Terry Piercey, expert collector of Native American artifacts, shared his knowledge July 3 and 4 at Mount Union Church

Piercey with a Benton projectile point he found (Photo by Al Cross)

Terry Piercey has colleced Native American artifacts since he was a small child, and he lived in a good place to start doing that: along Indian Creek, which was named for Native Americans or the evidence they left behind.

Piercey, who calls himself "an avocational archaeologist," shared his knowledge in presentations July 3 and 4 at Mount Union Christian Church as part of the Spirit of 76 Celebration. For a video of his July 4 presentation, go here.

In discussing how the Adena people and earlier Native civilizations lived, he also discussed the geology of the area, including its many disappearing creeks, which run underground through karst limestone. He suggested that they knew Indian Creek as "Mystery Creek" because of its in-and-out route and perhaps its huge waterfall, now named 76 Falls.

He also discussed the Longhunters and Voyageurs, the French explorers who named the Cumberland River the Rivere des Chouanons, or River of the Shawnees, the name it was known by until English explorers and the Longhunters came downstream and named it for the Duke of Cumberland, King George's brother. He said the Longhunters wore buckskin, and harvested deer mainly in the summer, when hair was easier to remove from their hides.