Archaeologists have their eyes on a set of rock paintings that Cree Elders have known about for decades.
“This is an important find,” said Daniel Arsenault, the archaeologist in charge of the study. The pictograph site is the first ever reported in Cree Territory and is the farthest north of the eight known Quebec pictograph sites. One similar Quebec painting has been dated at 2,000 years old.
The rock paintings are located near Old Nemaska, on a large granite rock face by the lake shore. There are over 70 red ochre paintings spread over 35 metres of the rock.
“This is the most complex site in Quebec,” said Arsenault. The images include triangles, straight lines, stick figures and one that resembles a moose or caribou (see photo).
Nobody knows what they mean, but some believe the images may be directions to hunting grounds or meeting places. “These motifs could also be a testimony to people’s religion and spirituality,” said Arsenault. The upside-down human figures, for example, could be interpreted as the dead or as shamans.
The paintings are above two openings to a small cave that is partially below the water. A beaver lodge covers one entrance. Arsenault confirmed many of these types of rock paintings in Quebec and Ontario appear near caves.
Elders first told CRA archaeologist David Denton about the site a year ago, who then asked Arsenault to investigate.
Elders Alex Weistche and George Diamond were interviewed during the preliminary study. They both said they were shown the site over 40 years ago by their fathers, while canoeing through the area. They said people believed the paintings were drawn by the Maamaaguiishuu, small, hairy monkeylike creatures who used to live in the rock outcrops. The Ojibway have the same name for these creatures and also claim they are linked to paintings in their areas.
“People believed several stories. Some said the white men drew them, some said it was the Iroquois, some said it was people from here and others thought it was the Maamaaguiishuu,” Elder John Tent told The Nation.
Archaeologists have dubbed the site “EiGf-2.“ But both Tent and Diamond said the paintingswere known as Kaapeheeshaapischinikanuuch (“The Place Where There are Marks on the Rock”). Diamond also heard the site being called Matta-wapsinheedsud (“Making Designs with the Hand on Rock’).
One Nemaska resident, Roger Orr, who fishes near the site said, “I used to look over myshoulder and think, ‘They look like paintings,’ but I didn’t think much of them then.”
Both Tent and Diamond said the paintings were much brighter when they first saw them.“There’s a certain amount of urgency,” said Denton. With water levels rising in springand with the wear and tear of ice, snow and rain, the site will continue to deteriorate.
Arsenault’s proposal to further study the site, including taking a sample for carbondating, was approved by the Nemaska Band Council last Monday. They will begin research inSeptember.
