Sacred site diverts expansion of runway

'Ceremonial hill' found in Montague

To the untrained eye, the stone arrangements on the hill in Montague might have appeared to be the work of Boy Scouts or campers with time on their hands. But to several Indian tribes, they are the remains of an ancient "sacred ceremonial hill" constructed by their ancestors.

And now the stones have diverted an airport expansion project.

The hill is located within the boundaries of Turners Falls Municipal Airport, a small one-runway facility built in 1960 that serves several dozen private planes. Despite its size, the airport, located next to the Con necticut River, is an important cog in the Commonwealth's emergency response plan - a strategically-located staging area where supplies can be flown in should a natural disaster occur. Plans were made to rebuild and lengthen the worn runway in 2007, using mostly federal funds to do the job, said Michael J. Sweeney, airport manager.

Before the project could be started, a land assessment was required. Environmental specialists, engineers, a team of archeologists, and the Narragansett Indian Tribe participated in that process.

The stones seemed intriguing enough to warrant further study, and the $5 million project was put on hold until a determination was made about the site.

"When the project was supposed to go forward, all parties involved agreed this matter needed to be resolved," Sweeney said. "We wanted to make sure that we were doing the right thing."

An archeologist hired by the Federal Aviation Administration disagreed with the Narragansett and Wampanoag tribes over the significance of the stones, according to a document from the National Register of Historic Places.

There are four stone piles atop the hill, and a row of stacked stones that extends to the southwest. The stones, gray slate and beach cobble, weigh from 5 to 60 pounds, said John Brown, tribal historic preservation officer for the Narragansett Indian Tribe.

In the FAA's opinion, the four stone piles were remnants of a 19th-century rock wall, but the tribes said the stones were a "traditional culture place" known as a "sacred ceremonial hill."

The history contained within this particular site was uncovered through an attempt to do additional work, Brown said. "When they cut the trees back on the ceremonial hill, it gave us a bird's-eye view of the magnitude of that site and its relationship to the other sites in the area that were already uncovered."

The tribes believe the stone feature is the central component of a "viewscape," an observation point for distant peaks and lakes to the south and west. And they provided evidence to the National Register that the stones mark celestial events.

From the summer of 2007 through late last year, the chief of the National Register, J. Paul Loether, and his staff discussed the findings of both sides and at times requested additional information. By Nov. 7, 2008, according to the Department of Interior document, the FAA was in agreement with the tribes that the property was eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.

Sweeney informed the Montague Board of Selectmen on Monday night during its regular meeting that a resolution had been made. The hill, now protected land, was off-limits. The runway, he said, would eventually be lengthened from 3,000 to 4,200 feet. The project will be done in two phases and is expected to be finished by 2011.

The expansion will be added to the opposite end.