Stories on the shore

"In October of 2006, one of the most sacred and well documented sites of ancient petroglyphs on the eastern seaboard of the United States was returned to its ancient peoples, the Passamaquoddy Tribe. The site is known as "Picture Rocks" and lies on the Machias Bay, In "Downeast" Maine. The rock carvings and peckings date as far back as 3,000 to 5,000 years and its most ancient peckings may be as old as 10,000 years. Believed to be made by Shamans, the petroglyphs are positioned such that they are the most visible at the Fall or Spring Equinox." The Equinox Petroglyph Project

My grandfather, Gordon Clark Hanson, was born on the point of land called Clarks Point or Birch Point, the site of these sacred petroglyphs. He's pictured at nine, in a photograph taken by my great grandfather, sitting on the 'whale backed' shaped rock covered with the ancient stories, pecked into the lined ledges. Nobody is absolutely sure what these images actually represent, but generations of people, including myself have traced them with awed fingers, wondering and marveling at their age and significance. This is an area influenced by the Bay of Fundy tides. This influence brings swift daily and dramatic rising and falling of coastal waters, 28 foot differences in some locations. Waves of endless tidal rhythms have caressed and pounded these symbols and still they show us their images and whispered messages.

The beach is the repository of ancient chert, worked into arrow points and stone tools, tumbled by the tides, but still sharp enough to be useful, thousands of years later. We have many at home, found with keen eyes and determination, lying among the natural stones and boulders of these rocky shores. One can imagine the expert hands, chipping, fashioning tools so razor sharp and filled with purpose. They tossed the imperfections, the almost perfect, onto the shore where we still find them. Imperfectly amazing, countless tide cycles later. As a child you could I fill pockets my pockets with chips and nearly perfect points. It's harder now, but the pictures on the rocks still endure. The Passamaquoddy people lived in harmony with nature, we must try harder, so very much harder.

A petroglyph

The beach at Birch/Clark's Point

The path to the Picture Rocks