I'm happy that I saw that video. Thanks!
In my research of my area (Manitoba) I came across articles written in the early 1880's by Dr. Bryce about the mounds located in the southern portion of my province. Bryce writes about how he finally managed to find a mound that hadn't been excavated by the Smithsonian Institute and found strange copper pendants and armour that he believed to resemble that which would have been attributed to the Vikings or Celts. His theory was dismissed a few years later and nothing was ever really discussed about it to this day.
What angered me was why was the Smithsonian here in the unsettled parts of Canada, extracting our history and not sharing the information they gathered? They were driven to open every mound throughout North America before anyone else could, even in a country they had no right to be in!
In the mid-18th century, the first white man to travel, explore, and set up fur trade posts in the southern portion of Manitoba was La Verendrye who did write in his journals about a tribe of 8 foot tall "White Indians" who inhabited the area where all the mounds were located. These giants would disappear shortly after. He believed that the Mandan Indians of North Dakota were influenced by this lost race and they were the ones who eradicated them. The Mandan were quite "civilized" in comparison to the Plains Indians of the region and many early fur traders used to go to them to get all their seeds for planting crops. They had many varieties of vegetables and corn which was an anomaly amongst the neighboring Indians, who were typically nomadic.
I tried many times to research the Mound builders in this vicinity.
Unfortunately, all roads lead to the Smithsonian and we can forget about getting the truth from them!
Interesting post.
Cheers,
Dave.
