Guilderland in Albany County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

The Vale of Tawasentha

Photographed by Steve Stoessel, March 24, 2019

1. The Vale of Tawasentha Marker

Inscription. Iroquois name for a burial ground near mouth of the Normanskill Creek.

Erected 1997 by Town of Guilderland.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Cemeteries & Burial Sites • Indigenous Peoples and Communities • Waterways & Vessels.

Location. 42° 42.172′ N, 73° 56.276′ W. Marker is in Guilderland, New York, in Albany County. It is on New York State Route 146, on the left when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Altamont NY 12009, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Upstate New York,

in the Capital District,

and in the Albany Metropolitan Area.

It is also in the American Northeast

and in the Mid-Atlantic.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Netherland

and also one of the original Thirteen Colonies.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Battle of Normanskill (approx. 0.4 miles away); Farm of Evert Bancker (approx. 0.4 miles away); Palatine Road (approx. 0.8 miles away); Guilderland Town Hall (approx. one mile away); Case Homestead (approx. 1.1 miles away); Freeman House (approx. 1.3 miles away); French's Hollow (approx. 1.3 miles away); Glass Works (approx. 1.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Guilderland.

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The Vale of Tawasentha. It is the name Henry Wadsworth Longfellow uses for the primary location of his epic poem The Song of Hiawatha, except that he places his vale in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on the shores of Lake Superior, and his protagonists are Ojibwe, not Iroquois. Excerpt from the poem’s Introduction:

“In the vale of Tawasentha,
In the green and silent valley,
By the pleasant water-courses,
Dwelt the singer Nawadaha.
Round about the Indian village
Spread the meadows and the corn-fields,
And beyond them stood the forest,
Stood the groves of singing pine-trees,
Green in Summer, white in Winter,
Ever sighing, ever singing.”

Longfellow based his Ojibwe epic on Iroquois legends. (Submitted on February 10, 2024, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio.)

The Vale of Tawasentha image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Steve Stoessel, March 24, 2019

2. The Vale of Tawasentha

Another view of the Normanskill entering the vale

Photographed by Steve Stoessel, March 24, 2019

3. The Vale of Tawasentha

Picture of Normanskill from bridge

Credits. This page was last revised on February 10, 2024. It was originally submitted on March 25, 2019, by Steve Stoessel of Niskayuna, New York. This page has been viewed 2,187 times since then and 120 times this year. Last updated on November 20, 2019, by John Ginder of Glenmont, New York. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on March 25, 2019, by Steve Stoessel of Niskayuna, New York. • J. Makali Bruton was the editor who published this page.