This past weekend the summer like weather continued to allow some great camping opportunities, the campsite at Writing on Stone is first come first served at this time of year so I decided to take advantage of the amazing weather and head down for some time away from the city.
I've pulled together a brief description of the park, but really, there is way better information on the internet that describes this great park in south Alberta, you’ll find most of this on wikipedia which I’ve used as a source. Also, I've included some shots from the digital camera I shot over the weekend, I did shoot a couple of rolls of film as well that should have a slightly different look when I get around to developing them.
Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park (Áísínai’pi) is located about an hour by car southeast of Lethbridge near Milk River. It is both a nature preserve and protection for many First Nations rock carvings and paintings. The park is sacred to the Blackfoot and many other aboriginal tribes. I find spending time here to be a very settling, almost spiritual experience.
The park was created in 1957 and was designated an archaeological preserve in 1977. On 6 July 2019, Writing-on-Stone / Áísínai’pi was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Áísínaiʼpi, is a Blackfoot language word meaning "it is pictured / written". Writing-on-Stone Park has over 50 petroglyph sites and thousands of works making it the greatest concentration of rock art on the North American Great Plains. Most of these are located in restricted areas of the park, only accessible by guided tour during the summer months.
There is evidence that the Milk River Valley was inhabited by First Nations people as long ago as 9000 years. First Nations tribes such as the Blackfoot probably created many of the rock carvings (petroglyphs) and paintings (pictographs). Other First Nations groups such as the Shoshone also travelled through the valley and may have also created some of the art.
A North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) outpost was located here since about 1887 and was reconstructed on its original site in 1973 after being burned down after it was closed in 1918.
Anyways, here are the photographs, enjoy!
Dean.
