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The Pow-Wow Oak was an historic tree located in the Belvidere neighborhood of
, Volume 4, Fall Issue (August 2012), page 8.
The Pow-Wow Oak was recognized and preserved by the
Iconic Pow-Wow is felled, Lowell Sun, May 22, 2013 On Thursday, November 12, 2015, a dedication ceremony was held at the Peter W. Reilly Elementary School on Douglas Road in Lowell, MA, commemorating the installation of a permanent display of a huge round piece of the trunk of the Pow-Wow Oak.
File:Pow-Wow Oak Unique Limb - Lowell, MA - September 2012.jpg, Unique limb, September 2012
File:PowWowOakSignMonumentStump.jpg, After the Pow-Wow Oak was taken down - sign, monument and stump
File:PowWowOakBehindRodIronFence.jpg, Pow-Wow Oak
File:PowWowOakStoneBoundCap.jpg, Pow-Wow Oak stone marker
File:PowWowOakClarkRoadSummer2015.jpg, After tree was removed, Summer 2015
File:PowWowOakDARsign2015.jpg, Pow-Wow Oak DAR sign
File:PowWowOakFallenTrunk.jpg, After tree was removed - fallen trunk
File:PowWowOakFallenTrunk2.jpg, After tree was removed - fallen trunk
File:PowWowOakLandMonument.jpg, Monument
File:PowWowOakMonumentStandingStoneStump.jpg, After tree was removed - Pow-Wow Oak stump
File:PowWowOakNewGrowth2015Sprout.jpg, After tree was removed - New growth sprout, 2015
File:The MightyPowWowOakOnClarkRoadInBelvidereJanuary1974PhotoByGeorgeKoumantzelis1.JPG, Pow-Wow Oak, January 1974
File:The MightyPowWowOakOnClarkRoadInBelvidereJanuary1974PhotoByGeorgeKoumantzelis2.JPG, Pow-Wow Oak, January 1974
File:The MightyPowWowOakOnClarkRoadInBelvidereJanuary1974PhotoByGeorgeKoumantzelis3.JPG, Pow-Wow Oak, January 1974
File:The MightyPowWowOakOnClarkRoadInBelvidereJanuary1974PhotoByGeorgeKoumantzelis4.JPG, Pow-Wow Oak, January 1974
File:The MightyPowWowOakOnClarkRoadInBelvidereJanuary1974PhotoByGeorgeKoumantzelis5.JPG, Pow-Wow Oak, January 1974
File:The MightyPowWowOakOnClarkRoadInBelvidereJanuary1974PhotoByGeorgeKoumantzelis8.JPG, Pow-Wow Oak, January 1974
File:The MightyPowWowOakOnClarkRoadInBelvidereJanuary1974PhotoByGeorgeKoumantzelis10.JPG, Pow-Wow Oak, January 1974
File:The MightyPowWowOakOnClarkRoadInBelvidereJanuary1974PhotoByGeorgeKoumantzelis11.JPG, Pow-Wow Oak, January 1974
File:The MightyPowWowOakOnClarkRoadInBelvidereJanuary1974PhotoByGeorgeKoumantzelis12.JPG, Pow-Wow Oak, January 1974
File:The MightyPowWowOakOnClarkRoadInBelvidereJanuary1974PhotoByGeorgeKoumantzelis14.JPG, Pow-Wow Oak, January 1974
File:Pow-Wow Oak - Lowell, MA - September 2012.jpg, Pow-Wow Oak in Lowell, MA, September 2012
The Pow-Wow Oak was an historic tree located in the Belvidere neighborhood of Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of ...
. (''"Belvidere"'' means ''"beautiful to behold"'' in the Italian language.) This 300-year-old tree is believed to have served as a gathering place for pow wow
A powwow (also pow wow or pow-wow) is a gathering with dances held by many Native American and First Nations communities. Powwows today allow Indigenous people to socialize, dance, sing, and honor their cultures. Powwows may be private or pu ...
s held by the Native American Wamesit tribe. (''"Wamesit"'' is an Algonquian word meaning: ''"a cornucopia of plenty for all."'') The Wamesit Indians congregated in this area for thousands of years, and the land on which this tree grew on (which was high ground with an underground spring close by) was held as sacred to them as was the tree itself. It is also said that Revolutionary War soldiers such as Deacon Thomas Clark, Captain John Trull, and General Joseph Varnum, as well as others from this New England hamlet, traveled past the Pow-Wow Oak on their way to defend Lexington and Concord on Patriots Day, April 19, 1775. This was the very beginning of the American Revolution, which started in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
In 1909, Middlesex County decided to pave Clark Road, then a dirt and gravel road that was referred to as ''"The Old Bridal Path"''. Albert E. O'Heir, an immigrant from Canada, who lived in the old Hunt Home at 241 Clark Road, did not want to see the tree, which stood in the middle of the road, cut down. In order that the tree might stand, O'Heir donated for one cent to the City of Lowell, ''9,463 square feet'' of his land on Clark Road.
In May 1931, the Molly Varnum Chapter of the Massachusetts Daughters of the American Revolution
The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence.
A non-profit group, they promote ...
(DAR) erected a sign next to the tree to commemorate the ancient oak, the Wamesit Indians, and the local militia who passed by it while traveling through that Lowell neighborhood (then still part of the town of Tewksbury) during the Revolutionary War.''Massachusetts Daughters of the American Revolution, Bay State News'', Volume 4, Fall Issue (August 2012), page 8.
The Pow-Wow Oak was recognized and preserved by the American Forests
American Forests is a 501(c)(3) non-profit conservation organization, established in 1875, and dedicated to protecting and restoring healthy forest ecosystems. The current headquarters are in Washington, D.C.
Activities
The mission of American ...
Historic Trees Program, and by the City of Lowell via the Pow Wow Oak Tree Preservation Covenant, which was recorded on March 12, 2012, at the Middlesex (North District) Registry of Deeds, Book 25799, Page 105.
On May 21, 2013, during a very strong wind storm, a large upper branch (not the lower horizontal ''"arm"'' that pointed west) of the Pow-Wow Oak collapsed onto nearby Clark Road. The following day, a decision was made by the City Manager's Office of the City of Lowell to cut down the tree to the ground because extensive interior decay in the mid to upper sections of the tree had more than partially compromised the tree and the safety of pedestrians and nearby motorists.Iconic Pow-Wow is felled, Lowell Sun, May 22, 2013 On Thursday, November 12, 2015, a dedication ceremony was held at the Peter W. Reilly Elementary School on Douglas Road in Lowell, MA, commemorating the installation of a permanent display of a huge round piece of the trunk of the Pow-Wow Oak.
Gallery
See also
*Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of ...
* History of Lowell, Massachusetts
The history of Lowell, Massachusetts, is closely tied to its location along the Pawtucket Falls (Massachusetts), Pawtucket Falls of the Merrimack River, from being an important fishing ground for the Pennacook tribe to providing water power for the ...
References
{{coord, 42.63902, -71.27337, display=title Geography of Lowell, Massachusetts Individual oak trees Individual trees in Massachusetts Pow wows Religious places of the Indigenous peoples of North America Tourist attractions in Lowell, Massachusetts Trees in religion Native American history of Massachusetts