Rock Drawings of the Micmac Indians (Micmac, Miꞌkmaq, Miꞌkmaw) [1 ed.]

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THOMAS |. BATA LI BRARY TRENT UNIVERSITY

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ROCK DRAWINGS OF THE MICMAC INDIANS ,

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The rocks where Creed traced most of the petroglyphs are on the east: ern shore of Kejimkoojik (as Dr. Silas T. Rand, the indefatigable scholar in Micmac language and folklore, spelled the old Micmac name for the lake). With the interpretation ‘‘swelled parts” the name refers to the body of water formed by the widening of the Mersey where many streams enter the river — a place of the flowing together of the waters. Fairy Rocks, where many of the petroglyphs were carved by the Micmac.s, lie south of the entrance to Fairy Lake, a bay on the larger lake of Kejimkoojik. The word Fairy, if it is an English translation of the Micmac name for the bay and rocks, must preserve the old Micmac belief that the ancient drawings, those carved in the rocks long before the oldest Indian in the oldest days could remember, were the work of the tiny people. The hamajalu, the Micmacs called them. No taller than two-finger joints, they lived in the sand and among the rocks along the shores and chewed and pecked and cut etchings in rocks. The Indians learned about them from some Micmacs who lay down on a rocky shore to smoke their pipes. One of the men heard a tapping, tapping, tapping. They looked and there were thousands of tiny people pecking pictures in the rocks, of the Indians and their canoe and everything in it. South of Fairy Rocks on a point of land opposite Glode’s Island, Creed found more drawings. Others he found on the shores of George's Lake at the southeastern tip of Kejimkoojik. Still other petroglyphs he traced were on the rocks of the Medway River. All the drawings in this book are from the tracings made by Creed and are from Kejimkoojik except eleven from the Medway River (Figures 11,15, 33, 203, 207, 208, 209, 217, 231, 232, 305). As Creed’s transfers resulted in negative reproduction all of the drawings but two (Figures 202, 310b) are in reverse of the originals as they would be seen on the rocks. The numbers in brackets following the figure numbers refer to Creed's classification. Besides the tracings preserved in the Nova Scotia Museum, Creed made a number of other copies of the drawings which are now in the Nova Scotia Archives. A comparison of the two sets reveals many differences. Some lines, sharp and well-defined in one tracing, are weak or lacking in another. In folk tales the theme of the story is seldom isolated to one tribe or to one part of the world. Stith Thompson in his study of the themes in folk tales (MOTIF-INDEX OF FOLK LITERATURE) as they appear and reappear in the tales of many people in many places, has given to each theme and each variant a motif index number. Where applic¬ able to the Micmac drawings the motif index has been given. Since 1887 and 1888 when George Creed traced the petroglyphs with an aniline pencil and drew the copies thus printed on sheets of paper from the rocks, Dr. and Mrs. Arthur Kelsall of Annapolis Royal, who first visited the sites in 1944, have photographed many of the petroglyphs, first tracing the lines with white ink. The result was a sharply defined picture of the drawings and a valuable record of the petroglyphs. Besides the photographs, the Kelsalls made casts of some of the etchings using artificial stone for the moulds.

It is impossible to determine the age of the petroglyphs. The hour-glass figures, the ceremonial dress, the peaked decorated caps, the double-curve designs, and the figures depicting myths and old tales are probably among the oldest. Sailing ships, from their hulls and rigging, range from the mid¬ eighteenth century to the years when Creed copied them in 1888. Horses drawn by the Micmacs with as careful delineation as their drawings of the moose, and the gun in the hands of a hunter, indicate etchings made within the past two hundred or more years. The cutting of the petroglyphs reveals the individual talent and skill of the artist: the firm, deep-cut line; the delic¬ ate graceful etching; the broken line in quick, short pecks which created a distinctive style; the well-shaped figure, the loosely drawn one; or the mere scratchings of the unskilled. Many have written about the Micmacs; on the rocks of Kejimookjik and the Medway River the Micmacs wrote of them¬ selves.

Fig.

1

(L14)

Fig.

2

(E7)

Legendary And Supernatural Beings

The Micmacs, surrounded by mysteries, filled their land with super¬ natural beings to explain the sounds and the events that stirred their im¬ agination and sometimes shook them with fear. Kaktoogwak (Thunder), Pine Chopper, Windblower, Earthquake, Coolpujot who gave to the land its roll¬ ing seasons, and many others were created to explain what they could not understand. About these strange beings who inhabited their land the Micmacs told many tales, as they told stories about birds and animals, and the stars, and their culture hero Glooscap. From their stories they carved in the rocks at Kejimkoojik figures of the great Culloo, the Star Husband, and the Star Wife and Crane, the Horned Snake, the Girl who married the Invisible Hunter, Kaktoogwak, Windblower, and an episode in their tales of Glooscap. Fig. 1 (L 14) Kaktoogwak. Thunder. Drawing same size as petroglyph. Kaktoogwak, his wife and their son Kaktoogwasees, Little Thunder, lived far in the woods. Young Thunder’s adventures in his long search for a bride, accompanied by other supernatural beings, Pine Chopper, Windblower, and Swift Foot, kicked up many a whirlwind in the old land of the Micmacs. As well as Old Thunder and Young Thunder there were six Thunder Boys who, as birds, flew high in the sky and made rain, thunder and lightning. Fig. 2 (E 7) Windblower. Drawing same size as petroglyph. A vigorous drawing of Windblower whose exploits with wizards conjuring a mighty breeze delighted the Micmacs. It was he who drove back with his blowing the disgruntled suitors of Little Thunder's bride, and he who saved the bride of the young man who married a girl with raven locks and skin as white as snow. In folk tales the theme of the wind personified is motif Z115.

Fig.

4

(E19)

Fig. 3 (E 27) Star Husband. Fig. 4 (E 19) Star Wife and Crane. Drawings same size as petroglyphs. Stories of girls who married stars are widely spread among the North American Indians. In the Micmac story, two girls wished to marry two stars in the sky if they were Indians. On awaking in the morning the stars were beside them and they entered their wigwams as their wives. Later the girls discovered they were in the sky. They were told they could return to the earth but must obey certain directions if they were to reach it safely. These they disobeyed and found themselves lodged in the branches of a tall pine tree. In subsequent adventures, after being helped down the tree by the wily Badger, the girls fled across a river on the neck of Crane (Great Blue Heron) and escaped to the village of the Widgeon Indians where they married two young Widgeon chiefs. The drawing of a single girl (Fig. 4) with two branches in her hand is sufficient evidence in primitive art to indicate two girls, as are the two stars on the abdomen of the Star Husband an indication of the two husbands. The facial delineation of the Star Husband suggests a later date for the drawing than for the girl and crane petroglyph. In folk tale themes Star Husband is listed as motif A762.1 and crane bridge to help fugitives across a stream is motif R246.

Fig.

6

(E43)

Fig, 5 (E 40) Culloo. Drawing size of petroglyph. The mighty bird Culloo of Micmac tales was a powerful friend or a dreaded foe of the Indians. The drawing portrays an episode in the story of Badger, the wily magician in Micmac folklore. Having broken the bows of the Culloo boys, Badger killed and decapitated their mother. Unable to revenge their mother’s death with broken bows the boys appealed to their friends and the mighty Culloo, seizing Badger, carried him into the sky and dropped him to the earth below. Here Culloo soars among the stars of the constellation Ursa Major (the Great Bear, Muen, in Micmac tales), the bear in the sky pursued by three hunters. To the left is the decapitated head of the mother Culloo and one of the Culloo boys with his broken bow. To the right is Badger falling in his long flight to the earth. Fig. 6 (E 43) Culloo. Drawing reduced in size from the original petro¬ glyph. The descending figure of a man’s head and shoulders may be those of the wily Badger who has assumed human form. As in all animal stories, the animal (bird, snake) may be either animal or human, shifting from one to the other as convenience dictates.

Fig. 7 (E39)

Fig. 7 (E 39) Snake and Indian Girl. Drawing size of petroglyph. In the Cape Breton version of the girl who married a snake, the proud daughter of an Indian family would not accept any man as her suitor until one day she saw. sitting in the spring of water where she filled her water buckets, a handsome young man. She accepted him as her lover and he went with her to her father’s wigwam and was greeted by her mother as her son-in-law. After a time they had a son. The young man wanted his parents to see their grandson. He took his wife and son to the shores of a lake and they disap¬ peared in the water as two horned snakes and a little snake.

Fig. 8 (F 10) Florned Snake. Drawing size of petroglyph. A monstrous horned snake who could at will assume the size and shape of a mountain figured in a number of Micmac stories. The horns, always red or yellow, gave an Indian who possessed one immense power for if attached to the forehead of an enemy it could never be removed. Continuing to grow, it wound itself about a tree and held its victim powerless. Nothing could chip nor break the horn; only a line of red ochre encircling it would snap it and free the victim. In tales of supernatural beings the head of a great horned snake — a chepichcalm — was always demanded of the suitor of a young girl by her father. Aided by his friends the young man never failed to obtain the head and went off with the bride of his choice. In folk tale themes the horned snake is motif B91.3.

Fig. 9 (E8)

Fig. 9 (E 8) Girl who married the Invisible Hunter. Drawing same size as petroglyph. The young woman in the Cinderella story of the Micmacs made a dress of birch bark, and putting on a pair of leggings, her father’s moccasins and an old peaked cap, went to the wigwam of the Invisible Hunter who had promised to marry the first girl who could see him. Jeered by her ugly and cruel sisters who had failed to see the Invisible Hunter, she trudged across the village to his wigwam, saw him and the rainbow about his shoulders and became his bride. Invisibility is a world-wide theme in folklore and is motif D1361. The theme of Cinderella in folk tales is motif 510A. Fig. 10 (N 35) Glooscap and Winpe. Drawing slightly reduced in size from petroglyph. This would seem to be the story of Glooscap and the evil wizard Winpe who was jealous of Glooscap and stole his old grandmother and little Marten, and went off with them when Glooscap was hunting. On his return Glooscap saw them far off over the water but waited long months before he went after Winpe. At last, calling a whale to carry him over the sea, he searched the shores and land of Nova Scotia and went on to New¬ foundland finding here and there the campsites of Winpe, indicated in the drawing by the row of stones, the bush, and diagram. As in all tales of evil, Glooscap overcame Winpe, rescued old grandmother and little Marten and returned with them to his wigwam on the great bluff of Blomidon.

(N35)

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Fig. 11

(F25)

Hunting, Fishing And Canoes

For the Micmacs living in the northeastern woodlands, hunting and fish¬ ing provided them with their chief source of food, supplemented in season with wild bird eggs and berries. As the number of moose-hunting petroglyphs suggest, moose meat was a favorite food of the Micmacs, and hunt¬ ing moose was pursued with all the vigor of the lively drawings scratched in the rocks of Kejimkoojik. Fig. 11 (F 25) blunting moose with dogs. Drawing reduced in size. Dimensions of petroglyph: 19” by 5 V2” at highest point. Hunter 4 moose pursued by dog 5 V£”; moose attacked by dog 5 Vs”; dogs 1 lA" and 1 %”• Fig. 12 (F 2) Indian hunting a cow moose. Drawing size of petroglyph. Fig. 13 (F 26) A man and his weary old horse watching a moose. Draw¬ ing slightly reduced in size.

Pig.

12

(F2)

Fig. 13 (F26)

Fig. 14 (N 11) and (E 35). N 11. Perhaps two or three deer fleeing from a hunter. E 35. Hunters shooting caribou. Drawings size of petroglyphs.

Fig. 14

(E35)

Fig. 15 (E 34) White man shooting a moose. Drawing the same size as petroglyph. Fig. 16 (N 43) Moose and Indians, one Indian on horse back. Drawing reduced in size from original petroglyph. A puzzling picture cut in the rocks after the arrival of the white man and his horse. Lower part of picture marred with overdrawings of figures, boat, and a shaman’s wigwam marked with the bare branches of a tree.

r Fig. 15 (E5'i)

I

Fig.

16

(N43)

The Micmacs knew many ways to catch fish — in nets and weirs; in hurdles across a stream; in bag nets, with hook and line, harpoon and spear — but in their petroglyphs they depicted only ways of fishing by canoe. Fig. 17 (D 12) Two men fishing from a canoe. Drawing slightly smaller than petroglyph. The canoe with raised, rounded center gunwale is the typical "humpback” of the Micmacs. The fish etched on the side of the canoe may be a personal or a family totem or may have been used to attract fish.

Fig.

17

(D12)

Fig. 18 (Dll) Lancing fish. Drawing slightly reduced in size from petroglyph. The roughly delineated figures of the fishermen suggest night fishing by firelight, a common practice among the Micmacs, lancing the fish as they circled into the spots of light. Fig. 19 (D 10) Two men in canoe lancing fish. Drawing size of petroglyph. These are perhaps Passamaquoddy Indians as the canoe is not the Micmac “humpback”, and the drawing is similar to the Eastern Algonkin tribal designation for the Passamaquoddy Indians of two Indians paddling a canoe and following a fish. Fig. 20 (D 13) Lancing fish. Drawing size of petroglyph. A big fish story suggestive of the tale of Glooscap and Kitpooseagunow who put to sea in a stone canoe, speared a whale, tossed it ashore, split it from snout to tail and each roasted and ate his half at one sitting.

Fig.

19

(DIO)

Fig.

20

(D13)

and opposite

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Fig.

21

(D8)

Fig.

Fig.

25

26

(D2)

(D5)

Fig.

29

(D9)

Figs. 21 - 29 Canoes. Drawings size of petroglyphs. The Micmac’s fond¬ ness for his canoe, which he believed the great Glooscap taught the Indians to make from birch bark, is evident from the many drawings of canoes cut in the rocks at Lake Kejimkoojik. Not all the canoes are of the Micmac “humpback” variety. In a table of ethnological comparisons by Dr. Frank Speck, the Beothuk, the Micmac-Montagnais of Newfoundland, and the Micmac of the Maritimes built canoes with elevated gunwale center. The Montagnais and Naskapi of Labrador, the Malecite, Passamaquoddy, Penobs¬ cot, and Abnaki Indians built canoes with an even gunwale. An early sketch of a Beothuk canoe shows a sharp-pointed, elevated center gunwale sweep¬ ing to a high and sharp-pointed bow and stern — like a sharp-nosed new moon — rather than the raised, rounded center gunwale of the Micmac canoe which, it has been suggested, was an adaptation of the elevated center gunwale of the Beothuk V-mold canoe. Figures 26 and 29 are of particular interest. Figure 29 for the x-ray view of the occupants of the canoe, a feature of primitive art, especially of pre¬ historic times; Figure 26 for the sails which, with a favorable wind, made a canoe go as ‘‘swiftly as the throw of a stone.” Sails were a thick-limbed spruce tree, or were made of cedar or birch bark or the well-dressed skin of a young moose.

Fig.

30

(F27)

Animals; Birds, Fish, Insects And Snakes

Animals, birds and fish were respected by the Micmacs. They believed that the spirits of these creatures survived and if their bones were burned, the spirit of the bones would carry the news to others of their kind and they would no longer allow the Indians to capture them. For a similar reason the eyes of fish and animals and birds were carefully thrown away. For a slain bear even greater respect was given by cutting a new entrance in the side of the wigwam, so that his body need not pass through an opening used by women and young girls. The number of animal drawings on the rocks of Kejimkoojik suggests that the Micmacs believed that drawing the likeness of an animal one wish¬ ed to capture would ensure success in the hunt. Or perhaps the drawings were cut by a successful hunter who pecked in the eternal rock a record of his skill. Fig. 30 (F 27) Moose. Fig. 31 (F 12) Caribou standing in snow. Drawings same size as petroglyphs.

Fig.

31

(F12)

Fig.

34

(Fll)

Fig.

35

(F20)

Fig. 32 (F 19) Moose. Fig. 33 (F 21) Moose. Fig. 34 (F 11) Caribou. Fig. 35 (F 20) Moose followed by a bear. Fig 36 (F 23) Perhaps a cow moose cropping leaves. All drawings reduced in size from original petroglyphs, Figs. 35 and 36 by one-half.

Fig.

36

(F23)

(F22)

(F)

il (f)

Fig. 37 (F 22) and (F) Three deer. Fig. 38 (F 15) Deer with an extra pair of legs. Fig. 39 (F 3) Small animal. Fig. 39a (F 24) Perhaps an earless horse. Figures 37 and 39 reduced in size. Figure 38 same size as petroglyph.

Fig.

39a

(F24)

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Fig. 40 (F 17) Head of a horse. Fig. 41 (FI) Deer beneath the scratchings of a vandal. Fig. 42 (F 16) and Fig. 43 (F 14) Incomplete figures of animals. Figure 43 reduced in size; other drawings same size as petroglyphs. Fig. 44 (F 13) Possibly a porcupine. Drawing slightly smaller than petroglyph. Among the Micmacs young men never ate roast porcupine, fearing they would travel the pace of a porcupine; nor would they eat the foetus of porcupine believing it would give them great pain in their feet when they went hunting. Such delicacies were reserved for old men who no longer hunted.

Fig.

Figs. 45 (F 5); 46 (F 6); 47 (A 22); 48 (F 18) Birds. Figures 45, 46, 47 same size as petroglyphs; Figure 48 smaller than petroglyph. Fig. 45 Heron, referred to in the old tales of the Micmacs as Crane, the long-necked bird in the story of the Star Wives who used his neck as a bridge in their flight from Badger. Fig. 48 A pheasant? a mythical bird? or is it a Micmac’s render¬ ing of a white man’s description of a peacock?

46

(F6)

Fig.

49

(M14)

Fig. 49 (M 14) Fish. Fig. 50 (F 3) Fish. Fig. 51 (M 26) Whale. Fig. 52 (F 4) Turtle. (N 17) Perhaps a sea turtle. Drawings same size as petroglyphs ex¬ cept Figure 52 in which the drawings have been reduced. To the Micmacs the turtle as a symbolic emblem of a band, family, or individual was of the highest rank. Among Micmac traditions Glooscap’s mother was the female turtle; his old uncle, his mother’s brother, Mikchikch, was transformed by Glooscap into a turtle and sent on his way well protected from his enemies.

Fig.

53

(F8)

Fig. 53 (F 8) Possibly a mantis. Same size as petroglyph. Drawing per¬ haps suggested by the action of the female mantis who often during co¬ pulation with the male sucks his body dry leaving him an empty husk. A remarkable drawing to find on the rocks of Kejimkoojik, as the mantis is rare in the Maritimes, having been collected only once in New Brunswick. Figs. 54 — 60 Snakes. Figs. 54 (F 7); 56 (F 9); 60 (E 44), drawings same size as petroglyphs. Length of petroglyphs in drawings for Figures 55 (F 28) 18V2"; 57 (F 29) 12*/2”; 58 (F 30) 21V2"; 59 (F 31) 40”. Snakes have inspired fear and respect in all people. As guardians in Micmac folklore two serpents lie at the entrance to Glooscap's country where he now lives, flick¬ ing their tongues across the misty entrance to his land. The Micmacs had a snake dance, perhaps that described by Father Chretien LeClercq in the late 1600’s — a dance then performed only by girls — when looking intently at the earth they writhed and twisted and hissed through their lips like serpents.

Fig. 59 (F31)

Fig. 6l

(E32)

Human Figure And Parts Of Human Figure

Straight broad shoulders tapering to the waist and expanding to a wide base was the conventional form used by the Micmacs for the human figure. Besides horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines, and cross hatching, there was little attempt to indicate the richly decorated garments of the Micmacs which the early chroniclers recorded were painted with lacy patterns, birds, flowers, and family totemic emblems. Figs. 61 — 88 Human figures. All drawings are the same size as petroglyphs except Figures 75 and 76 which are reduced in size.

Fig. 65 (E10)

Fig. 66 (Ell)

Fig. 68

(E14)

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Fig. 70 (E15)

72

(E30)

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Fig.

Fig.

73

(E4)

Fig. 76 (E37)

Fig. 78 (E5)

Fig. 82 (E6)

Fig. 86 (E2)

Fig. 88 (E25)

Figs. 89 (K 11); 90 (K 10) Heads in profile. Drawings reduced in size from original petroglyphs. With the care given to facial details these are evidently not early Micmac petroglyphs. The Indian, Lone Cloud, who made a special copy of Figure 89 was interested in the hair since it was cut as the old Micmacs wore theirs — somewhat long and covering the ears.

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Pig. 92 (K2)

Fig

94

(K8)

Figs. 91 —94 Hands. Drawings smaller in size than petroglyphs except Figure 92 which is the same size as original drawing. Hands incised with marks of identifications — a vessel with masts visible through the hull and a man tending the rigging; a five-pointed star and a coiled fiddlehead on the thumb of Figure 92. Among some Algonkin tribes the spiral fiddlehead was a symbol for a medicinal plant and may have been used on this hand to identify a person skilled in healing. The hand of Figure 93 is distinguished by a ring on each of the four fingers; Figure 94 suggests the hand of a person of authority identified by his peaked cap and square-crowned hat decorated with the fir boughs worn by the shaman and other leaders.

Pig.

95 (K6)

Fig. 96 (K5)

Fig. 95 (K 6) Foot in a moccasin. Figs. 96 — 99 Feet. Drawings reduced in size. Drawing one’s footprint, as tracing one’s hand on a rock, no doubt had special significance to a Micmac — especially when he carved symbols on the imprint which perhaps told the story of his adventures, or were magic lines to protect his destiny; or were his name or his family totemic emblem. The Micmacs had a tale of Glooscap’s footprints pressed in the rocks of Meteghan where he and his dog walked in the old days when Glooscap lived in Micmac Land.

Fig.

101

(Q4)

)

Fig.

Figs. 100 — 102 Reproductive organs. Drawings considerably reduced in size. To all primitive people the drawing of reproductive organs, or the symbols of reproduction, was to ensure the fertility of the land, the continu¬ ance of the nation. Figure 102 is suggestive of the old Micmac belief of their own origin. As children of the mingled light of the Sun and Moon which the Sun used to impregnate the earth, they believed they sprang from the earth as blades of grass where the sun’s rays stroked the earth and drew life from it.

102

(Q2)

Decorative Designs

The Micmacs delighted in decorating everything they possessed: their clothing, their wigwams, their canoes, the paddles that sent them swiftly over the water, the cradle boards for their babies, their boxes and bags, and even their snowshoes. In their decorations they used the free flowing line and the hardened geometrical figure; the double-curve motif and natural designs of fish, birds, animals and flowers, totemic emblems and family and tribal crests. The designs were etched in birch bark by scraping the outer layer of the bark, exposing the darker inner rind, or were punctured in the bark with a sharp-pointed tool; they were embroidered with moose hair twisted and spun into strands, were worked in wampum or quills sewed to leather or bark, or were painted with pigments mixed with grease and applied with isinglass and rubbed in with a hot bone. The aboriginal Micmac had at least six colors mentioned by the early chroniclers: black, white, red, yellow, violet, and blue. Besides the heavy red of their red ochre paint they had a brilliant flame-red dye which they obtained from a “root like parsley".

Fig.

110

(G4)

Fig.

112

(G10)

Figs. 103 — 112 Decorative designs. Most drawings the size of petroglyphs. Cut into the rock with a sharp-pointed tool, these designs, employing the double-curve motif, express the artistic skill and the appreciation of graceful lines by the old Micmacs. The double-curve motif defined by Dr. Frank Speck as “two opposing incurves as a fundamental element, with em¬ bellishments more or less elaborate modifying the enclosed space’’ provided the Micmacs with a basic design capable of any number of variations. The design, restricted as a fundamental motif among the Algonkins of the north¬ east, either originated among them and drifted westward to other tribes of Indians or it was derived from an older original American design element, remodelled and specialized by the Algonkins and later adopted by neighbour¬ ing tribes of Indians. Dr. Franz Boas in PRIMITIVE ART, tracing the original American design element, the triangle representing a wigwam with spurs at the base denoting pegs holding the sides of the wigwam IzC^l , has noted that this design among the Algonkins became a flatter triangle, and the spurs became curved lines as in Figure 107 (C 30). Dropping the sides of the triangle, the design became two opposing curves united by the base of the triangle; a further development of the design emerged as two opposing curves which, with embellishments within the enclosed space, be¬ came a distinctive design. As a triangle with spurs representing a wigwam, the figure was a symbol of an Indian village or of the tribe and its chief. Studies made of the double-curve design among the Algonkins elicited little information as to its possible meaning. Some Indians thought of the designs as representing medicinal plants and as a magical protection when used on personal items; others regarded the design as spirals of ferns, shoots and tendrils, and ovate leaves as those of the willow. Drifting westward to the Iroquois the design was adopted as a representation “of celestial, geograpical, and mythical phenomena, such as: sky dome, world tree, scroll or helix, chief’s horns and sun.” Used as chief’s horns the design denoted chieftancy: curving outward, a living chief; curving inward, a deceased chief. Among the Mohawks the double-curve design used in scrolls is known as horned trim¬ mings and the curves are known as fern heads. The Tuscarora Indians know the same scrolls as violets “bowing the head” and use the design as a sym¬ bol of good luck.

Figs. 113 — 143 Scrolls, flowers, geometric designs, border patterns, and figure. Larger drawings slightly reduced in size; smaller drawings same size as petroglyphs.

Fig.

Fig.

113

114

(Gil)

(118)

Fig.

Fig.

117

118

(G14)

(G12)

Fig.

118a (G24)

Fig. Fig.

119

120

(Ml3) Fig.

(H8)

Fig.

122

123

(G9)

(L23)

(H9)

Fig. Fig.

121

125

(H3)

Fig.

126

(H4)

Fig.

127

06

(H5)

Fig.

132

(G5)

Fig.

135

(HI)

Fig.

138

(G21)

Fig.

139

(G20)

Fig.

141

(M29)

Fig.

143

(G18)

Peaked Caps

Figs. 144 — 165 Peaked caps. Drawings same size as petroglyphs except Figures 156, 160, 161, 163, 164, 165. Among the early writers on the life and customs of the Micmacs none mentioned the peaked cap. Usually the Micmacs went bareheaded but they had, for festive occasions and when they went to war, a crown made of moose hair painted red and fastened to a fillet of leather three fingers broad. They also had a crown-like hat made from the two wings of a bird, and a “bonnet like a cap, which covers the crown of the head’’ which is the nearest description of the peaked cap which later writers refer to, and which are so abundantly illustrated on the rocks of Kejimkoojik. The peaked cap was worn by both men and women. The men’s caps, pointed at the front, had a flap which could be tied up or let down in the winter for warmth, and in the summer for protection against the sun. Women's caps were much higher than the men’s and they pointed back to a sharp peak as did those worn by the chief. The elaborate decorations on the caps no doubt had significance and if the caps were part of a ceremonial costume or were worn to indicate rank and position, the various designs as well as the streamers and other attachments had special meaning. The Micmacs made little use of feathers and the feather-like attachments were perhaps twigs of spruce, fir, or pine which the Micmacs revered.

Pig.

145

Fig. 149 (A14)

(A15)

Fig.

150

(A7) Fig.

151

(A5) Fig.

Fig.

152

155

(A6)

(Al)

Fig.

156

(A19)

Fig. Fig.

Fig.

162

160

(A10)

l6l

(A17)

Fig.

163

(A18)

(A21)

Fig.

164

(A22)

Fig.

165

(A20)

Lodges

In winter the Micmacs lived in circular wigwams constructed of poles drawn together in a peak and covered with birch or spruce bark and skins. In summer they varied the shape to a broad and long structure for better circulation of air and covered the poles with bark or with water-tight mats woven of reeds. Circular wigwams with a center fire lodged ten to twelve or fifteen to twenty persons; long wigwams with three or four fires housed twice as many. Sometimes the Micmacs lived in villages fortified with trees cut and fastened together into a thick wall. On many of the wigwams the women sketched with paint the pictures of birds, moose, otters, and beavers. Figs. 166 — 174 Lodges, lodge poles, framed houses, and a fortific¬ ation. Figures 166, 167, 169, 171, 174 same size as petroglyphs; other figures reduced in size. Fig. 166 (N 4), (L 15), (L 17), (L 9) Wigwams, poles ready to be cover¬ ed with bark or skins. Fig. 167 (L 7) Perhaps a sweat-bath lodge, which was a small rounded structure covered with bark from top to bottom and entirely closed, except for a small opening through which the Indians crawled to steam themselves in the vapor from cold water poured over hot stones. Fig. 168 (N 9) Possibly wigwam poles arranged and ready to be hoisted into position for the frame of a wigwam.

\

Fig.

167

(L7)

Fig. 169 (E 39) A white man’s house or possibly an Indian house with x-ray view of the chimney. Fig. 170 (E 31) A very interesting drawing suggesting that the floating figure above the chimney may represent the old Micmac belief that at death the soul — a shadow-image of the body it had animated — leaves through the smoke hole of the wigwam, in this case by way of the chimney.

=±=p=*== Fig. 169 (E39)

g.

171

(N34)

Fig. 173 (N40)

Fig. 171 (N 34) A village of houses, all without chimneys. Fig. 172 (N 33) A large building without a chimney, possibly a chapel with double doors and two round windows. Fig. 173 (N 40) Possibly an Indian village, a roughly defined sketch per¬ haps to indicate a night scene. Fig. 174 (N 1) This suggests the ground plan of a fortification, perhaps a Micmac stronghold or one which they supported, indicated by what ap¬ pears to be a row of wigwams.

Fig. 174

(Nl)

Medicine Man’s And Juggler’s Lodges

Fig. 175 (B 9) Medicine man’s lodge. Fig. 177 (C 19) Juggler’s lodge. Drawings slightly reduced. When these drawings were traced from the rocks of Kejimkoojik in 1888 there were Indians still familiar with the old ways of the Micmacs who identified the tracings as the ground plan (Figure 175 upper left) of a medicine man’s lodge and (Figure 177) as the ground plan of a juggler’s lodge. There was little difference between the medicine man and the juggler since the medicine man performed feats of magic as well as ministered to the sick through invocations to his ouahich, his source of power. The partitions in the medicine lodge dividing it into rooms with human figures and other designs, suggest the celebrations performed in the various divisions of the lodge. The bare branch of a tree attached to the side of a lodge as in Figure 177 identifies it as belonging to a juggler. Fig. 176 (L 8) Perhaps a medicine man’s bag. Drawing same size as petroglyph. An important item of the medicine man’s regalia was his medicine bag. One examined by Father Chretien LeClercq contained a stone — the medicine man's ouahich, or manitou, which was his source of power (the size of a walnut "wrapped in a box which he called the house of his Devil”); a bit of bark with the figure of a wolverine in black and white wampum; a small, foot-long bow with a cord interlaced with quills; a frag¬ ment of bark wrapped in skin and decorated with drawings of children, birds, bears, beavers, and moose; a stick adorned with white and red porcupine quills and a strap bearing two dozen dewclaws of moose; and a wooden bird which the medicine man carried with him when the Indians went hunting, believing it would enable them to kill many water fowl.

Fig. 175

WJliinum

(B9)

The Chief And Persons In Ceremonial Costumes

Figs. 178 (B 8) and 179 (B 7) Insignia of a Chief. Drawings same size as petroglyphs. Identified by the Micmacs at the time the tracings were made in 1888 as drawings of the insignia their chiefs used to wear. The designs suggest ancient symbolism with possibly some influence of the Roman Catholic church in the use of the cross. However, at the time of Father Chretien LeClercq’s arrival among the Micmacs in 1675 a cross was the totem of the Indians of Miramichi. As a totemic symbol the cross was perhaps the rendering of something, such as a bird in flight seen in silhouet¬ te against the sky or the human figure with arms extended, which when drawn in bare outline, fell into the form of a cross. Besides the use of the cross as a totem, it was used by the Micmacs, sometimes with double and triple crosspieces, to mark important places for hunting and fishing. Figure 178, as the insignia of a chief of the Micmacs, suggests the land of the Micmacs: the outer circle supporting their wigwams and divided by seven loops into the seven districts in which their land was divided, each district with a chief (represented by seven crosses), their land centered with the sun, earth, and moon. The device in Figure 179 of a triangle with lines curving outward in the lore of some Indians was the symbol of a living chief.

Fig. 180 (N 38) and (N 44) Three trees and a dragonfly and tree. Draw¬ ings considerably reduced in size from the original petroglyphs. The three trees of N 38 with devices near their roots which are probably symbolic re¬ semble a Passamaquoddy design of three figures signifying the three superior officers of the tribe. The use of evergreen trees to represent the chief men of the Micmacs would be in keeping with their respect for the healing properties of the evergreens and their belief that they themselves sprang out of the earth as did the trees and the flowers and the grass. The five-pointed star, warsook, symbol of the place of happiness, has been used by the Micmacs at least since 1675 when Father Chretien LeClercq, observ¬ ing the use made by the Micmacs of ideograms to record the lessons he taught them, used their marks and invented others to teach the catechism and to provide them with meditations and hymns. The triangular device with incurving lines attached at the base of the tree (N 44) suggests that the drawing is saying something about a deceased chief, incurving lines being the symbol of death, outward curving lines the symbol of life. The dragonfly perhaps had special significance as among some Indian tribes the dragonfly was regarded as possessing supernatural power.

Fig. 181

(E26)

Fig.

18

Figs. 181 — 184 Persons in ceremonial costumes. Drawings size of petroglyphs. Although there is no reference among the early writers of special ceremonies for women, and women attended neither feasts nor councils, these figures seem to be women participants in a ritual ceremony wearing ceremonial costumes denoting their rank and position. Of particular interest is the mask covering the face of Figure 181 and the root-like appenages for feet and legs of Figure 184 which have special significance when compared with Figure 180 (N 38).

Fig

185 (E45)

Fig. 185 (E 45). Two Indians wearing ceremonial hats. Drawings slightly reduced in size. These two drawings show considerable European influence — particularly the figure on the right with well defined facial features. They are perhaps participants in a dance, both with bows slung across their shoulders, one carrying a club, the other a switch.

Fig. Fig.

186

187

(Ml8)

(M19)

Fig.

188

(il)

Fig. Fig.

189

(M17)

191

(M22)

Messages, Signals And Hieroglyphs

The Micmacs could convey accurate information with smoke signals, with drawings, with arrangements of sticks and stones and marks on trees, and they were excellent map makers. Figs. 186 — 193. These seem to be messages and travelling directions. Drawings same size as petroglyphs except Figures 192 and 193 which are reduced in size. From records of the Abnaki Indians, Figure 190 means: I am going fishing to the westward (a fish and the sticks in the ground pointing to the west). I shall be gone two days (two sticks standing across those stuck in the ground).

Fig.

193

(N29)

Fig.

194

(Ll6)

Fig. 194 (L 16) Smoke signal. Drawing same size as petroglyph. With three trees denoting the three superior officers of the tribe, this may be the burning of the skins of dogs taken from the enemy’s land, which, on the decision to go to war, were fired by the oldest chief as an offering to the Sun, beseeching the Sun’s favor on their expendition. Such a ceremony was observed by Father Maillard in the mid-eighteenth century.

Fig.

195a

4 Fig.

195a (118)

Fig.

200

Fig.

199

(110)

Fig.

202

(117)

(12)

Scattered over the rocks at Kejimkoojik are marks which it would seem have their origin in Micmac ideograms. The first to note the use of mne¬ monic strokes by the Indians of the Eastern Woodlands was Father Gabrill Druillettes, Jesuit missionary to the Abnaki in 1652. A few years later in 1675 Father Chretien LeClercq noticed the ideograms made by the Micmacs with charcoal on birchbark to assist them in learning the prayers he taught them. This gave him the idea of using their mnemonics and inventing similar characters to teach the Micmacs the prayers and services of the church. Later Father Maillard, impressed with the work of Father LeClercq, adopted the hieroglyphs and used them in documents relative to the Micmacs. A century later Father Charles Kauder, a Redemptorist missionary, gathered the rolls of hieroglyphs and, after years of studying the Micmac language, had printed in Vienna in 1866 the ROMAN CATHOLIC CATECHISM, MEDIT¬ ATIONS AND HYMN BOOK in the hieroglyphs invented by Father LeClercq. Figs. 192 — 198 Micmac ideograms. Drawings same size as petroglyphs. Figure 196 is the same mark used by Father Maillard in 1740 in a document addressed by the Micmacs to British officials. A similar mark is also found on the pages of Father Kauder’s CATHECHISM. It is interesting to note the similarity between these Micmac ideograms and marks cut in a stone found in Yarmouth in 1812. Of particular interest is Figure 196 in its similarity to one on the Yarmouth stone. Figs. 199 — 202 These marks seem to be Micmac writing using ideo¬ grams. Drawings same size as petroglyphs.

Sailing Ships

With the coming of the great winged ships of the white man the old ways and the old beliefs of the Micmacs were broken. The tremendous im¬ pact of the coming of the pale-faced strangers and the wonder of their great ships are reflected by the numbers of petroglyphs depicting vessels, from the high poop-decked ships to the later fore-and-aft-rigged schooner and the side-wheeler. Fig. 203 (C 29) Small boat with figures, one at tiller. Drawing slightly reduced in size from original petroglyph. An Indian’s impression of a small boat something like a shallop with two masts, each gaff-rigged, both masts approximately the same height. Shallops or longboats were used to land a party on shore. Before the coming of the white man an Indian girl dreamed that a small island floated in toward the land. On the island were bare trees and men — one dressed in garments of white rabbit skins. She told her dream to the wise men but they could not explain the meaning. The next day at dawn, the Indians saw, as the girl had dreamed, a small island near the shore. There were trees on the island and bears, as the Indians supposed, climbing among the bare branches of the trees. They seized their bows and arrows to shoot the bears. To their amazement the bears were men, some of them lowering into the water a strange canoe into which they jumped and paddled ashore. Among the men was one dressed in a white robe who came toward them making signs of peace and good will and, raising his hand, pointed toward the heavens. The white man and the white man's ways had come to the land of the Micmacs.

Fig.

203

(C29)

Fig.

204

(C29a)

Fig.

205

(C9)

Fig

206

(C17)

Fig.

209

(C6)

Fig.

210

(C2)

Fig.

211

(C38)

Fig.

211a (C22)

Fig.

214

(C26)

Fig.

Fig.

216

(C24)

215

(C28)

Fig.

Fig.

219

(C23)

218

(C7)

Fig.

220

(C33)

Fig.

222

(C27)

Fig.

223

(C36)

Fig.

Fig.

224

(C25)

223a

(C8)

Fig.

224a

(C18)

Fig.

227

(C31)

Fig.

228

(C30a)

Fig.

229

(C32)

Fig.

Fig.

233

(Cll)

232

(C19)

Fig.

Fig.

234

236

(C13)

(C12)

Fig.

237

Fig.

(C15)

238

(C37)

Fig. 204

(C29a)

Single-masted vessel.

Fig. 205

(C9)

Single-masted vessel.

Fig. 205a (C4)

Sloop-rigged boat, with superimposed date, 1820.

Fig. 206

(Cl 7)

Single-masted vessel.

Fig. 207

(C5)

Single-masted vessel.

Fig. 208

(C20)

Single-masted vessel.

Fig. 209

(C6)

Single-masted vessel.

Fig. 210

(C2)

Single-masted vessel. Ship’s boat.

Fig. 211

(C38)

Single-masted vessel with what appears to be a jib-headed mizzen.

Fig. 211a (C22)

Gaff-rigged sloop.

Fig. 212

(C16)

Single-masted vessel. Dinghy being hoisted aboard

Fig. 213

(C39)

Sailing boat.

Fig. 214

(C26)

Single-masted vessel.

Fig. 215

(C28)

Single-masted vessel.

Fig. 216

(C24)

Single-masted vessel.

Fig. 217

(C3)

Schooner.

Fig. 218

(C7)

Schooner.

Fig. 219

(C23)

Impression of a cat-schooner-rigged vessel.

Fig. 220

(C33)

Three sloops and a schooner.

Fig. 221

(C30)

Topsail schooner — fore topmast lowered.

Fig. 222

(C27)

Two-masted vessel.

Fig. 223

(C36)

Schooner.

Fig. 223a (C8)

Schooner.

Fig. 224

Schooner.

(C25)

Fig. 224a (C18)

Schooner with jib and mainsail set, with superimposed stars.

Fig. 225

(CIO)

Schooner.

Fig. 226

(C21)

Schooner running before the wind.

Fig. 227

(C31)

Sloop.

Fig. 228

(C30a)

Schooner. Anchor indicates early 1800’s.

Fig. 229

(C32)

Schooner. Early 1800's.

Fig. 230

(C34)

Topsail schooner.

Fig. 231

(C14)

Full-rigged ship.

Fig. 232

(C19)

Full-rigged ship — high poop.

Fig. 233

(C11)

F'rivateer (topsail schooner).

Fig. 234

(C13)

Topsail schooner.

Fig. 235

(Cl)

Full-rigger about 1800.

Fig. 236

(C12)

Brig.

Fig. 237

(C15)

Two-masted sailing vessel.

Fig. 238

(C37)

Brig with all the yards taken down.

Fig. 239

(C35)

Side-wheeler with a walking beam engine — about 1870. Indian boarding ship from canoe.

Fig.

239

(C35)

The New Faith

With the coming of the white man the Micmac’s concept of his world, himself, and the Sun as his creator was shattered. Many struggled earnestly to adopt and follow the new beliefs pressed upon them by the Jesuits and later the Franciscans; others clung to their old beliefs, and in times of stress turned to the ways they had long trusted. But as the old life of the Micmacs passed they accepted the new and cut in the rocks at Kejimkoojik the symbols of their new faith — the chapel where they worshipped, the cross before which they knelt in prayer.

Fig.

241

(J4)

Fig.

246a (J5)

Fig.

248

(N39)

Fig. 240 (N 2) Chapel with cross and weather vane. Fig. 241 (J 4) Wayside cross or outdoor shrine. Figs. 242 (J 3), 243 (J 1), 244 (J 2). Perhaps crowns worn by bishops. Fig. 245 (J 6) Orb with cross and possibly the base of a monstrance. Fig. 246a (J 5) Small chapel. Fig. 246 (B 2) Possibly a tabernacle veil. Fig. 247 (C 30) A mounted cross. Fig. 248 (N 39) Perhaps part of a cathedral window.

A

Fig.

249

(N36)

Drawings With Stars

Figs. 249 — 255 Drawings with stars. Figs 251 and 254 same size as petroglyphs; others reduced in size. Figure 249 (N 36) suggests the Milky Way — the Spirit’s Road to the Micmacs.

Fig.

253

(N5)

Pig.

256

(L12) Fig. Fig.

259

257

258

(M3)

(H7)

(Mil)

Fig.

261

(B4) Fig.

262

Miscellaneous Drawings

Figs. 256 — 269 Miscellaneous drawings. Figs. 256, 260, 261, 262 re¬ duced in size; others the size of the original petroglyphs. Two of these drawings are intriguing for their possible meaning: Figure 263 with broken bow string; and Figure 265 which possibly refers to the three superior officers of the tribe represented by three trees. Figures 261 and 162 seem to be frames for stretching and decorating hides.

(Bl)

Fig. 264

Fig. 263 (L20)

Fig.

266

(L10)

Fig.

267

(M4)

(M6)

co