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Someone has passed this way before

The Maymaygwayshi, or water sprite, painted on a cliff near the mouth of the Nipigon River

Photo: The Maymaygwayshi, or water sprite, painted on a cliff near the mouth of the Nipigon River

One panel of the extensive display of pictographs at the Nipigon River site. The image near the centre is clearly distinguishable as a large canoe

Photo: One panel of the extensive display of pictographs at the Nipigon River site. The image near the centre is clearly distinguishable as a large canoe

By

Susan Bryan

Indigenous heritage, MyOntario

Published Date: Feb 17, 2017

I’m standing on the deck of a small boat, riding the swells of the Nipigon River where it widens into Lake Superior. In front of me, a rock cliff rises straight out of the water. On this cliff are a series of pictographs – lines, circles and other symbols – as well as some more recognizable images – a canoe and the near-human shape of Maymaygwayshi, the water sprite.

These pictographs have likely been here for some centuries, although no one is quite sure of their age. The artist used red ochre – a durable mixture of iron-rich rock and fish oil – but time and weather have taken a toll. Some of the figures are now faded or obscured by lichens and seepage from the cliff above. Others have flaked away in a process known as exfoliation. Eventually, all will be lost, although that won’t happen for a very long time.

Today, from my perch on that bobbing boat, I can still distinguish dozens of shapes on the rock wall above me. In the vastness of northern Ontario, pictographs are testimony that someone has passed this way before and left a lasting mark upon the land. [Photos courtesy of Susan Bryan]

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