Oneota Pottery

In chapter seven in the Indian Mounds Book, Birmingham talks about the pottery of the Oneota tribe.  As noted in the novel, these vessels were thin-walled and decorated with patterns using some sort of blunt object.  I find it very interesting how these patterns and designs changed of the years based on other people who inhabited the area with the Oneota.  The patterns were first based after the Mississippians and contained such designs as interlocking scrolls, curved lines, chevrons, and geometric figures.  After the decline of the Mississippians, the Oneota's decorations dealt with the upperworld and lowerworld themes very similar to the effigy mounds.

I think that the mirroring between the effigy mounds and the Oneota Pottery is very interesting.  The effigy mounds were constructed starting in about 700 a.d. and the Oneota Pottery did not commence until around 1000 a.d. This connection shows some sort of bridge in the time periods based on what native american tribes thought as possibly sacred but undoubtedly important.  Located in western Wisconsin were mostly upperworld designs, such as hawks, falcons, and other powerful birds.  In the east were predominately lowerworld symbols like the lizard or water spirit.

Another very important connection between the mounds and the pottery is that the Ho-Chunk and the Oneota are believed to be related.  The similarities between the effigy mounds and the pottery designs make more sense now because related tribes usually have the save values and symbols of importance.  I thought the parallels between the mounds and the pottery were too striking to go unnoticed and I think that this is another clue to a possible ancient religion of the native americans who once roamed this land.