Whiteshell Petroforms

Anishinaabe Sacred Site Of Boulder Petroforms At Bannock Point In Whiteshell Provincial Park, Known As Manito Ahbee And In Continuing Ceremonial Use · Whiteshell, Manitoba

On flat sheets of Canadian Shield granite in eastern Manitoba, boulders have been laid out into the shapes of turtles, snakes, birds and human figures, some of them many metres across. They are called petroforms, and nobody can tell you with confidence how old they are - estimates run to two thousand years and beyond, but stones on bedrock leave nothing to carbon date, and the honest answer is that the dating is uncertain. What is not uncertain is that this is a sacred place to the Anishinaabe, that it has been one for a very long time, and that it still is. The area is called Manito Ahbee, where the Creator sits. People come here to make offerings and to hold ceremony, and you will see tobacco ties and lengths of cloth left in the trees. Visitors are welcome. The site is not a monument or an attraction, and the difference matters.

Bannock Point, Whiteshell Provincial Park, near Betula Lake, Whiteshell, Manitoba, Canada

FREE AND UNGATED at the site, open through daylight hours, though A MANITOBA PARKS VEHICLE PERMIT IS REQUIRED to enter Whiteshell Provincial Park. There is a car park, an interpretive trail with boardwalk sections, and NO restrooms, water, services or cell coverage. THIS IS A SACRED ANISHINAABE SITE STILL USED FOR CEREMONY - it may be closed or occupied at times, and if ceremony is under way visitors should leave quietly and without photographing. Indigenous-led interpretation is offered at times; ask the park. Early morning and late afternoon are the best hours; June and July bring severe insects.

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