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Photo by Paul Bisson on Friends of Temagami Facebook

 http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150319604415548&set=o.23194453243&type=3&theater

Gitchie Manido - Great Spirit Praises Copyright don wright 2009

I was on the Friends of Temagami Facebook site and I noticed the above picture from the Petroglyphs Park near Peterborough. I had drawn inspiration from a similar picture of the carvings. If you look closely at the above picture from Paul Bisson, you can also see thunderbirds and ancestors.

In my adaptation and understanding of the rock symbols, The Sun represents life source Gitchie Manido and The Great Spirit or God. The central figure is the very son of God, maybe known as Nanabush or other Christ figure and the small figure praises the Spirit and the Son in unity.

Of course these carvings were made with original intent and they are very old. I am no scholar nor have I had any instruction or training on the true meanings of these symbols. On one hand, it may appear like I am hijacking the original to bring meaning that was never intended OR, this is an example that our Native Peoples were well aware of the concept of God Creator and Redeemer.