Many years ago, my dad purchased an old house that was estimated to be
about 100 years old. While digging underneath the house in preparation
to level it with jacks, he stumbled upon some bones. After a little
thought and some dismay, he determined that the bones appeared to be in
human form. He was very upset and dumbfounded by this discovery. Still
in shock and disbelief, he turned the bones over to an unknown official
to be tested. Later, he was told that the bones had been from the body
of a Native American and that there could be more bones under the house.
They believed that my dad may have discovered a Native American burial
ground. At that time no one seemed concerned, as Michigan was known to
have Native American burial sites state-wide. My dad did not wish to
disturb the burial ground any more than he already had. He placed the
bones back under the house and buried them in the same spot he had found
them. He did not continue to investigate, hoping he had not disturbed
any Spirits that were at rest or protecting the burial ground. It was a
well known fact that many burial grounds in the state of Michigan were
thought to have had curses placed on them by the Native Americans years
ago for protection against intruders. While researching for my book
years later, I searched for a reason for the horrifying intensity of my
encounter with the supernatural. I began to collect as much data as I
could find. At the local area Pinconning Library, I discovered an
interesting book about the area’s Native American villages. The Arenac
County historian at the time was Calvin Ennes, the author of the
document titled History of Arenac County, Michigan. The document is a
200-year genealogy of the Arenac County glossary of several Native
Americans. This placed several tribes somewhere within the towns of
Sterling and Augres and the city of Standish over many hundred years,
although their exact location was unknown. The water shoreline at that
time would have brought some of their villages into the city of Standish
today.
In my research I found in a nearby library the findings of a Native
American Indian camp that was located in the City Of
Standish
then. Had an unknown tribe Shaman among them, this is a term for an
American Indian holy man, basically a spiritualist (medium), who would
communicate with the spirit world for guidance. They believed that there
were good and evil spirits dwelling in the spiritual realm. This shaman
was known to intercede with the spirits called "The False Faces" (they
would carve an image of a distorted face from a living tree, cut a long
strand of hair from the tail of a horse, and attach It to the back of
the faces). They would dance around the sacred fire while wearing these
wooden faces as masks to summon these spirits to come forth. When these
distorted bodiless beings appeared, they would be sent to haunt and
terrorize the enemy villages throughout the surrounding areas of Arenac
County if they or their family members felt threatened and of course
anyone else who would get in their way. Something was un-earthed on the
property of,
"
The House On
Church
Street
"
Randy Ervin |
