SECTION #5    

THE (REMA) SNAKE MOUND 

plus FOUR SNAKES in the

WAKAŊ TIPI CAVE 

plus

FOUR MORE SNAKES 

in Mayan Writing

When Lewis called the snake with the raised pattern on its back "figure 1," Rock's opinion is that it should have been intended to be read as something like "figure 4" because it had 4 tail shakers rather than 1.  Lewis called the snake with one shaker figure 4.  Figures 2 and 3 were also transposed from their respective shaker numbers 3 and 2.  Consequently,  in numbered and approximate directional order, Rock describes them ascending as:  1 shaker snake rising from the north, 2 shaker snake rising from west, 3 shaker snake from east and the four shaker snake rising from south.  The snake mound (REMA) with 3 actual conical mounds for its tail lies 14 miles to the slight east southeast ESE from the cave.  

By applying the Lewis descriptions regarding each snake's length and depth, 8 numbers are reduced to four, by dividing the length of each snake by its depth as carved into the rock.  Then if we find the mean of these four values we see 29.2 (no unit, since numerator/denominator dimensions cancel).   Imagine that each of these quantities were intended to be 30 + 30 + 30 + 30 = 120. Then the obvious mean would be 30.  But instead, if this seems too precisely quantitative for comfort, please note that the four snakes appear to be in pairs as follows, if rounded to nearest whole numbers: North 27; South 22 and East 29; West 39. 

Let's consider the over-under values a bit here. The East is closest to the mean value of 29, so no gain or deficit [0] from the mean in this direction.  But the  oposite West is 10 units greater than East, while the North-South pair shows a deficit less than the mean of -2 and -7 respectively.   If we add these cardinal  pairs together we see a -9 for N-S compared with +10 for W-E.   Should this be interpreted as ancestors finding a way to divide the extra single unit [+10 - 9 = 1] into fourths?  = 1/4?  No decimal points necessary, and the argument about the use of decimal fractions is avoided for now by using whole numbers in quadrants!  

Conclusion:  Was this an intentional way of showing that the ancestors knew the MOON was less than 30 days, but they were working out how much less than 30 is one synodic month in terms of partial days? The western method of 24 hours divided by 5 would imply 4.8  hours if 0.2 of a day was intended.   Since the synodic period is slightly more than 29.53, 0.53 of 24 hours is 12.72 hours.   Or if they intended only whole numbers, then the value is 117 (=27+22+29+39) divided by 4 for 29.25 days showing 0.25 day = 6 hours rather than what we now know is between 12 and 13 hours.  NOTE that these values are also not 28-28-28-28 nor    27-27-27-27 for the redundantly obvious turtleshell calendar (which leaves 1.242 days "missing" beyond the 364) or for the sidereal lunar period of 27.322 days.  But the implication is that some mathematically artistic and symbolic Elders were searching for this phenological truth.  In other words, they were tweaking the equally redundant value of 29-29-29-29 with over/under gain and deficit amounts, to show a possible result of their measurements.

By itself this example may not be convincing, but if this was worked out over 1000 to 2000 years ago, there were contemporaneous attempts documented and written on fig bark paper to the south in the Maya world on what is now called the Dresden Codex.   This was likely brought back as "tax loot" to Spain and then Germany as a part of the royal fifth (quinto real) due to the King. 

In this Codex we see a Mayan written ratio ("equation") that 405 Red Moons are to be considered the same value as 46 Cholk'in or Tzolk'in.  Since a k'in is a day and a Cholk'in-Tzolk'in cycle is 260 = 13 x 20 days

We can know that this is using a ratio of 11,960 days = 46 x 260 days as equal to 405 Red Moons.  

To find what is just  One Red Moon, we divide 11,960 by 405 and, in the decimal system which the Maya did NOT use, this works out as 29.53086 days.   This is a value not equalled or surpassed until NASA put a mirror on the moon and bounced a laser from it in 1972, and achieved a slightly better value of 29.53059 days!!  The difference between NASA 1972 and Mayan values is 0.0003 day = 20 seconds per synodic mo. or only 20 heartbeats per month. 

Rock had not recognized this number 117 previously as anything astronomical, because of his mostly Western STEM training... but then he noticed the following:

In the Maya worldview (tree below) there are 13 levels in the world above, 

and  9 worlds in the world below.  

We exist in this one world of four directions between them.

After 3 decades of learning this, and 3 years afer seeing the above regarding the cave snakes, Rock finally saw a possible way of processing these Maya numbers during the Covid isolation, while dealing with some of the unpleasant illness deities named in the cavernous roots of this underworld Milky Way Ceiba tree!

So if we multiply the two kapemni (above&below) worlds:

13 above  x   9 below  =  117           

(compare this Maya system with the Dakota cave snakes number 116.8 or 117...What? Really?)

then we add this one earth surface world between them to the product of the two kapemni worlds 

such that: 117 + 1 = 118  

Finally, we divide this sum by the four directions of this surface world

(red=east, yellow=south, black=west and white=north):  

and we see that   118/4 = 29.5 days per moon 

This is a simpler, easier, and perhaps earlier mnemonic device for determining the synodic lunar period.

A later(?) ratio in a Mayan Codex also shows that 405 red moons are the same as 46 Tzolk'in, where a   Tzolk'in is 260 = 13 x 20 days.  So this is 405 red moons = 11,960 which means  11,960/405 =

One Red Moon = 29.5309 days. 

Instead of taking the average of the cave snake numbers, try taking the East-West pair and subtracting the North-South pair, and we see the number 19, which is the number of mounds above the cave. Coincidence? We don't know.

(Below) Wakan Tipi's Four Snake Values written as Mayan base 20, dot-bar numbers   

[1 bar = 5 fingers or toes = hand or foot and 1 red dot above = 20,  as all fingers and toes]

So add the single red 20 in the 20s place with the brown value below it in the ones place

(Below) Written by Maya STEM scribes on folded fig tree paper books over one millenium ago ("Dresden Codex" about eclipses and Venus and repeating and predicting calendar cycles)  is an illustration of 

four snakes rising each with a red number and a black number = 

8 numbers total for the 4 snakes

The sound of "kan" in Yukatek Mayan can mean four or snake or yellow or even sky with slight pronunciation changes!  (pun-like homophones are/were valued) 

The number 4 (as 4 dots) is called "kan" and six (dot over bar) is called "wak."

They seem to echo as if the snakes are rising in a watery, underworld cave chamber... called wak-kan?????  (The Hochunk word for snake is wakaŋ)

The distance between the 18 mounds and the 19 mounds  is

0.7 miles    = 3696 feet = 2519 wiċhishpa = 6.92 REMAs

So not only did our ancestors use body measurements such as the wiċhišhpa (cubit), but also not limited to the finger (napsukaza), hand (nape), foot (siha) and ear to fingertip, the noġeiyutapi.

The straight "crow flies" distance between the 18 mounds beside the Ḣaḣa Wakpa (Mississippi River) 

      to the REMA snake on the St. Croix Wakpa is:

13.67 miles, this is 49,200 wiċhishpa =  135 REMAs! = 

     19.5 of the distances between the 19 and 18 mounds 

If REMA is 534 feet, then 10 REMAs are 5340 feet

    so a mile is only 60 feet shorter at 5280 feet.

So   1 DekaREMA (DR) = 1.011[4]  mile

or

1 mile = 0.9887[6] DR  =  9.887[6] REMAs*

1 deciREMA dR = 53.4 feet = 36.4 wiċhišhpa (cubits)

Also since 534 feet = 364 wiċhišhpa (cubits)

so 1.4670 feet = 1 wiċhišhpa (cubit)

The Romans divided their MILE into 5000 pedes and 

625 feet in a stadium and 8 stadia = 1 mile and 1.5 mile = 1 league 

and 1 league as 1000 paces 

An international agreement on July 1, 1959 standardized the mile between the British Commonwealth's Imperial mile and the U.S. Customary Unit of a statute mile as:

 1609.344 meters =

5280 feet

1760 yards

63,360 inches

80 chains

*8 furlongs     

So 1/8 mile = 1 furlong = 1.236 REMAs

1 REMA = 0.8091 furlong

1 DR = 8.091 furlongs = 1.011 mile

Another Dakota measurement longer than the wiċhišhpa is the "noġeiyutapi"  from ear to fingertip... a little more than two wiċhišhpa

 for this author: 37.5 inches = 3.125 feet/1.467 feet/wiċhišhpa = 2.130 wiċhišhpa

So a wiċhišhpa is about 47% of a noġeiyutapi, and 

REMA is 170.9 noġeiyutapi 

After making an actual size version of the snake with 4 tailshakers seen below, Rock noticed a gap between the two sets of four embossed marks which gave the impression as 8 great grandparents = 4 + 4 on each side of a parent on the family tree.  Would the four tail shakers then represent the 4 grandparents as two per side?  Is this snake a visual symbol of the ancestors and relatives as MIHUŊKAKAŊ?

        0- 1  - 2 - 4 - 8 - 16...

Below: Numbers have faces in Mayan writing as well as the dot-bar number writing system. This shows a family tree as above.  NOTE how the Mayan Yukatek language words for 1-2-4   agree/match (?) with the L/N/Dakota word for relatives, ancestors and the ancient stories they pass down to us.  The SEVEN StarFire Council Nations [4 + 2 + 1 = 7] as seen in the "Big Dipper" are the               OĊHETI   ŠHAKOWIŊ  OYATE.   ŠHAKOWIŊ = 7. Whereas in Y. Mayan, 7 = WOOK (WUK), but 8 = WAŠAK (WAXAK)

The Mayan word/symbol for ZERO is MI

It is interesting to note that the Dakota Snake constellation consists of 16 stars...

Could these possibly be the 16 great, great grandparents?

Snake constellation diagram from p. 10 Lakota Star Knowledge: Studies in Lakota Stellar Theology  by Ronald Goodman (original 1987)

Below: Rock calculates the average distance of the 16 Snake stars at 727 Light Years...with Head and Tail closer to Earth than the Body!     Star #4 is the greatest distance from us, while #1 and #14 are the closest.

More than 14 ancestors before one's self as 15 tipi poles...and 16 great, great grandparents = 30 moon-like ones

      16 star-like, umbilical cord connecting, snake-like, tipi rope ancestors to connect us in our tiwahe (immediate family)

to connect us with our tiyošhpaye (extended family) and with our Oyate (Nation).