Serpent Mounds and the Dakota Sioux

Serpent effigy in Kansas that is depicted as swallowing an egg or sun symbol is identical to the famous serpent in Ohio. More on the ancient Sioux and serpent mounds

It is also a remarkable fact that the Dakota has a tradition among them that they once occupied the valley of the Ohio, and lived in villages and were tillers of the soil.  Now, the point which we make is this: the serpent effigies which have been found in the Dakota territory and on the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers at various points, so resemble that found in Southern Ohio that they convey the impression that the same people built the serpent effigies wherever found

Historian, George Catlin Places the Mandan Sioux at the Serpent Mound in Ohio in Ancient Times

Historian, George Catlin Places the Mandan Sioux at the Serpent Mound in Ohio in Ancient Times

The Dakota Sioux not only built mounds for their dead, but also constructed Serpent Mounds in Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota. 

“Prehistoric America,” Vol. II. Stephen Peet, 1892 

    “It is well known that Catlin, the celebrated painter maintained that the Mandan’s, who were a branch of the Dakotas, originally were located in Ohio, the very region in which the great serpent is found, but that they migrated from that region, passing down the Ohio River, and up the Missouri, and that they became nearly extinct by the time they reached the headwaters of the Missouri.  I think there may be a pretty fair deduction drawn, that they formerly occupied the lower part of the Missouri, and even the Ohio and Muskinghum, and have gradually made their way up the Missouri to where they are now.”

Visual Tour of the Serpent Mounds in the Ohio Valley

     Take a visual tour of the remaining Serpent Mounds in the Ohio Valley. There are far more than the famous Serpent Mound in Adams County, Ohio.  Serpent mounds existed in Warren County, Ohio with an identical counterpart near Holton, Indiana that can still be seen.
   The Serpent was symbolic of the sun, where it was incorporated into the construction of henges and hilltop ceremonial centers.  The Serpent was also the consort of the Earth Mother and was part of mound and earthwork complexes where it was seen as a protector of the dead.
   See never before Serpent Mounds in this short video.  For directions to these sites, "The Nephilim Chronicles: A Travel Guide to the Ancient Ruins in the Ohio Valley"

  Knowing what you are viewing at an ancient site will enhance and enrich your visit. When you travel to the Ohio Valley you are going into "The Land of the Serpents" they are everywhere represented in the earthworks. Also when visiting sites, know and be able to spot, the natural features that dictated that these be "Sacred Landscapes."
  The most popular earthwork site in Ohio is the famous Serpent Mound in Adams County, Ohio. Yet there are discernible Serpent effigies at many of the sites to visit.

Serpent links from “Mound builders”

Ohio's Serpent Mound Visitors Guide

http://moundbuilder.blogspot.com/2013/01/ohios-serpent-mound-visitors-guide.html

Origins of Ohio's Great Serpent Mound is in Scotland

http://moundbuilder.blogspot.com/2013/01/origins-of-ohios-famous-serpent-mound.html

Ohio's Great Serpent Mound Visitors Guide

http://moundbuilder.blogspot.com/2013/01/ohios-serpent-mound-visitors-guide.html

Large Stone Alter Reported Near Ohio's Famous Serpent Mound

http://moundbuilder.blogspot.com/2013/01/large-stone-alter-reported-near-ohios.html

Serpent Mound Discovered in Indiana

http://moundbuilder.blogspot.com/2012/04/serpent-mound-discovered-in-indiana.html

Serpent Effigy and Indian Fort Wisconsin

http://moundbuilder.blogspot.com/2012/02/serpent-effigy-and-indian-fort-works-in.html

Possible Serpent Effigies in Waukesha County, Wisconsin

http://moundbuilder.blogspot.com/2012/02/possible-serpent-effigies-in-waukesha.html



Serpent Mound and Burial Mounds in Chicago, Illinois
http://moundbuilder.blogspot.com/2012/02/indian-burial-mounds-north-of-chicago.html

Adena Serpentine Enclosure in Hamilton County, Ohio

http://moundbuilder.blogspot.com/2011/11/adena-serpentine-enclosure-in-hamilton.html

Ohio Mounds: Adena Hilltop Serpentine Enclosure in Hamilton County

http://moundbuilder.blogspot.com/2011/11/ohio-mounds-adena-hilltop-serpentine.html

Serpent Mound in Peebles, Ohio and its Ancient Symbolism

http://moundbuilder.blogspot.com/2011/09/serpent-mound-in-peebles-ohio-ans-its.html

Serpent Effigies in Waukesha County, Wisconsin

Possible Serpent Effigies in Waukesha County, Wisconsin

But the most remarkable natural appearances we were led to examine were the ridges in a large natural meadow in the town of Brookfield, Waukesha County, which were supposed to be artificial representations of the Massasauga rattle-snake. My attention was first called to them by Mr. M. Spears, who detected them. They vary from a few inches to two feet in height, above the otherwise uniformly level surface of the marshy ground; and in length they vary from ten or fifteen to one hundred and forty feet. Many of them are obtuse at one end, and tapering and acute at the other, as if intended to represent the head and tail of a snake; others are acute at both extremities. (See Fig. 4.) The accompanying figures show their appearance and relative situation. Some are so arranged that, were they larger and differently situated, we might suppose them portions of a fort, with a guarded entrance. They are composed of the same black mucky earth that constitutes the surface soil of the marsh. They have all the same general direction, being parallel, or nearly so, with that of the marsh. There are great numbers of these ridges, not less, perhaps, than one hundred on this marsh.

To understand how these ridges were probably formed, we must take into account the soft nature of the surface soil; and the fact that, except in the driest portion of the year, it is completely saturated or covered with water. The ice formed on the surface in winter must therefore include a considerable portion of the soil. During very cold weather, this covering of ice contracts, leaving in the middle of the marsh numerous irregular cracks, probably assuming the arrangement and directions of these ridges. As the temperature moderates, the ice expands, closing up the cracks, but moving towards them a portion of the soil, and leaving a slight elevation. The next winter, the same thing is repeated; but the ice being thinner on these slight ridges, it would naturally separate where they occur: and thus the same ridges are enlarged from year to year, until they assume the size and shape now so much resembling serpents. We afterwards saw similar ridges in several other marshes.

Serpent links from “Mound builders”

Ohio's Serpent Mound Visitors Guide

http://moundbuilder.blogspot.com/2013/01/ohios-serpent-mound-visitors-guide.html

Origins of Ohio's Great Serpent Mound is in Scotland

http://moundbuilder.blogspot.com/2013/01/origins-of-ohios-famous-serpent-mound.html

Ohio's Great Serpent Mound Visitors Guide

http://moundbuilder.blogspot.com/2013/01/ohios-serpent-mound-visitors-guide.html

Visual Tour of the Serpent Mounds in the Ohio Valley

http://moundbuilder.blogspot.com/2012/12/visual-tour-of-serpent-mounds-in-ohio.html

Large Stone Alter Reported Near Ohio's Famous Serpent Mound

http://moundbuilder.blogspot.com/2013/01/large-stone-alter-reported-near-ohios.html

Serpent Mound Discovered in Indiana

http://moundbuilder.blogspot.com/2012/04/serpent-mound-discovered-in-indiana.html

Serpent Effigy and Indian Fort Wisconsin

http://moundbuilder.blogspot.com/2012/02/serpent-effigy-and-indian-fort-works-in.html

Serpent Mound and Burial Mounds in Chicago, Illinois
http://moundbuilder.blogspot.com/2012/02/indian-burial-mounds-north-of-chicago.html

Adena Serpentine Enclosure in Hamilton County, Ohio

http://moundbuilder.blogspot.com/2011/11/adena-serpentine-enclosure-in-hamilton.html

Ohio Mounds: Adena Hilltop Serpentine Enclosure in Hamilton County

http://moundbuilder.blogspot.com/2011/11/ohio-mounds-adena-hilltop-serpentine.html

Serpent Mound in Peebles, Ohio and its Ancient Symbolism

http://moundbuilder.blogspot.com/2011/09/serpent-mound-in-peebles-ohio-ans-its.html