 Petroglyphs, Carol Ramsay photo
Snuneymuxw First Nation Petroglyphs Gabriola was a natural for rock carving because the island is composed of sandstone, which is soft and easy to work. Native subjects sprang from nature - fish, serpents, birds, stick-like human figures, creatures of mythic design and fanciful life forms combining human and animal forms.
Petroglyph Park Visitors can literally stumble over petroglyphs on Gabriola. More than 50 petroglyphs have been unearthed under moss at Petroglyph Park. The most dramatic is a carving of a killer whale near Degnen Bay, best viewed at low tide.
Gabriola Museum At this point, the petroglyphs' ages are impossible to determine. Often the ancient designs have eroded beyond recognition. For the clearest view of local petroglyph art, visit the Gabriola Museum. The museum's reproductions, made when the original art was as its best, are well defined.
Make Petroglyph Rubbings Not only that, visitors can make their own impressions of the ancient art through rubbings. Rubbing kits are available at the museum. For history and art buffs, and especially children, these colourful and historic rubbings are a must-do.
What Not to Do Problem is, sandstone is also easy to deface and destroy. Visitors searching out the real thing should remember these are sacred historical artefacts. Please refrain from touching the petroglyphs. Even oils from fingertips can damage age-old pigments. Please take photographs rather than rubbings. Rubbings are greatly superior using the reproductions at the Museum. And they make, by far, the best souvenirs.
Love Stories at the Gabriola Museum Jump through several thousand years of First Nations history at the Gabriola Museum - to the 19th Century. Two-thirds of male European settlers married Native wives and raised large, mixed-blood families.
Joined Hands Display Two such families, the Silvas and the Degnens, are the subjects of the Joined Hands display. These families were crucial to the island's development. They developed agriculture and built schools and churches, but also hunted, fished and maintained a knowledge of and respect for the environment.
Louisa Silva and Jane Degnen The display, utilizing historic photographs follows the lives of two Native matriarchs, Louisa Silva and Jane Degnen. Come follow these fascinating histories of love and endurance through arrival on Gabriola, daily lives, legacies forged and family trees spanning time from the 1830s to the 1970s. Is Hollywood listening?
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