If a picture is worth a thousand words, the universal language of rock carving Alberta speaks volumes. Written in stone, an enduring pictorial journal brings the lifestyles of Canada's aboriginal inhabitants into 'up-close and personal' focus. The Canadian landscape is imprinted with the prehistoric passions and imaginings of the Blackfoot tribe, etched in stone imagery and cast on rock in primitive spiritual paintings, fossilized for posterity in time immemorial.
Ingenuity and resourcefulness inspired the ancient Canadian tribe to render their history on abundant rock facades, comprised of soft sandstone, with early tools contrived of hard, sharp rocks, bones and metal. Ancients paints were concocted by mixing animal fat or water with natural mineral pigments. Though the engraved and painted artwork defied nature's elemental forces, wind, rain and ice served to embed character and distinction to the stone formations that held the ancient, artistic renderings for millenniums to come.
Like the unfathomable mystery surrounding the arduous creation of the Great Pyramid of Giza, the endurance of native mineral paints that remain unscathed by the ravages of time, on the surfaces of rocks, in caves and overhanging inaccessible cliffs, offers a miraculous tribute to the spirits that the ancient tribe honored. The religious beliefs of the Blackfoot people ascribed the detailed formations as a tribute to the likeness of the spirits deemed to have lived within the cliffs, once revered as sacrosanct respites for contemplative thought and prayer.
The earliest aboriginal stone carvings replicate local wildlife in artistic renditions of bison, bear, deer, snakes and insect species. As time passed, horses were depicted in drawings showing tribesmen riding horseback and warriors on foot carrying protective shields.
Like many primitive cultures, the Blackfoot revered spirituality on a level equal to the respect held for physical nature. Animals were held in high esteem for the food, fur and skins they provided, which equated to tribal survival. Hunters felt a spiritual connection to wildlife that inspired myriad artistic renderings honoring the important life-force that animals represented in survival.
Many of the antiquated, stone artifacts relay daily life among the prehistoric Blackfoot tribe, as far back as 3,000 years ago. More recent carvings, estimated by archaeological studies as sixteenth century, depict a more modern society that implemented guns and transportation via horseback.
In the name of progress, the quest to meet the demands for prime real estate decimated forestry and obliterated many of the ancient, historically irreplaceable, tribal artifacts. This devastating loss renders an irrevocable void for tribal descendants and the coming generations, who will forever be deprived of a gift of ancient, lost treasures, created and generously left for the future by prehistoric Blackfoot people.
The lost artifacts of Canada's ancient Blackfoot tribe have resulted in stringent laws for protecting the remaining treasury of rock carving Alberta, through penalties that carry costly fines and imprisonment for those who deface sacred, archaeological relics. The priceless gifts, painted and sculpted into the landscape by an ancient, aboriginal clan, deserves no less than the assurance of preservation for all time, with the same honor that inspired their historic, selfless purpose of enlightenment for future generations.
Ingenuity and resourcefulness inspired the ancient Canadian tribe to render their history on abundant rock facades, comprised of soft sandstone, with early tools contrived of hard, sharp rocks, bones and metal. Ancients paints were concocted by mixing animal fat or water with natural mineral pigments. Though the engraved and painted artwork defied nature's elemental forces, wind, rain and ice served to embed character and distinction to the stone formations that held the ancient, artistic renderings for millenniums to come.
Like the unfathomable mystery surrounding the arduous creation of the Great Pyramid of Giza, the endurance of native mineral paints that remain unscathed by the ravages of time, on the surfaces of rocks, in caves and overhanging inaccessible cliffs, offers a miraculous tribute to the spirits that the ancient tribe honored. The religious beliefs of the Blackfoot people ascribed the detailed formations as a tribute to the likeness of the spirits deemed to have lived within the cliffs, once revered as sacrosanct respites for contemplative thought and prayer.
The earliest aboriginal stone carvings replicate local wildlife in artistic renditions of bison, bear, deer, snakes and insect species. As time passed, horses were depicted in drawings showing tribesmen riding horseback and warriors on foot carrying protective shields.
Like many primitive cultures, the Blackfoot revered spirituality on a level equal to the respect held for physical nature. Animals were held in high esteem for the food, fur and skins they provided, which equated to tribal survival. Hunters felt a spiritual connection to wildlife that inspired myriad artistic renderings honoring the important life-force that animals represented in survival.
Many of the antiquated, stone artifacts relay daily life among the prehistoric Blackfoot tribe, as far back as 3,000 years ago. More recent carvings, estimated by archaeological studies as sixteenth century, depict a more modern society that implemented guns and transportation via horseback.
In the name of progress, the quest to meet the demands for prime real estate decimated forestry and obliterated many of the ancient, historically irreplaceable, tribal artifacts. This devastating loss renders an irrevocable void for tribal descendants and the coming generations, who will forever be deprived of a gift of ancient, lost treasures, created and generously left for the future by prehistoric Blackfoot people.
The lost artifacts of Canada's ancient Blackfoot tribe have resulted in stringent laws for protecting the remaining treasury of rock carving Alberta, through penalties that carry costly fines and imprisonment for those who deface sacred, archaeological relics. The priceless gifts, painted and sculpted into the landscape by an ancient, aboriginal clan, deserves no less than the assurance of preservation for all time, with the same honor that inspired their historic, selfless purpose of enlightenment for future generations.
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