by Columbia River petroglyphs
As regular readers of this blog know, I have a special, sometimes passionate interest in the rock art and petroglyphs of ancient people, particularly of Northern Europe and the northwest region of North America. So, this comes as good news regarding the recognition and preservation of these culturally significant works, from the Stone Pages.
Exhibit of Native American petroglyphs opens
A new exhibit of Native American petroglyphs opened quietly this spring in the Columbia River Gorge, which marks the border between the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington. The region once held one of the richest deposits of tribal rock imagery in the world. But hundreds of the petroglyphs were submerged under water in the 1950s, when the federal government dammed the river. Some of the petroglyphs were rescued before the flooding, and now federal officials are trying to make amends.
[There are] 43 chunks of rock, covered with Native American figures chiseled in the former cliff face hundreds if not thousands of years ago […] Each rock image holds spiritual significance to northwest tribes. There are stick figures of deer and elk, swirling lizards, and haunting owls.[…] they’ve been moved and delicately cleaned and restored. […] centuries after their creation, the petroglyphs remain enormously significant to northwest tribes.
[…] the 200th anniversary of the explorations of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark will bring thousands of tourists through the Columbia River Gorge. […] the petroglyphs [are] a one of a kind opportunity for them to learn about northwest tribes.
Read more at VOA
The Columbia Hills State Park site (not yet updated for this announcement)
May 16, 2004 in Rock Art & Archaeology by Marja-Leena
This is a wonderful treat to find another artist so captivated by the early process of art making, and the pictographs and petroglyphs and cave art that began all art. This is also what I do, and have been studying for the last fifteen years. I live in the Columbia Gorge area, around Portland. I have an artist journal at Live Journal..(username goldleafgoddess), if you want to see my work. I don’t have a website yet.