This photo started it all for me. I apologize for it's quality. I took it with my very first little snapshot camera, in 1969! This is a photo of a rock painting which; sadly, does not exist anymore. It was taken at a place which is called "The Split Rock" by my family, on property we have owned for at least a hundred years. The last time I visited the home place, some kids had spray-painted graffiti all this inner cliff face. And even worse, someone had spray-painted black over that to cover the obscenities. In the process of all this, the little shaman was spray painted over at least once, perhaps twice. So, maybe some future generation can figure out how to remove two layers of spray paint to again reveal this little treasure (See article on Rock Art Etiquette).
It is sad to contemplate how many beautiful examples of Native American art like this on have been lost to us. We have little to say about the ravages of time and adverse weather conditions, but the thought of sacred art like this being deliberately and casually defaced is sickening. I believe this particular example is intended to be some sort of shaman, but I am by no means an expert and I would love to hear from you if you have a better idea. It could certainly be some sort of spirit or God. This is located near the further north and western part of the original Appalachian Cherokee hunting range, I have no idea how old it may be. But it has certainly been a seminal piece of art for me in many ways, as you shall see.
In the course of reading about Native American Culture, I have found references to similar petroglyphs which were created to record and honor the visitation of a Spirit Guide (The American Indian series by Time-Life books, volume entitled "Cycles of Life", pages 52 & 53, and page 58). This is also one of the reasons proposed for some of the cave paintings in Europe. The cleft where this photo was taken is a huge, wedge-like area in a cliff face, easily accesible on foot, which is large enough to shelter about 35 head of cattle. Even so; it is only protection from rain that it offers, as the wind will whip through it and it does not burrow deep into the mountainside as a cave does. It seems like a perfect place for a vision quest, not very far from several small creeks (for a convenient water source) and yet very isolated. This would make it a likely location for a vision quest. The popular idea of a vision quest is associated with seeking a totem/animal spirit; but as often happens, Native American culture was more complex and had greater regional variants in spiritual practise than this. Some tribes; including those known to have been in this region, were more likely to seek guidance from ancestral spirits, or "Spirit Guides", who were beings something less than a God but more than human who took pity on the suffering of mortals who sought their help. This is the essence of the vision quest, a mortal who sought guidance through suffering which strengthened their spiritual power and served to connect them with beings who would henceforth act as guardian and instructive spiritual teachers and mentors to the seeker.
Unless some archeological work is done, there is no way to identify for certain the tribal affiliation of the artist. According to Encarta Encyclopedia, tribes known to this region include the Adena Mound Builders, the Iroquois or Haudenosaunee (including Mingo, Shawnee, Tuscarora and Delaware who participated in the Iroquois Federation), and the Cherokee. There is also the possibility that the Ottawa were in the area during the French and Indian war. Although rock wall faces have been subjected to human desecration, the cleft has been used as a cow pasture for at least 100 years, and so artifacts may be located under the heavy layer of manure on the floor. This cleft provides a commanding view of the meadow expanse below, which is both exhalting to the eye, and would provide ample prior warning of the approach of hunting or raiding parties in the time period prior to white settlement.
It's probably rather difficult from this small and admittedly amateurish photo to get a sense of the peaceful and sacred feeling which comes over you when you are sheltered in this enormous space. The clift face which surrounds this cleft is huge, about four to five stories high and large enough on the top for two vehicles to pass each other and also a small wooded area on the top to one side. It is an outcropping of bedrock, massive and solid. Below is is a large area of grassland which is mostly level, a rare occurence in the West Virigina hills. The rock around you provides a protected and secure environment, and the stillness of the woods on either side makes you feel centered and calm. When I was a child, there was still a small length of split rail fence off to one side, but it was gone the last time a visited, presumably eaten away by the elements. The feeling of time is palpable here, it doesn't take much imagination to call to mind what it must have looked like when the artist painted the rock above, the area is largely untouched and the surrounding woods are full of wildlife.
Here are some more pieces I have done based on Cave Art.
Be sure to check out my Gallery page, for paintings based on Rock Art for sale.
Feel free to e-mail me with questions or comments at thunderhoof@austin.rr.com .
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