SKINNER, INDIANS OF MANHATTAN ISLAND 49 



Dog Burials founcFin 1895. In January, 1895, Mr. Calver found two 

 interesting; "dog; burials." The first burial was unearthed at the summit 

 of a ridge of soft earth at 209th Street, near the Harlem River. The ridge, 

 which was about twelve feet high, had been partly cut away for the grading 

 of Ninth Avenue. It was at the highest part of the hillock that a pocket 

 of oyster and clam shells was noticed, from which a few fragments of Indian 

 pottery which lay on the face of the bank had evidently fallen. The shell.:, 

 upon inspection, were found to have served as a covering for the skeleton of a 

 dog or wolf. Another burial was found on May 18th within fifty yards of 

 the first burial. It had been covered with shells just as the first one, but had 

 been disturbed by workmen. Mr. Calver says: "The two canine burials 

 were situated at a point just without the borders of the Harlem River shell 

 heap and were distinct from it. The shells were found to be matched, 

 hence it was concluded that they were thrown in unopened or eaten on the 

 spot. As the skeletons were intact and the bones uninjured, all probability 

 of the animals having been eaten is disposed of." These burials are com- 

 mon in this vicinity. No satisfactory explanation of them has been given; 

 but Mr. Calver thinks they were for some religious purpose, and suggests a 

 relation to the "White Dog Feast" of the Onondaga of this State. 1 It is 

 certain that the pockets were in many cases used as fireplaces. 



Shell Pockets at 211th Street. In March, 1903, there was considerable 

 excitement over the reported discovery of an Indian graveyard at 211th 

 Street. 2 The graveyard proved to have been that of some slaves, and was 

 situated on the western end of the rise between 210th and 211 Streets, on 

 the eastern end of which is the old Neagle Burying Ground. This discovery 

 was interesting because under the negro graves several shell pockets of 

 undoubted Indian origin came to light. The workmen, in grading Tenth 

 Avenue, cut into this hill to obtain material for filling, and uncovered the 

 graves and pockets. It seems almost certain that the deposits were made 

 some time ago; then the wind blew the sand over the deposits to a depth of 

 four or five feet, and negroes later used this place as a burial ground. In 

 support of this theory is the fact that the pockets were four or five feet under 

 the surface, that the soil above showed no signs of having been disturbed, 

 and that this rise is put down on the Government maps of this section as a 

 sand dune. 3 During the summer of 1904, Mr. Calver with Messrs. Hall and 

 Bolton uncovered nine more pockets to the southwest of the graveyard. 4 

 These pockets all seem to have been of the same period as the others, and 



'N.Y. Herald, May 26, 1895. 



2 Evening Telegram, March 14, 1903. 



3 New York Geologic Folio. 



* New York Tribune, Oct. 30, 1904, and New York Sun, Dec. 14, 1904. 



