Northwoods Memories Multimedia Productions

On the west side of the entrance to Kawa Bay from the main body of Kawnipi Lake, there is a site containing two very faded images.  One is a canoe and the other is a four legged animal, probably a Lynx.  We have found those images and visited them many times.  They are on a surface of rock that runs somewhat north and south.

BUT what we need is very specific and not related to those images.  Just to the south of these two images and on a rock surface running roughly east and west (i.e. “just around the corner” from the two images) and distanced from the known two images by ten feet or so is a flat rock surface with some erosion patterns on it.   These erosion patterns are due to some rock surface that has been removed leaving a much lighter color of rock showing.

We are looking for photographs of this surface taken perhaps a decade or more ago.  One probably would not photograph this surface, but if a photograph of the two known images was taken from some distance away, it might also show the surface about which we are inquiring.  So, if you have photographed this surface, or if you photographed any surfaces in the area while looking for the two known pictographs, you might have the surface we seek in your photos.

The bright white erosion areas are easliy seen.  If you have photographed these areas and see any of these bright white areas on a light tan surface would you contact us at  info@northwoodsmemoriesmmp.com   or phone us at 405-823-0469.

Thanks

The complete title to the book is “Reading Rock Art:  Interpreting The Indian Rock Paintings Of The Canadian Shield.”  It is an excellent resource for people wanting casual reading to learn more about the pictographs of canoe country but it is also a scholarly work with an excellent and extensive bibliography for those who want more intensive study of this subject.  We have used both the text and the bibliographic references extensively in our research into the Quetico and Boundary Waters pictograph sites.  This book is cited as a reference in nearly all of our publications.  The Northwoods Pictograph series of informational bulletins for use in the field (see pictograph pages on our website)  contains extensively referenced work by Dr. Rajnovich.

Grace Rajnovich is an archaeologist who spent fourteen years in field research before writing this excellent book.  Her academic preparation (B.A. from  York University, M.A. in English from University of Toronto, M.A. in Anthropology from University of Manitoba, and Ph.D. in Anthropology from Michigan State University) is excellent, but don’t get the idea that this is a hard-to-read book written in academic jargon.  Her well-rounded approach to the content not only presents interpretations of many figures found on the rocks of the Canadian Shield, but weaves the figures and their meanings into an overall discussion of the culture and religious practice of the Native Americans who painted these messages on the rocks.  (more…)

Edwina and I just returned from Canoecopia.   I presented a short program on our three-year project to compile a complete and accurate record of all known pictograph sites in Canoe Country.  As we were driving home from Madison, we talked about how we meet the nicest people in canoes!  While that is not exactly literally what I mean, since we were not in a canoe in Madison, we do mean that canoeing and related activities have introduced us to a group of really great people.

A number of years ago we flew into Atikokan on a float plane and were met by our friends from Canoe Canada Outfitters.  They shuttled us to our hotel room.  It was July 1.  We had planned to spend the rest of the day in Atikokan walking around, visiting, shopping and generally enjoying the small town canoeing atmosphere.  We did not know that July 1 is Canadian Independence Day and businesses would be closed.  We enjoyed being around the town anyway and have gone back a number of times since.  The next day, the folks from Canoe Canada dropped us off at the French Lake entry and we began our trip back to Prairie Portage.  We  looked for the remains of old log cabins, steam boat relics on beaches, and visited the Dore Lake pictograph site.  Nearby was the sunken steam boat in shallow water.   But the best part of the trip happened in Sturgeon Narrows. (more…)

Our Northwoods Pictograph project is based on our commitment to revisit every pictograph site seen in the past and visit those we have not yet seen.  On our first trip in 2007, we visited 13 sites through 4 entry points in Quetico and two entry points in the Boundary Waters.  This trip consisted of four individual trips of one or more nights and two day trips of a few hours each.  In this report on the first part of the trip, I will cover the day trip to the Sea Gull Lake pictograph site (in the BWCA) and the overnight trip to the Cache Bay site across the Canadian borderOrder Cache Bay and Seagull Lake Bulletins.

Northwoods Pictograph bulletins used on this trip:  Saganaga Lake, Cache Bay and Seagull Lake  (one bulletin covering two sites).  Order Bulletin here .
 

 Fisher Map used on this trip:  F 19

McKenzie Map used on this trip:  Map 6

  I also provide some information for future paddlers or those interested in simple trips, pictures of the Cache Bay Ranger Station, a video clip of the Quetico sea plane resupplying the Cache Bay Ranger station,  and the account of a completely unexpected and exciting encounter with a group of paddlers who reported a new petroglyph site. (more…)