Page:Brunswick 100 Years of Memories.pdf/10

=== CHAPTER l ===

History

BRUNSWICK'S HUMAN PREDECESSORS

Humans lived here well before our explorer s and fur traders. Fertile land with seeming ly endless game and a river flowing by made this area attractive to the native Indians. The Susqueh annans, under many other names, includin g Conestogas, were from the Iroquoi stock. The Susqueh annans were large and aggressive. Hunting was not only a necessity for survivin g, but doing it well was a passage into manhood . Althoug h the women were servile to the men, they played an importan t role beyond serving. They took part in tribal governm ent, had some power in family relations, and were treated affectionately. The tribe had its chief, a less powerfu l assistant , and the tribal council. These, plus the medicine man and distingu ished warriors , made up the council. The medicine man was importan t because illness, both physical and emotiona l, was consider ed a weaknes s. Only the medicine man could recommend the treatmen t. These Indians had religious worship and ritual, a god, and animal or crop sacrifices. They buried their dead with precious memento s and carefully tended their burial sites. Fishing, farming, hunting, trading and warring all played a role in their survival. Their word for their nearby river, which ultimate ly they called "Potoma c," meant "someth ing bought" or "trading place" in the Algonkia n tongue. The men hunted; the women farmed. Warriors were importan t to this warlike people, who fought native and white alike. Yet the white settlers succeeded in pushing them west, and their life and demise has yet to be accurately written. Yet the settlers could not have survived without learning the war methods they acquired from the Susqueh annans. Corn was a crop of the Europeans, and corn sustaine d them from the beginnin g of

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their life in these lands. The use of leather as a clothing material came from the natives. Two Indian village archaeological digs along the Potomac were made by the Smithso nian, and scouts of the first half of the century, like Charlie Utterback and Austin and Glenn Cooper, found many tools, utensils, shards, and weapons in the vicinity of Brunswick. W-MM M

BRUNSWICK HISTORY COMM ISSION formerl y BRUNSWICK COMM ISSION ON HISTORY AND DISTIN GUISH ED CITIZENS The Brunswick Commis sion on History and Distingu ished Citizens resulted from a city ordinance passed in 1976 by the Mayor and Council upon the suggesti on of the Rev. H. Austin Cooper, who became the group's presiden t. The commiss ion honored 17 citizens in each year 1976 and 1977, then lay dormant for two years. In 1980, meetings resumed under the presidency of Mr. Cooper. As the group met to select honorees for this third year, they decided to celebrate the 200th annivers ary of the purchase of Berlin (Brunsw ick's first name) by Leonard Smith. Next the member s wrote a set of by-laws which stated the reason for being and goals of the group. At this time the unwield y name of the commiss ion was changed to the Brunswi ck History Commis sion. Their frequent reminisc ing led them to include among their goals the writing of a definitive history of Brunswi ck to be publishe d in 1990, the year of the one hundred th annivers ary of the incorporation of the town. Almost immedia tely, Richard