Sanilac Petroglyphs Historic State Park is a historic preservation area in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of
Michigan
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
. The
state park
State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "Federated state, state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on accou ...
, also known as ''ezhibiigadek asin'' (
Ojibwe
The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...
Thumb
The thumb is the first digit of the hand, next to the index finger. When a person is standing in the medical anatomical position (where the palm is facing to the front), the thumb is the outermost digit. The Medical Latin English noun for thumb ...
petroglyph
A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...
s in Michigan. The carvings were created in the
pre-Columbian era
In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...
and represent aspects of Native American spirituality. An interpretive hiking trail within the park passes along the nearby Cass River.
The park is co-managed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Saginaw Chippewa Nation. It was donated to the state by the Michigan Archaeological Society in 1971, and it is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
.
The petroglyphs
Origins
The main feature of the park is a
sandstone
Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
outcrop
An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth and other terrestrial planets.
Features
Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most p ...
with around 165
petroglyphs
A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...
on it. The largest grouping of such carvings in Michigan, they were likely carved between 300 and 1,400 years ago. They were discovered by the area's settlers after much of
the Thumb
The Thumb is a region and a peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, so named because the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower Peninsula is shaped like a mitten. The Thumb area is generally considered to be in the Central Michigan region, east of t ...
region was burned over by a massive forest fire in 1881.
The petroglyphs include depictions of the religious and cultural knowledge of Great Lakes Native American tribes. Among the depictions of swirls, lines, handprints, and living beings are:
* Ebmodaakowet, the archer who shoots knowledge into the future;
* Migizi Inini, the Eagle Man, who looks to the east–the direction of the new day–and flies over to ensure people are following traditions and teachings;
* Mishibizhew, the water panther, who protects the waters of the Great Lakes.
Study and preservation
Archaeologists have studied the site since the 1920s. Stone tools and pottery found in the park show that various tribal groups have occupied the area periodically throughout the last 8,000 years. The petroglyphs were thoroughly recorded in 1940 by Darrel J. Richards and Carl Holmquist of the Aboriginal Research Club of Detroit, who created drawings and castings of the carvings. Richards's drawings are now in the collection of the Cranbrook Institute of Science in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
Afterward, Cranbrook worked with the
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
's Museum of Anthropology and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to create the first plan to preserve the site. Later, in 1966, around the petroglyphs was purchased from two different owners by the Michigan Archaeological Society, which deeded it to the state five years later. In 1971, the site was both established as a Michigan state park and listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
.
The state has made a series of improvements to the site to protect the slab, including a wooden pavilion erected in the mid-1990s and a chain-link fence surrounding the petroglyph site.
In 2018, Michigan Department of Transportation specialists used
Lidar
Lidar (, also LIDAR, an acronym of "light detection and ranging" or "laser imaging, detection, and ranging") is a method for determining ranging, ranges by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected li ...
along with detailed close-up photographs to collect approximately 3 billion information points and map the site to accuracy in the millimeter range, revealing details that would not be apparent to the unaided human eye. From this collection of data, The resultant digital models will document the site and can be used to track changes in the petroglyphs over time.
Hindrances to preservation
The sandstone slab in which the petroglyphs were carved is fragile and subject to weathering and other environmental forces. It has been walked upon and vandalized with
graffiti
Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...
over the years; someone, long ago prior to the 1920s, chipped out an entire symbol and the surrounding rock for a keepsake.
The most recent act of vandalism occurred in 2017 when three images were carved on the rock by unknown individuals. This human activity combined with natural weathering has made the actual petroglyphs difficult for visitors to see. Specialists are concerned that unless more is done to preserve the carvings better, they will be gone by the late 21st century.
Park ecology
Beyond the rock carvings, the Cass River floodplain forest within the park can be explored via a trail loop, which crosses the river twice. The area is home to a wide variety of animals including: deer, turkey, ruffed grouse, green heron, and belted kingfisher.
Additionally, numerous
outcrop
An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth and other terrestrial planets.
Features
Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most p ...
logging
Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, trucksSaginaw Chippewa Nation signed a memorandum of understanding to co-manage the park. This historic agreement marks the first state-tribal co-management of a Michigan state park. The petroglyphs pavilion is open for view by the general public between dates approximating
Memorial Day
Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May.
It i ...
and
Labor Day
Labor Day is a Federal holidays in the United States, federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday of September to honor and recognize the Labor history of the United States, American labor movement and the works and con ...
, Wednesdays through Sundays, from 10:00 am until 5 pm.
File:Sanilac Petroglyphs - panoramio.jpg, The site under its protective shelter
File:Sanilac Petroglphys - Vandalism.jpg, Gaps in the surface of the stone indicate where symbols have been excised
File:Cass River, Sanilac Petroglyphs HSP.jpg, Cass River North Branch