Avg. 38 39 40 38 44 43 38 39 41 40 40 35 35 36 43
SPORT SHOW LOCATOR Calendar of upcoming events in 2015 DATES
EVENT NAME & WEBSITE Chicago Muskie Expo Jan. 9‐11 www.muskieexpo.com The "New" Ohio Musky Show Jan. 23‐25 www.ohiomuskyshow.com Jan. 31 ‐ Western Pennsylvania Muskie Max Feb. 1 www.muskiemax.com Milwaukee Muskie Expo Feb. 13‐15 www.muskieexpo.com Rockford Illinois Fishing Show Feb. 20‐22 www.rockfordboatshow.com Madison Fishing Expo Feb. 27‐March 1 www.madfishexpo.com Wisconsin Musky Expo March 6‐8 www.wimuskyexpo.com Minnesota Muskie Expo April 10-12 www.minnesotamuskieexpo.com
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LOCATION
CITY
STATE
PHONE
Sears Centre Arena
Hoffman Estates
IL
(608) 445‐4645
Four Points by Sheraton
Pittsburg North
Indoor Sports Center
Rockford
Makoy Event Center
Wisconsin State Fair Park Exhibition Hall at the Alliant Center Patriot Center
Concordia University
Hilliard
OH
(606) 776‐6567 (606) 776‐6729
West Allis
WI
(608) 445‐4645
Madison
WI
(608) 245‐1040
St. Paul
MN
Wausau
PA IL
WI
(724) 494‐0774
(815) 997‐1744 (715) 891‐8856
(763) 786‐6031
January / February 2015.....MUSKIE 11
Painted Rocks and Muskie Waters
ichards, - Kevin R r Field Edito MUSKIE
Manitou Lake Paintings. Image courtesy of Juris Ozols.
“More than 400 rock paintings adorn the cliff faces of the Canadian Shield; they are stories in picture writing put on the cliffs as far back as 2,000 years ago... The rock paintings – bright red figures of people, animals, canoes, and bows-and-arrows common to the traditional boreal forest life – also abound with signs of medicine – drums, rattles, medicine bags and other items precious to the Indian healer. They are an astonishing legacy of the first nations of the Shield...”
Distribution of the Paintings The rock paintings, more accurately known as pictographs, are spread across the Shield from Quebec to central Manitoba. Many are in very isolated places and difficult to find. Selwyn Dewdney was an author, illustrator and artist who spent many years documenting rock paintings for the Quetico Foundation, the Royal Ontario Museum, and the Government of Ontario. According to Dewdney’s maps, the greatest concentration of pictographs occurs within or in close proximity to Ontario’s Quetico Provincial Park east of Fort Frances. Some of the pictographs of that region are on the U.S. side of the border in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Fortunately for muskie anglers who may want to add a wonderful cultural experience to a fishing trip there are quite a few fine examples of pictographs on Canadian muskie waters. After Quetico, one of the next highest concentrations of Shield pictographs occurs on Lake of the Woods and nearby lakes, including Shoal Lake, Obabikon Lake, Blindfold Lake, and Silver Lake. This group of waters includes at least 20 known pictograph sites. Six ancient rock carving, or petroglyph, sites have also been identified in this region. 14 MUSKIE..... January / February 2015
- Dr. Grace Rajnovich, Reading Rock Art Other muskie waters associated with pictographs described by Dewdney include Clay Lake, Crow Lake (a.k.a. Kakagi Lake), Dryberry Lake, Eagle Lake (plus nearby Delano and Teggau lakes), French River, Lower Manitou Lake, North Channel of Lake Huron, the Ottawa River, Rainy Lake, and the St. Lawrence River. At least five sites on Lac Seul were flooded in the 1930s when the water elevation was raised eight to ten feet upon completion of the Ear Falls Hydroelectric Dam. Dewdney states that the only clue as to what the flooded sites were like comes from nearby sites; one of the closest would be just south of Lac Seul on Route Lake. I can think of several rock walls on Lac Seul which would have made perfect drawing surfaces. Dewdney wrote that he “spent two idyllic summers” there as a teenager and that, prior to flooding, Lac Seul was “one of the paradise lakes of the north, with countless sandy beaches.” According to Dewdney, almost all of the Shield pictographs were painted with red ochre. Ochre gets it color from the mineral hematite which is a form of iron oxide. The ochre was mixed with different materials to make the paint. Some of the likely materials included plain water, fish egg fluid, sturgeon oil, or bear grease. Dewdney felt that the paints mixed with oil and grease might not have bound to the rocks as permanently as
paints mixed with water alone. Dr. Grace Rajnovich was inspired by Dewdney’s work to learn more about the rock paintings and their meaning. She is an archaeologist and researcher who worked for the Ontario government in Kenora for 14 years. Rajnovich noted, “The Indian paint has proven to be better than modern house paint.” She noted one pictograph which was defaced with store-bought paint but the red ochre paint lasted after the paint used to deface the pictograph weathered away. Rajnovich shares evidence that some paintings could be as much as 2,000 years old, while the most recent seem to be over 100 years old. Early European explorers noted seeing pictographs in the late 1600s and early 1700s. Regardless of the exact age of any of the paintings we know the paint was very durable, and applying the paint was as easy as using a finger. In fact, many of the pictograph collections also feature hand prints.
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web site: www.whitefishbaycamp.com email: info@whitefishbaycamp.com First Nation communities in Ontario and two in Manitoba. Photos from the Obabikon Channel on Lake of the Woods show one of the very high granite painting surfaces. In 1960 Dewdney described this pictograph as “two serpentine figures, one with antlers, the other with horns, symmetrically facing a large turtle”. Rajnovich described the Lake of the Woods, Whitefish Bay, Picture Rock Island Paintings. This site has many interesting symbols, including the thunderbird and the hand print to the right of center. Image courtesy of Whitefish Bay Camp.
Typical Sites Pictographs were usually painted on vertical granite walls along the shores of lakes or rivers. The paintings may be very close to the water’s edge or more than 50 feet above the water. Rajnovich wrote, “For the Algonkian Indians, every place where rock paintings occur was special.” These were places where the sky, earth, and water intersected. She notes that the Algonkian-speaking family has several branches and languages; the most numerous being the Ojibway. The majority of pictograph sites on muskie waters are in northwestern Ontario within the area of the Anishinaabe (Ojibway) Nation in the Treaty 3 Area; this includes 26
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Lake of the Woods, Obabikon Channel Paintings. Note the high vertical wall used as the painting surface. Image courtesy of Chris Vitello.
January / February 2015.....MUSKIE 15
Close-up of the Obabikon Channel Paintings. Image provided by the author.
turtle as the chief messenger between the people and the spirits.
Interpretations and Perceptions Only the original artists and story tellers knew the full meaning for each of their pictographs, yet many of the stories and meanings were passed down through generations and many of the symbols had common meanings in the local culture and Algonkian languages. Dr. Rajonivich’s book helps the people of our time understand some of the symbolism and concepts, but also notes that paintings may have multiple meanings. I won’t make what would be a very uneducated attempt to interpret the meanings of any of the pictographs, but I would like to share three examples from Painted Rock Island on Lake of the Woods to show how factors might influence each observer’s perceptions. A. Pictographs can change rapidly. I took these two photos 12 years apart. The photo from 2000 shows much more detail on the far right of the rock face than the 2012 photo in which that portion of the painting is nearly obscured by the growth of dark lichens.
B. The eye of the beholder. In the two previous photos from Painted Rock Island you may be able to make out a fish-like shape in the lower left portion of the pictograph. Dewdney has a fairly clear drawing and description of this, “to the lower left, floats a horned serpent-sturgeon, with projecting spines the length of its back”. I hate to correct the experts on this one, but it has always looked like a huge serpentmuskie to me! C. Documentation and research help preserve the story. This is a close-up of the center portion of the Painted Rock pictographs. Like many other pictographs, this one features a human-like horned figure which seems similar A close-up of the Painted Rock to Christian depicIsland pictographs. tions of a devil. And who or what is that to the right of the horned figure? One associate recently told me it looked like a person with a high hairdo wearing a striped garment. I could visualize that, if I hadn’t first observed this site in the early 1980s and had never seen Dewdney’s 1960 drawing of this sec-
2012
2000
Image taken by the author in 2000. 16 MUSKIE..... January / February 2015
Comparing these two photographs shows how rapidly the appearance of the paintings can change over just 12 years. Note that the dark lichen on the right portion of the pictographs is beginning to obscure the paintings.
tion of the pictograph. Rajnovich points out that to the early Algonkian story tellers the horns likely denoted superior wisdom and power. Dewdney described the site as follows: “The sacred bear stands above a rectangular structure beside a horned figure, who might represent a powerful Miday leader.” Weathering and fading over the past 60 years has made it more difficult to distinguish the bear and the rectangle as separate objects.
For more information check out these excellent resources.
Conservation While the paintings are fascinating, please keep in mind that they are much more than tourist attractions. These are special sites, sacred sites to many Ojibway people. Please do not touch the paintings. Do not disturb gifts or offerings left at the sites. Sadly, some sites have been vandalized by the painting of modern graffiti. In the 1980s Dryberry Lake Paintings. Image courtesy of I was disgusted to see the let- Lake of the Woods, Whitefish Bay, Juris Ozols. Annie Island Painting. Image ters of a fraternity painted in courtesy of Rick Gate. white on the east section of the Painted Rock Island site. While the modern paint may not outlast the red ochre paintings, it is illegal, extremely disrespectful, and will detract from this cultural treasure for decades. Learn More and Share! If you want to learn more about the pictographs I highly recommend reading Indian Rock Paintings of the Great Lakes by Selwyn Dewdney and Kenneth E. Kidd, plus Reading Rock Art – Interpreting the Indian Rock Paintings of the Canadian Shield by Dr. Grace Rajnovich. Much of my information came from these books. There is also a vast amount of material available on the Internet. One of my favorite sites is a blog by Peter Albinger. If you search for “true_north pictographs” you’ll find his site: www.albinger.me/2013/05/01/anishinaabe-pictograph-sites-of-thecanadian-shield/ It is highly unlikely that I am aware of all the pictograph sites within muskie range. If you know of other sites please share details and photos with me at: muskiemag@yahoo.com Please note that these current MUSKIE advertisers are each located within an easy boat ride of one or more of the rock painting sites: Hanson’s King Island Lodge (page 17), Manitou Weather Station (page 13), Red Wing Lodge (page 7), Young’s Wilderness Camp (page 5), and Whitefish Bay Camp (page 15).
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January / February 2015.....MUSKIE 17