Copying Petroglyph Images: Current Status

In late October of 1999, the elders of the Snuneymuxw (Nanaimo) First Nation told us that some of the petroglyphs are sacred to them, and should not be copied. Not knowing which these were, the museum removed all petroglyph images from its website, and stopped providing materials for taking rubbings from the reproductions on the museum grounds.

In September, 2000, Geraldine Manson joined the museum board as an extraordinary Director, responsible for liason with the Snuneymuxw Nation. With her assistance, we arrived at an agreement that would allow visitors to the museum to make rubbings from the reproductions, as long as they were done by individuals, for personal use, and not for sale or profit. The same rules would apply to petroglyph images on this website.

In the spring of 2002, rubbing kits were again made available at the museum. We are still working on getting the website changed and posted. Some images are available (some with comments, others without). More images will be added in time

Created: October 26, 1999      Last Update: March 26, 2007

Geraldine Manson

Geraldine has a long-standing interest in the history and archeology of this area, and has been involved in several digs. She has also served as the Coordinator for the Snuneymuxw Elders for a number of years, in which role she has become very familiar with their history. An elected member of the Snuneymuxw Council, she has also been involved with treaty issues, and has worked with the Royal BC Museum and others on the repatriation of ancestral remains.

Her role on the board includes being our liason from the Snuneymuxw, providing us with information about the long Snuneymuxw presence on Gabriola, and assisting in the design of some displays. She has also given several well-attended public talks at the museum about the history and legends of the Snuneymuxw and other Salish peoples, including some of the stories attached to the petroglyphs.

She has been a valuable member of the board. Her involvement with us has given us a much better understanding of Snuneymuxw history and culture and their connection to Gabriola Island. We hope that the museum will be able to incorporate this understanding into its operations.

Gabriola Petroglyphs

Kingfisher (G-104) There are more than seventy known petroglyphs on Gabriola and surrounding islands. Carved into large sheets of sandstone bedrock, or on isolated boulders, they occur in groups and singly...some at the tide line, others, well back from the shore, or on hillsides above.  Some are deeply incised, others barely legible. Some are realistic, others are combinations of human and animal shapes.  Still others are indecipherable, or give rise to arguments about their intent. Most lay hidden under layers of soil and moss until the 1970s, when they began to be uncovered by home-builders, loggers, and road construction.  Several have come to light recently...probably many more remain hidden.

We do not know when they were carved...some, perhaps, as recently as 100 years ago, while others may date from the earliest occupation of the island...2,000 years ago or more.  We do have some idea how they were carved (from observations made elsewhere on the coast in the 19th century).  An outline of the carving was first "pecked" out on soft sandstone as a series of small holes, using a sharp pebble.  After the outline was complete, the holes were joined into a groove by abrading the stone between them, possibly with the same sharp pebble.

Eagle (G-108) In 1996, the Gabriola Historical and Museum Society, with other groups both on and off Gabriola, became increasingly concerned about the condition of the islands' petroglyphs. The soft sandstone on which they are found is exposed to weathering, traffic, rubbings, and vandalism, and some had become much less legible as a result. Because they were scattered all over the islands, protection of the sites by shelters or staff was prohibitively expensive. Instead, the Society decided to make reproductions of the petroglyphs, copied from rubbings made at the time of their rediscovery, and to put these in a small park on the museum grounds, where it was hoped they would divert traffic from the sites of the originals.

By 1998, more than thirty reproductions, ranging in size from 50 cm x 50 cm to 2 m x 3 m, had been placed around the museum. Monster (G-103) Interpretive signs give the history of the petroglyphs, explain the fragility of the originals, describe the penalities for defacing them, and recommend photography rather than rubbings. A brochure, available in the park, gives tips for effective photography.

The project has so far been fairly successful. Local tourist facilities now direct their customers to the museum rather than to the original sites. Visits to the museum have increased--the park is used outside of museum hours as well. We know that information from the interpretive signs has been carried away and spread by some who later visit the original sites. Funding is now being sought to reproduce more of the petroglyphs.