Fun Fact: The Bella Coola valley contains one-fifth of Canada’s petroglyphs.
After our trip to see the petroglyphs (i.e. rock carvings) last week I was hoping to tell you about their history, origin and the stories the Nuxalk people have passed on for generations about these sacred symbols. Instead, I just have a funny story about our strange afternoon spent visiting the petroglyphs.
After our trip to see the petroglyphs (i.e. rock carvings) last week I was hoping to tell you about their history, origin and the stories the Nuxalk people have passed on for generations about these sacred symbols. Instead, I just have a funny story about our strange afternoon spent visiting the petroglyphs.
We first set out down a trail with a sign saying “rock carvings”, thinking, naively as it turns out, that there would be signage along the way pointing us in the right direction (considering the historic and spiritual importance of these carvings.) Instead, after many a fork in the path, we were lost and had not located the carvings on our own. Feeling a little embarrassed we headed back toward Four Mile Reserve. Immediately upon emerging from the trail, a group of young people standing around a porch started laughing at us when we told them we couldn’t find the rock carvings. So much for our first attempt.
Egos deflated, we headed down the road to visit the Petroglyph Gallery, a gallery featuring impressive artwork from local Nuxalk artists. When we mentioned to the shopkeeper that we were unable to locate the rock carvings, he called down his nephew, who offered to take us to the rock carvings and give us a guided tour. We agreed to the tour. But we didn’t agree to the teenage boy with ADHD version of the tour. That is exactly what we got. We learned as much about where you would crack your head open if you fell down a given riverbank as we did about the petroglyphs. I have no doubt that some of the information we received was accurate and passed down to our guide by the elders. However, it was difficult to separate the oral history from the teenage fantasies about aliens and giant snakes. So much for our second attempt.
Egos deflated, we headed down the road to visit the Petroglyph Gallery, a gallery featuring impressive artwork from local Nuxalk artists. When we mentioned to the shopkeeper that we were unable to locate the rock carvings, he called down his nephew, who offered to take us to the rock carvings and give us a guided tour. We agreed to the tour. But we didn’t agree to the teenage boy with ADHD version of the tour. That is exactly what we got. We learned as much about where you would crack your head open if you fell down a given riverbank as we did about the petroglyphs. I have no doubt that some of the information we received was accurate and passed down to our guide by the elders. However, it was difficult to separate the oral history from the teenage fantasies about aliens and giant snakes. So much for our second attempt.
Until I return with a different guide, I can leave you with what little knowledge I have gained. Ethnographers have dated the petroglyphs to be somewhere around 7,500 years old. Although the Nuxalk attribute some of the carvings to their ancestors, there are others carvings that the Nuxalk will not talk about because they do not know the stories. These ones, strangely enough, look more Maori or Samoan than North American, and their origin is a mystery.
The ones in the photo above represent a shaman at various stages throughout the day. Or aliens. Depends who you ask. - L
Too bad, you'll have to go back with a less ADHD guide next time!
ReplyDelete