Alligawi Supi

           The Delaware Indians had a legend about a tribe that inhabited the Allegheny and Monongahela river valleys in ancient times.  The "Allagewi" or the "Alligawi" may have been the original inhabitants of the land.  Some say that the Delawares migrated toward the Atlantic Ocean from the Midwest and destroyed the Alligawi while passing through this region.  Later, in the 1600s, the Erie tribe--which had taken up residence--was also destroyed by the Iroquois.  The truth is lost to history; it's blurrier than this photo that I took at the Kennerdell overlook: a historical placard ruminating over the history of the Allegheny Valley.

           Also at the overlook, there is a reproduction of the old Indian drawings that were once visible at Indian God Rock, on the river five miles south of Franklin.  This ancient Indian site is a mystery, and very few locals know about it.  All my paternal family is from this area, but I've never heard anyone speak about the rock or the petroglyphs.  I hope to go looking for it someday.

          It's easy to forget how recent we are.  I mean, 6,500 years before the birth of Jesus, there were people walking this land.  They hunted, and fished, and made clothing, and sought shelter.  They made love and war.  They lived and died, "and their place remembers them no more."  Even the few petroglyphs they left behind have been erased by the hand of Time.  We forget how novel we are with our iPhones, and our Facebook, and our disposable beverage containers.  We might trace our lineages several generations into the past, but in the end, we don't even know where we come from.