Peteroglyphs

The area near the trailer has lots of amazing places to visit, every time we're in the area we try to take advantage of their proximity. Off our list we choose to go to the Peteroglyph Provincial Park. It is a park located on a piece of First Nations land which has great spiritual significance. Between 600 and 1100 years ago a group of Algonquin speaking peoples carved pictures in a large piece of crystalline marble, which is very soft stone. Oral history shares that Elders and Shaman would use these teaching rocks to pass on history, lessons and values. Fifty years ago these peterogylphs were 'discovered' by the rest of the world, studied and shared. During this fifty years the depth of the pictures has changed from 3inches to 1/2 inch due to weathering. In the past the rocks were covered with moss when there weren't being viewed, this didn't happen while they were being studied. In an attempt to save the beautiful 'writings' a building as been built around the rock to protect it. It's a very large building that looks out of place, very urban and starkly contrasts with its otherwise very natural environment. We even watched a deer close by for awhile. However, once you are inside the power of the rocks takes over and the surrounding building has much less impact.
The drawings themselves, accompanied by explanations, are incredible. There are turtles, people, snakes, shaman, spirits. The largest and most deeply carved was a cormorant, most likely a clan symbol. There was a place for the kids to so a rubbing of a replicated carving. We walked around the rocks twice, first noting all the different pictures. The second time we talked about the offerings laid of sweet grass, cedar, sage and tobacco. We had an amazing talk afterwards about how different peoples share and teach.
There is a learning centre to walk through. It was beautifully set up with a movie about the carvings , displays talking about the lessons shared by the Algonquin speaking peoples. Twice a year you can buy tickets to be among the limited few to listen to an elder share teachings from the rock. What an opportunity! You will have to venture out to see it because they ask you take no pictures on the land. Out of respect we didn't even sneak one...although I really wanted to :)