In May 1954, two young geologists went into the forest north of Stony Lake, Ontario to search for white crystalline. Instead, they swept away layers of moss to find thousands of strange etchings on a rock. Though they did not realize it at the time, the men had found one of the largest and most mysterious North American Indian petroglyphs, also known as the “Teaching Rocks.”
These rocks tell the aboriginal story of life. As the young men of the village came of age, the elders would escort them to the rock, guided by the sound of a waterfall and special rocks that they used as landmarks. Here, the elders taught the young men the meaning of life, according to Ojibway tradition.
The medicine wheel rock told these youngsters that life began as a sunrise in the eastern sky. When the sun was midway, it represented midlife and when it reached the western sky, it represented old age; the northern sky represented the afterlife. The rocks taught the young men that they must learn to co-exist with nature.
When the lessons were over, the elders covered the petroglyphs with moss to protect them until the next time they were needed. Today, they are protected by a man-made shelter in Petroglyph Provincial Park, near Highway 28 near Peterborough, Ontario. Be sure to watch the award winning film “The Teaching Rocks” while you’re in the park. It was prepared by Lloyd Walton of the Ministry of Natural Resources. It explains the mystery of the petroglyphs and is narrated by the Ojibway people.
Once you have seen the petroglyps and heard the interpretation, you will look at nature in a much different light and wonder why the Europeans that conquered this wonderful country has destroyed so much of what the Creator gave into our stewardship.