Bear Spirit Mountain: A Sacred Paleo and Pleistocene Heritage Site

The Discovery…

Bear Spirit Mountain is a site of immense archaeological and cultural significance, offering thousands of clues to aid in the study and debate of the Indigenous history of the Paleo and Pleistocene periods. The property features a wealth of notable elements, including carved and painted effigy stones, stacked stone effigy walls, depictions of the sun, hundreds of rock and earthen burial cairns, and ceremonial petroglyph circles.

These depictions include extinct megafauna such as the woolly mammoth, mastodon, short-faced cave bear, giant sloth, camel, horse, tortoise, and American lion, suggesting a timeline that spans from 15,000 to 30,000 years. This estimation was supported by archaeologist Jack Hranicky, RPA, a specialist in Paleoindian cultures, rock art, and the Clovis tradition. Hranicky also documented a 91-yard-long stacked stone serpent effigy wall on the property, initially naming the site “Great Serpent Mountain.”

On a hot July day, Maasaw & Ingrid Howard made their first visit to a piece of land that would become “Bear Spirit Mountain.” As they surveyed the land by car, they drove up on a large black bear lying down under the shade of an oak tree. This encounter with the bear would be the beginning of the “ancestral awakening” that Maasaw would experience. This “calling” by the Ancestors, issued through an innocent bear, was answered by Maasaw, who has dedicated his life to finding, recording, and, most importantly, protecting these sacred sites.

To find out more about this encounter with the bear and how Maasaw answered this calling, order his first book titled “Adonvdo Yona (Bear Spirit) Mountain, An Ancestral Awakening.”

After purchasing the property, Maasaw soon recognized it as an ancient Pleistocene-era Indigenous site, thanks to the guidance of archaeologist Jack Hranicky. Instead of building on it, he committed to protecting and preserving its natural and cultural heritage. In 2018, he renamed it Bear Spirit Mountain.

Maasaw’s ongoing research has led to numerous discoveries, including summer and winter solstice split-stones and serpent walls. He also documented phallic fertility petroglyphs, suggesting that fertility symbolism was in use in North America more than 11,000 years ago. The site’s geography reveals a sacred intentionality: three mountain ridges form a symbolic triangle, with two ridges pointing like an arrow to the third, pyramid-shaped peak. Atop this peak, Maasaw named “the pyramid mountain”, he discovered an altar, a split stone, and a single burial mound, believed to belong to an individual of high status.

Across the site, many boulders contain petroglyphs and pictographs. On several occasions, the intentional alignment of three boulders forming a pyramid shape across this site further supports the idea that this was a planned and sacred ceremonial center.

Research at Bear Spirit Mountain is ongoing. Using scientific methods such as ground-penetrating radar and electrical resistivity, Maasaw continues to uncover the story written on top of the soil, without excavation. He views the site as a sacred ancestral place and a profound link to his Indigenous heritage and the Ancestors who created it more than 15,000 years ago.

Hayo