Kevin L. Callahan M.A. Department of Anthropology, University of Minnesota
Although there are many petroglyph sites in Minnesota, the three best known sites are located on Spirit Island, in Nett Lake on the Nett Lake Reservation, the Jeffers Petroglyphs State Historic Site in Southwestern Minnesota, and Pipestone National Monument in the Southwestern corner of the state.
Many of the Pipestone petroglyphs probably date to the historical period when the quarry was in use. This area was visited by Native Americans interested in quarrying catlinite, a soft red stone used for quarrying pipes. George Catlin in the 1830's witnessed the "Indian at work, recording his totem amongst those of more ancient dates which convinced me that they have been progressively made, at different ages" (Winchell 1911:564). Limited archaeological evidence "tends to point to a beginning of quarrying in the area roughly around AD 1600" (Thayer, et. al 1962:42). Small catlinite pipes have been found in LaRoche focus sites tentatively dated to the 1600's (Beaubien 1957:14-15). None of this, however, rules out the possibility that some of the petroglyphs could predate the use of the area as a quarry. Pottery sherds that appeared to be of a Late Woodland variety were found at Pipestone, but in an unreliable stratigraphy (Id.).
The Jeffers Petroglyphs were dated by Gordon Lothson and Jack Steinbring to two possible periods, 1) the Archaic from about 5000 years ago to 2500 years ago "based on the appearance of nearly a hundred carvings of atlatls" and carvings of copper age tanged projectile points, and 2) 900 AD to 1750 AD indicated by motifs and glyphs used by early historic peoples of the northern plains (Lothson 1976:1), The carvings probably also span more recent historic times as indicated by the graffitti from this century.
The age of the Nett Lake site is not clear. Many of the petroglyphs appear to be either unpatinated or repecked and have similarities to Minnesota birch bark scrolls of the historic Ojibwa Midewiwin or Grand Medicine Society, an organized society of shamans. Local oral history, however, describes the presence of the petroglyphs when the Ojibwa first arrived at the lake.
Minnesota rock art subjects that are familiar to researchers in other states, include figures in horned headdresses, thunderbirds , two headed animals, turtles , figures with attenuated bodies, hands and feet with an extra digit, "rabbit eared" anthropomorphs, buffalo hoofprints, horned anthropomorphs walking on circled (drum) feet, various geometrical and entoptic forms, and carvings of dogs (Lothson 1976).
It is important to remember that not all Minnesota rock art is prehistoric, and some of the most interesting petroglyphs are from the historic period. My research approach involved, first, a review of local ethnohistorical sources, and second, an evaluation of the applicability of a "neuropsychological" model and a growing body of interdisciplinary information regarding entoptic and somatic experiences while in altered states of consciousness.
My anthropological conclusion is that much of Minnesota rock art invoived representation of dream symbols, shamans, and visual and somatic experiences while in altered states of consciousness. The rock art ultimately appears to reflect old and widespread concepts of manidos and tutelary spirits, shamanistic practice, and Native American naming traditions.
It is clear that in Minnesota, rock art images span not only different time periods but also involve different cultural groups (Lothson 1976:29-31). We know that pitched battles, cultural disjunctions, and migrations of different cultural groups have all occurred during historic times (Winchell 1911:580-584).
Tribal diversity and cultural particularity regarding vision experiences was described by Ruth Benedict in 1922, and individual shamanistic experiences and meanings vary from culture to culture (Lewis-Williams and Dowson 1988).
Cultural borrowing during historic times appears to have taken place in Minnesota, particularly with regard to organized shamanism (Pond 1986:93). Samuel Pond, writing about life in Minnesota in the 1830's, thought that the eastern Dakotas may have received the shamanistic Wakan "medicine lodge" from their eastern neighbors (the Ojibwa, Winnebago, Sacs, or Foxes), "all of whom had it" (Pond 1986:93).
Ruth Benedict (1922) pointed out, however, that, in spite of "widespread uniformities," the Woodland Algonkian and Plains cultures varied considerably. They differed regarding the age a vision quest might be undertaken, the significance of self-torture, and what she called "vision patterns" (Benedict 1922:3-4). A laity-shamanistic distinction also sometimes existed in some cultures. Finally, she observed that the vision quest was not necessarily synonymous with obtaining a guardian spirit (Benedict 1922:1-16). Ruth Benedict found the heterogeneity to defy classification and concluded that "topical studies of religion must lack the rich variety of actuality, and imply a false simplicity" (Benedict 1922:21).
Even within large tribal groups, like the Ojibwa, variation was present. The Ojibwa Midewiwin was the subject of many articles by writers interested in organized shamanism. Albert B. Reagan, the local Indian agent, noted the distinctive nature of the Nett Lake Midewiwin practices in northern Minnesota, as compared to the general description of the Ojibwa Midewiwin written by Hoffman (Hoffman 1891; Winchell 1911:609).
The Ojibwa ethnographies suggest that the meaning of the rock art to the rock artist may in some cases have been disguised, or was intentionally kept secret (Densmore 1979:80). Dream symbols involved layers of meaning only fully understood by particular individuals, long since dead.
Frances Densmore (1979), in her description of Ojibwa "Picture Writing" observed that:
The subjects represented in picture writing were of two sorts: (1) esoteric, in which the material was understood only by initiates; and (2) nonesoteric, in which the purpose of the writing was to convey information in a public manner. To the first named belong the records, writings, and songs of the Midewiwin, the stories of Winabojo, and the drawings used in working charms. To the last named belong "totem marks," the messages left by travelers, the maps carried by travelers, the illustrations for a narrative, records of time, and the names of persons.
To both classes, in a measure, belong the dream symbols which publish the subject of a dream but give no indication of its significance. Mide picture writing could be used to represent the name of a person (Densmore 1979:174-176).
Most investigators of rock art recognize that much of the original meaning went with the rock artists to their graves. Historic Native American cultures have also attached their own stories with new cultural significance to old rock art sites that they did not create (Reagan 1958). The interpretive task must be undertaken with caution and is generally recognized as an attempt to do the best job with the archaeological materials available. Materials for reconstruction vary considerably from region to region and site to site.
According to the synthesizers of the North American stylistic method, three rock art "areas" meet in Minnesota (Grant 1983:8; Wellmann 1979:12). The "northern woodlands" is an area including much of Canada and the north and northeastern region of Minnesota . This region may have had in historic times Cheyenne , Dakota , Cree , Assiniboine, and more recently Ojibwa inhabitants (Cleland 1992:97-102; Wilford 1953:1-2; Winchell 1911:580).
A second stylistic rock art area identified as the "Great Plains" refers to the prairie region of North America from Canada to Texas, including the west and southwestern areas of Minnesota. This was the historic home of the Cheyenne, Oto , Iowa , Oneota , Dakota, and others during more recent periods (Ager 1989:2; Grinnell 1956,1962; Winchell 1911:62-67).
The third "eastern woodlands" area encompasses most of the eastern United States including eastern and southeastern Minnesota. Mallery noted that one of the earliest reports of rock art was by Father Jacques Marquette who: "In 1673 while exploring the upper Mississippi River saw paintings of horned and winged monsters high on a cliff which he described in his journal" (Mallery, 1893: 77-9; Grant 1983:7).
The Cheyenne were one of the earliest tribes in southwestern Minnesota during the historic period. Carver reported that he saw "Schians" in a great camp that he visited on the Minnesota River in 1766, and the "Schianese" lived farther west (Grinnell 1962:16). Dakota traditions indicate the Cheyenne had lived on the Minnesota River, but moved west (Grinnell 1962:16).
The Cheyenne looked for vision quest and sacrifice locations that were not especially dangerous, such as on a hill on the south or west side of a river where they could see over the prairie, or at a point of rocks on the south or west side of a lake (Grinnell 1962:80-81). Interestingly, the Jeffers Petroglyphs site is located on the west side of the Little Cottonwood River on a high point that has a reasonably panoramic view of the prairie in a flat landscape (Lothson 1976). Before they were physically removed by Charles H. Bennett, the Pipestone petroglyphs were located near the "Medicine Rocks" (also called the "Three Maidens") toward the southern end of the plain, and to the west of the principal exposure of rocks where the pipestone was quarried (White 1989:21-22).
A Cheyenne youth on a "sacrifice" or "vision quest," if he slept at all, lay uncovered on his face with his head towards the east (Grinnell 1962:80). If he was offering a sacrifice that involved being skewered to a pole, he was seated facing east as a knife was run through the breast skin. Men also "swung to the pole" at the time of the Cheyenne Medicine Lodge (Grinnell 1962:82-83). If the sacrifice involved standing on a buffalo skull all day in one position looking at the sun, he would face east in the morning and slowly turn west. One version involved standing all night in chest-deep water (Grinnell 1962:84).
"Dreaming for power" is described in a sizeable anthropological literature (Benedict 1922:1-85; DeMallie and Parks 1987:25-27; Densmore 1979:71-72; Dugan 1985:131-171; Grinnell 1962:81-85). Adult vision quests might be undertaken in search of medicine, spiritual knowledge, foreknowledge, or as a sacrifice for success in battle. Visions, such as those of Nicholas Black Elk, a Lakota medicine man, occurred during, or immediately after, childhood and adult illnesses, Ghost Dance ceremonies, regular dreams , and adult vision quests (DeMallie 1984:110, 143, 149-150, 213, 227-231, 235, 252-259, 261-266).
Medical research is informative because some portion of the rock art strongly suggests imagery from dreams and visions (Dewdney 1967:22; Rajnovich 1989:184-186) An anthropological archaeology incorporating multiple lines of evidence, ethnohistorical sources, and recent medical research does generate insights into Minnesota rock art that were not perceived using earlier stylistic approaches. The medical research on the use of repetition, fatigue, and mental concentration to reach the deepest stages of trance appears applicable (Assad 1990; Bourguignon 1970:183-189; Kluver 1966; Lewis-Williams and Dowson 1988:211; Moreau 1973; Mullaney, et al. 1983:645; 0' Brien and Cohen 1984:20; Siegel 1977:132; Slade and Bentall 1988).
In the first stage of altered states of consciousness "entoptics " or form constants are perceived. These include zigzags, nested curves, cross hatches, and so forth. In the second stage, vortices, cartoonish figures, and tunnels with bright lights are commonly described by medical subjects.
In the third stage of altered states, the experience is perceived to be real and can involve somatic or bodily transformations like polymelia (a sixth finger or toe), lycanthropy (transformation into an animal), attenuation or the perceived elongation of the torso sometimes resulting in the perception of flying, entering a rockface and going into an underworld, or being underwater. In the later stages of altered states of consciousness synesthesia can occur. A startling loud noise, such as the loud banging a rock, can set off colors and trigger rapid iconic hallucinations (Siegel 1977).
Artist, George Catlin wrote about his travels between 1832 and 1839. Catlin reported that at the Pipestone Quarry in southwestern Minnesota, as well as at other places, he personally witnessed Indians recording their "totems," which he termed "s ymbolic names," by carving them among those rock carvings of older age.
Unfortunately Catlin did not tell us which "Indians" he saw carving their symbolic names at Pipestone, and elsewhere, and he did not tell us what the basis was upon which he satisfied himself that these were individual and dan totems.
Tne petroglyhs themselves look like portrayals of spirit animals and anthropomorphic spirits because of the heart lines, horns, and so forth (Densmore 1979:181; Grant 1983:53) . This suggests that what Catlin described as a "totem" may have been the individual's "dream symbol." The dream symbols may also be from an earlier period.
Dream symbols, including representations of spirit beings, frequently appeared on robes, shields, drums, etc. (Densmore 1979). A dream symbol is not the same thing as a "dream name." An Ojibwa individual would have a private dream name related directly or indirectly to altered states of consciousness and this was usually a very private name. However, the dream symbol could be made public, as could nicknames or common names and clan symbols.
There are at least two reasons to think that Catlin might not have understood the difference between the representation of a dream symbol, connected with spirit power, and the recording of a more secular common name or clan totem. First, an examination of the Pipestone petroglyphs, shows that Catlin's "birds" and "beasts," included spirit beings with heart lines, such as thunderbirds, and also human stick figures with heart lines. As Grant has pointed out : "The heart-line motif appears to have originated in the upper Ohio Valley or in southeastern Minnesota, and spread westward" (Grant 1967:67). Creatures with a heartline were believed by the Ojibwa to possess supernatural powers (Mallery 1893:773, cited in Grant 1983:53). Ojibwa clan symbols do not usually have heartlines (Densmore 1979; Winchell 1911:602).
Smith (1923) and Densmore (1979) both provide accounts of medicine men who could make "bad" medicine to gain advantage over hunted animals or enemies using heart-lines, but this was not related to the carving of rock.
The petroglyph "reptiles" represented at Pipestone include turtles, some with horns and some without. Although turtles can be spirit animals, they are also an Ojibwa clan totem. Since these turtles do not all appear with horns or heart-lines; certainly some could be clan symbols. Some Algonquian tribes, however, regarded the turtle as a fertility symbol and its appearance indicated prayers or ceremonies for supernatural aid in fertility (Grant 1983:53).
Clan symbols can also look like a spirit being from altered states of consciousness, e.g. the "merman" clan totem is a therianthrope (half human and half animal). Densmore's (1979) clan totem animal list, however, does not include any thunderbirds or humans with heart lines as clan symbols.
Catlin admitted that he did not know that much about "symbolic writing" and "totems " recorded on rocks and trees (Catlin 1844:248). Catlin seems to use the word "medicine" and "totem" interchangeably.
Clan totems were used for important occasions such as war, peacemaking, or on a grave post, (Winchell 1911:602) but the Pipestone petroglyphs do not generally fit known clan totems.
Catlin may have lumped together all rock writing, including dream symbols, references to spirit beings, "common names," and "family names." It is also possible that common names or nicknames were being represented with Mide pictography which might give the appearance of a dream symbol, or that some earlier clan totems have been lost. Finally, as has been noted above it is possible that the spirit beings date from earlier periods and the people Catlin saw carving petroglyphs were carving their "totems" and "symbolic names."
As Vastokas and Vastoukas (1973:44-45) have pointed out, based on their analysis of Henry R. Schoolcraft's descriptions, (1851-1857), there were actually two kinds of pictographic images that the Ojibwa would render in stone. Schoolcraft was himself part Ojibwa and was the Ojibwa Indian agent at Sault St. Marie, Michigan from 1822 to 1841. The Ojibwa pictography termed "Kekeewin" could be "incised upon birch bark scrolls as memory aids in the singing of Mide songs, as heraldic devices identifying clan affiliation or representing personal totems carved on the trunks of trees, as images placed on gravemarkers, and as glyphs pecked out or painted on rocks or boulders" (Vastoukas and Vastoukas 1973:43). These were generally known and understood. "Kekeenowin" on the other hand "are shamanistic renderings of visionary experiences" and were more symbolic, secret, and sacred rather than secular. "Muzzinabikon" or rock writing, most often recorded "the visionary experiences" of Ojibwa shamans (Vastoukas and Vastoukas 1973:44).
As an example of Ojibwa use of pictography to record events, Joseph Nicollet in 1836 described seeing red chalk markings that were left on a rock on the upper Mississippi that meant that "after two nights, or on the third day a head of hair was taken from a Sioux" (Bray 1970:51-52; cited in Penny 1992:55). These were not permanently carved petroglyphs, however, but were chalked rocks. Interestingly, the Nicollet expedition to Pipestone in the 1830's also left their own names carved at the site.
In addition to the direct recording by a shaman of his or her vison experience into rock, the recording of a non-shaman's dream symbol into rock also recorded a vision experience . To understand this for the Ojibwa, one must understand Ojibwa naming practices. According to Densmore (1979:52-53), the old Ojibwa naming practices fell into six classes: (1) the "dream name" given ceremonially by a "namer," often a shaman, who had received spirit power in a dream; (2) the "dream name" acquired by an individual, usually received during the individual's puberty vision quest and associated with the tutelary spirit involved in the vision; (3) a "namesake name" given by parents and frequently a dream name, but carrying no spirit power with it (i.e. this involved naming a child after someone the parents respected); (4) a short and often humorous "common name" or "nickname"; and (5) the use of a kinship group's name by its chief.
Although the dream name was not spoken to others, particularly outsiders, the dream representation or a picture of a dream image was a public image and was commonly worn on a headband or around the neck, on the blanket at the door of one's house, or around one 's shoulders (Densmore 1979:8283). As Densmore points out, "the subject of a man's dream was clear to all intelligent observers, but its significance was a secret that he might hide forever if he so desired" (Densmore 1979:83).
Representations of sky spirits, animal spirits, special weapons (e.g. atlatls), events, and mythical beings make up much of the rock art at Pipestone, Jeffers, and Nett Lake. The subject of the dream symbols should therefore be "clear to all intelligent observers, " The significance is what was secret and might be hidden forever.