HISTORY | ARCHEOLOGY | INDIGENOUS | CANADA

Where Indigenous People Tell a Tale of the Past and Future in Canada

Learning about the magic of the land

One of the most famous petroglyphs in the park represents the progression of a warrior with a shield. Look how perfect the circles are! These petroglyphs are pre-contact with Europeans. Photo Credit: Jillian Amatt - Artistic Voyages

When I think of petroglyphs, I think of far-off places like the Egyptian Pyramids, or the Mayan temples — places where the history of man is so long and deep, that we can’t possibly wrap our heads around it. But what if I was to tell you that even here in Canada we have traces of man that dates back up to 3500 years ago? Would you believe me?

In all honesty, I had never thought about it before. I knew that our Indigenous population lived here well before we white men came over from Europe, but I had no idea for how long, and I was pretty shocked when our Blackfoot guide imparted that wisdom upon us when we visited Writing On Stone Provincial Park earlier this month.

Location of the Park

Writing On Stone Provincial Park is a UNESCO World Heritage site run by Alberta’s park system. It is located 40 km east of Milk River in the far southern reaches of the province. In fact, we could almost throw a stone at the United States border, so I am talking way south.

It wasn’t until we were almost right at the park that we started to see the landscape change. For the…