Endangered turtles raised in captivity released in local ponds (Alice C. Elwell)

WICKED LOCAL MIDDLEBOROUGH (Brockton, Massachusetts) 03 June 08 Endangered turtles raised in captivity released in local ponds (Alice C. Elwell)
Something amazing and unexpected happened on the shores of Great Quittacas Pond on Monday. As visitors lined the banks between Great Quittacas and Pocksha, hoping to catch a glimpse of dozens of endangered red-bellied cooters, they became part of a larger ritual.
Chief Alden Windsong Blake, tribal head of the Assonet Band of Indians performed a cleansing ceremony, blessing both the turtles and visitors who came to the shores.
The turtle is a powerful symbol to Native Americans, Windsong said as he chanted an Indian prayer and fanned a burning medicinal herb into the air.
“This is a sacred morning,” Windsong said, as he told of the legend of the turtle, the oldest living creature on earth. “We believe the turtle is the most sacred thing on earth.”
“Kutaputush,” Windsong said in Indian tongue, which is translated as “to give thanks.”
Native American legends credits the turtle as the creator of the “two-legged” race, he said.
“We were born on a turtle’s back,” Windsong said. “The turtle gave the two-legged ones a home to live on.”
He explained the oral tradition was based on the belief the American continent was once the shape of a turtle.
Windsong, a former Lakeville resident of 40 years, said he performed the cleansing ritual for all to handle “these sacred turtles and to bless the turtles.”
As the turtles made their way to the pond, Windsong said “The creator is smiling today.”
To the folks at the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, the turtle’s importance lies in diversity.
Once on the brink of extinction in New England, the creature scrambled its way from approximately 100 in the mid-1980s to an estimated population of more than 2,300 in the Assawompset Pond Complex.
The comeback was made possible with lots of help from volunteers who “head start” turtles over the winter.
The program begins in the fall, when the eggs are carefully lifted from nests in Plymouth County and distributed throughout the state to facilities and classrooms that raise the turtles in warm aquarium environments with unlimited food.
The warmth causes the hatchlings to be more active, which in turn causes them to be more hungry, said Marion E. Larson, coordinator of the program.
By feeding the hatchlings unlimited amounts of food they grow faster and are less vulnerable to predators when they are finally released, she explained.
On Monday, 137 red belly cooters — three “monster” sized — were released amongst their smaller brethren. Larson said the “monsters“, as she termed them, had been kept in captivity for six years and were returned anonymously.
As the little cooters frolicked in the pond, diving to the bottom and popping back up, they slowly drifted from the shore. Many floated aimlessly, watching the humans on shore, all that could be seen was their heads.
Once the last turtle scampered to the water a black northern water snake slithered out from the bushes through the crowd of onlookers to the pond.
“What a thing!” Windsong exclaimed. “Here comes the natural healer,” he said. “That is a good sign.”
“When all the turtles were in their environment, the snake came out of the woods to give the last blessing and healing,” Windsong said.
“Wait ‘til I tell people,” he said.
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