ANCIENT WISDOM: TRAIL TREES

 

Eddie Lanham

From Wiki:

Trail trees, trail marker trees, crooked trees, prayer trees, thong trees, or culturally modified trees are hardwood trees throughout North America that Indigenous Americans intentionally shaped with distinctive characteristics that convey that the tree was shaped by human activity rather than deformed by nature or disease. A massive network of constructed pre-Columbian roads and trails have been well documented across the Americas, and in many places remnants can still be found of trails used by hunters and gatherers.Trail Marker Trees were an ancient form of land and water navigational aids, as well as a marking system to denote areas of significant importance such as ceremonial sites, springs, food. One unique characteristic of the trail marker tree is a horizontal bend several feet off the ground, which makes it visible at greater distances, even in snow.

These vestiges of our past are disappearing as those remaining trees are 150-200 years old. One close to home:

White Oak Marker Tree in Downtown Traverse City, MI

Located in the Grand Traverse County Civic Center Park at the base of Old Mission Peninsula, close to Northwestern MI College.