Bison at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Image credit: Matt Reinbold.
SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, Canada – In 2019, the Wanuskewin Heritage Park reintroduced bison to the 600-acres of land they had freely roamed over a century ago before they were hunted to extinction in the late 1800s. The restoration and conservation project produced an unexpected result – the discovery of 1,000-year-old petroglyphs, as well as the tool used to create the carvings.
Dr. Ernie Walker, the chief archaeologist and park co-founder, announced the discovery earlier this month, attributing the initial find as a result of the bison “wallowing,” behavior where they roll on the ground and create dust pits. The wallowing of the bison helped to reveal part of a boulder that had a groove in its surface. Upon closer examination, Walker found more grooves.
“They were all parallel, all symmetrical,” Walker said in an interview with Smithsonian Magazine. “It was at that point I realized this [was] actually what is known as a petroglyph. This was intentionally carved.”
Further exploration and excavation by Walker and his team found not only the stone blade they believe was used to create the petroglyphs, but also three more boulders bearing petroglyphs located on a direct trajectory with an ancient “bison jump,” a rock outcropping used by indigenous hunters to hunt bison.
Wanuskewin Heritage Park is Canada’s longest-running archaeological dig, in which close to 200,000 artifacts have been discovered that include a variety of significant cultural tools, hunting implements, gaming pieces, and personal decorative pieces. Some finds predate the ruins of Rome and the pyramids of Egypt. Wanuskewin is in the process of seeking designation as a UNESCO World Heritage site, though it will be 2025 before a final decision is rendered.
The recent petroglyph finds also connect with a Dakota prophecy concerning the return of the bison.
“The elders used to tell us when the bison come back, that’s when there’ll be a good change in our history,” says Wahpeton Dakota Elder Cy Standing. “We’ve been down a long time. But it feels like we are starting the way up.”
Wanuskewin, unlike many other archaeological sites, incorporates a First Nations elder council that helps to guide decisions and management of the site. After the discovery of the stones bearing the petroglyphs, the elders who normally prefer for such finds to remain where they are found, agreed that moving the boulders to a space within the center where they would be protected and more easily viewed was the best plan.
“We’d found the detritus of everyday living: broken stone tools and debris from the manufacture of stone tools, bones, charcoal, potsherds, seeds and things like that,” Walker said. “But [we] didn’t find ideas. [We] didn’t find emotions. The petroglyphs brought that. They’re that other dimension. … They’re a glimpse into somebody’s hopes and dreams.”
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South African Pagan Rights Alliance (SAPRA) released a statement last week on their Facebook page condemning racist TikTok posts made by Henrico Barnard, who identifies as a Pagan male Witch.
The South African Pagan Rights Alliance condemns the racist hate speech by self-identified Pagan, Henrico Barnard, in a recent TikTok video.Barnard’s effusive vitriol incites violence and propagates hatred against black South Africans.Barnard is not a member of this Alliance and is not a participating member of any Pagan social media group known to this Alliance.Barnard’s incidental identification as a Pagan Witch is however unfortunate, as it may lead members of the general public to believe that Pagans and Witches are racists, or that we condone racism and violence against our fellow citizens.The South African Pagan Rights Alliance unequivocally condemns Barnard’s expressed racism and hate speech.This Alliance denounces racism, race discrimination and racial intolerance.This Alliance affirms that our diverse Pagan religions can and do contribute toward promoting diversity, dignity, equality and social justice for all persons. There is no room for racists in our shared communities.
Barnard posted several videos where he used racist and ethnic slurs, stated he was a fan of Adolph Hitler, “encouraged the murder of black people who he referred to as parasites,” and “threatened to kill any police officer who tried to arrest him” according to reporting by ALGOA FM.
The videos were eventually deleted after they went viral, and Barnard issued an apology but police spokesperson, Motlafela Mojapelo confirmed that charges of intimidation, crimen injuria (defined under South African law to be the act of “unlawfully, intentionally and seriously impairing the dignity of another”) and incitement to commit a crime have been opened against Barnard in the Waterberg District in Limpopo.
Barnard is reported as being in the hospital for undisclosed reasons and has yet to be arrested. Authorities stated that Barnard will be arrested once he is released from the hospital.
In other news:
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- The Boston Landmarks Commission is considering whether to declare the Massachusetts Tribe’s Mattapan Rhyolite Quarry a landmark. City archeologist Joe Bagley who spoke at the request of the Massachusetts Tribe at the commission hearing said, “What we have discovered is a vast majority of the quarry has survived intact for thousands of years and represents a remarkable asset of Massachusetts native landscape preserved in Mattapan. The Mattapan Rhyolite Quarry has been a significant cultural asset for more than 7,500 years. Here and nowhere else can one quarry this beautiful material. The place has an above-local significance because it was a unique stone material source traded over thousands of years as far away as Rhode Island. The Massachusetts Mattapan Quarry deserves a place on the list of Boston’s most significant cultural and historical places as a Boston Landmark.” The Massachusett Tribe and the city have a joint petition for the tribe and the city to protect the unique and ancient cultural asset. The site received a unanimous vote for pending landmark status, which has initiated a landmarks study. If approved as an urban wild with landmarks protections, the city and the tribe intend to execute a plan where the tribe will help maintain the site, seek to educate the public about the historical relevance of the site, and also be able to hold private tribal activities on the site.
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- The annual western Monarch butterfly count conducted by the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation has noted what appears to be a very healthy increase in the numbers. While the count continues through December 5, so far the numbers are encouraging with unofficial counts as high as 100,000 Monarchs found in overwintering sites in California. That’s a sharp increase over last year’s number of only a couple thousand Monarchs. The Monarch Act of 2021 (H.B. 1983) was introduced in Congress earlier this year and as of July, the most recent action was a subcommittee hearing held by the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife. The bill if passed would provide funding for conservation activities that would restore, enhance, and manage overwintering and breeding habitats of monarch populations in the western U.S.
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- A new law, The Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill proposed by the U.K. government initially only included vertebrate animals but last week was modified to include invertebrate groups, cephalopod mollusks (octopuses, squids, and cuttlefish), and decapod crustaceans (crabs, lobsters, shrimp, and crayfish). The decision to include the two invertebrate groups was largely due to a report published by The London School of Economics and Political Science. “After reviewing over 300 scientific studies, we concluded that cephalopod mollusks and decapod crustaceans should be regarded as sentient, and should therefore be included within the scope of animal welfare law,” lead researcher Jonathan Birch, a philosopher of biological sciences at LSE, said in a statement. “I’m pleased to see the government implementing a central recommendation of my team’s report.” Sentience has proven difficult to define, making it harder to prove in animals. This new study focused on evidence of different forms of pain reception, such as the possession of pain receptors and specific brain regions associated with pain, in addition to behavioral experiments that demonstrated the animals’ ability to make choices to avoid painful or stressful situations. However, the researchers also wrote in the report their definition of sentience, “Sentience is the capacity to have feelings, such as feelings of pain, pleasure, hunger, thirst, warmth, joy, comfort and excitement.” Even if the law is passed it will not impact current legal practices that are deemed questionable when it comes to the handling and slaughter of animals.
LUXOR, Egypt – The country televised the grand reopening of the Avenue of Sphinxes with an elaborate theatrical event last Thursday. The Avenue connects Karnak and Luxor temples and is believed to have figured prominently in the celebration of Opet and other festivals in ancient Egypt, as well as the coronations of pharaohs.
The Avenue which stretches approximately 2.7 kilometers (1.67 miles) and is lined by hundreds of sphinxes, many with ram heads, provided passage between the two temple complexes and had been in process of restoration for well over 50 years.
The celebration of Opet in ancient Egypt focused on the fertility, prosperity, and renewal of the land during the flooding of the Nile river. The festival featured statues of the Holy Trinity of Thebes: Amun, Mot, and Khonsu, being transported from the Temple of Amun (Karnak) on ceremonial barges to the Luxor (Thebes) Temple.
Opet would have been one of the most important celebrations during the period from the 18th dynasty (1549 to 1292 B.C.E.) and the reign of Amenhotep III to the 30th dynasty and reign of Nectanebo I (380 to 343 B.C.E.).
Egypt’s economy has taken financial hits over the past decade that have impacted tourism which makes up roughly 10% of the country’s revenue. Political turmoil and social unrest followed by the COVID-19 pandemic of the past two years have reduced tourism revenue by more than 70% in 2020 – from over $13 billion in 2019 to just $4 billion in 2020.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7-8lLjf2SM
Tarot of the week by Star Bustamonte
Deck: Cat’s Eye Tarot, artwork by Debra M. Givin, DVM published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.Card: Queen of Pentacles
The focus this week is liable to be centered on the roles of those who provide guidance for their families and communities, with an emphasis on how important good leadership is.
Conversely, failure to recognize that balanced self-care is an integral part of leadership can lead to faulty decisions that imperil everyone.
Decks generously provided by Asheville Pagan Supply.
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