “Fort Hill.” Note how it is shaped like a woodland hare (Wabos).

“During the days of the medicine, the Great Hare was always on the lookout listening and watching for those souls sent by the Great Mystery to spend time among the good and brave people of the Star Lands’ Grand Camp, gateway to the Astral World. His ears were tall and he could hear much. The Grand Camp had many lodges throughout its considerable domain. These lodges were generally inaccessible except through special invitation, because the Grand Camp existed between the two worlds, one mortal and one not. For nearly 1,000 years it provided the fortunate with safe haven from the fog of the terrestrial world so they might grow strong in spirit and move on in their journey toward Wakantánkh, the Great Mystery. The Great Hare was actually a living man, and served as the guardian of the pathways between the lodges. His wife Lului gave him nine beautiful daughters “as fine as the bright moons of heaven,” and they assisted their parents in preparing newcomers for the Grand Camp and the Good Lands internal to its lodges. Hare’s feats of stamina and bravery were legendary and numerous. As the Manibozo (Mishabooz, enunciated from Michabo) he had the strength of three natural men in their youth. He could run great distances without tiring and could jump higher and farther than anyone, man or animal. He was once seen wading through a river chest high as easily as if he were on dry land. He could mount to heaven whenever he wished, disappearing without a sound. As the Transformer, he could take the form of any living thing, and do so well enough to pass examination by nearly anyone. For these gifts of the Great Mystery he was very well respected—renowned among men. To the knowledgeable he was originally known as Mischief as well as Michabo before his ascension to the Good Lands.”

8. So what are your thoughts on Native Americans and the star people? In your findings with these mounds do they seem to go into their interactions with the star people and if so what do they teach us?

Ross Hamilton: It is of great importance to grasp what Native folk are attempting to teach us insofar as the Star People are concerned. In the beginning of the book I try to convey how the star ancestors were us, but in a completely different frame of reference—out of our present understanding of time and our remarkably illogical emphasis solely on the objective world. We used to be mature people, intellectually as spiritually, and lived to be very old with good health, but we have lowered our standards and goals to that of vulnerable human beings, and done so through an utter and abject loss of memory. These earthworks are all that remains to us of once great lodges that, through utilizing the energies internal to Earthworks were made to reflect the stars but aslo to harness the energies of the sky.

The earth in perfect consummation with those of the atmosphere, were able to create literal mini-paradises on the earth. By synchronizing many of these garden-lodges across a large tract of landscape, enough of the life-force essence was distilled and distributed to uplift the people, as the land itself, to heights of spirituality and civilization quite incomprehensible to most of the world’s populations today. The star people were cosmically conscious.

Our distant ancestors knew well that the Earth is healed by the three Cs: the capturing, collecting, and the concentration of her own magnetic flux-spirit with a view toward combining it efficaciously with the energies of the electrical matrices of clouds. When we ceased to perform this service to the Earth—when we forgot our role as stewards—she as we began a dramatic downward spiral that has seen a gradual increase in heat in the planetary mantle as well as a remarkable loss of higher consciousness among our collective race. But before this great loss which began to pick up momentum between 6,000 and 5,000 years ago, we effortlessly communicated with other spheres of similarly advanced awareness of the knowledge attending comprehension of natural magnetism—key to acquiring a working knowledge of the cosmos’ subtler laws. We were the star people and must return to that wisdom.

9. The Serpent seems to play heavily into the creation of these Earth works and within the confines of Native American teachings. Why is this and how does Draconis fit in?

Ross Hamilton: The serpent is considered a divine creature by certain Native American authorities, which is to say the icon or image of the serpent stands for much more than one might attribute to snakes. Serpent power is a term intended to signify the energies subterranean generated from the body of the Earth Mother’s spirit (her magnetic field) and to be used as a positive aid to sustain and enhance life. Have you ever felt your arm hairs lift-up as a thunderstorm approaches only to hear or see a thunderbolt very near? Where the lightning struck was very important to the old masters of the landscape. Their job was to create a great medicine to heal and sustain life ideally over a broad expanse of land. In order to do that effectively, they employed the three Cs to a focus point—a specific location. Perhaps it was a hilltop, perhaps a bluff along a good stream or river. As the art of their sacred science progressed, they created what we call mánitous—creatures of art born to serve as mediators between heaven and earth. In Europe and China they were called dragons. Holy machines were they, dependent upon the illimitable resource of earth and sky to function dynamically. In the Ohio Valley, our dragon was the Great Serpent—i.e. a creature made to continually marry of the powers of Mother Earth and Father Sky. Fittingly, it was designed in part to match comfortably with a large asterism of Draconis.

All about the Great Serpent—for hundreds of square miles, many other lodges were created. But the central lodge, our Great Serpent was a literal keynote to the entire system. Many of these lodges were either themselves considered mánitous or were the matrices surrounding and protecting smaller, more potent mánitous. We see evidence of this at the great Circleville work and the Great Circle at Newark. The Circleville work was easily 2000 feet in length and consisted of a circle and a square. In the center of the circle was found a platform reminiscent of an open-winged ladybug or scarab. In the Great Circle (so large that the Ohio State Fair was once held within it) can still be seen what is termed the Eagle Mound. But some of the great earthworks were mánitous as well—at least were regarded as large figures of spiritual animals in which could be conducted the daily business of gardening or some similar pastime contributing to the overall community.

10. What is Ross Hamilton up to next book wise and project wise and are there any departing words about Star Mounds you would like to leave us with as you depart? Thanks Ross.

Ross Hamilton: The next project may be discussing and analyzing the distinct possibility that the Great Serpent and several of its surrounding star lodges are actually repositories and elaborate tomb structures. What and who may be buried in the caverns long believed beneath these sites is anyone’s guess, but Indian legend and prophecy suggests that when the secrets of the Underworld are revealed, the entire Earth will undergo a change for the better. Wait and see.

About the Author

Born in 1948 on Long Island, New York, Ross Hamilton has lived in the greater Cincinnati, Ohio area since the age of seven. Fascinated by American Indian history from childhood, Hamilton has devoted his life to bringing to light the lost history of the North American continent. He has worked with activist Vine Deloria Jr., the former executive director of the National Congress of American Indians; Floyd “Red Crow” Westerman; and Iroquois chief Jake Swamp. He frequently gives interviews on the subject of the star mounds, most recently on the History Channel show Ancient Aliens

Ross Hamilton’s book published by North Atlantic Books

To reach Ross Hamilton via email