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 | The hauntingly grinning Tsagiglalal, or "She Who Watches," along the Columbia River near The Dalles, is one of the most famous petroglyphs in North America. Mike Urban/P-I |
Washington's ancient rock art attracts the curious -- and the vandalous
By GREG JOHNSTON 
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
In remote caves and coulees, on cliffs and along rushing rivers of the Northwest, voices from long ago still speak in a quiet but powerful way.
They speak of the first people here, of quests for spirit power, of animals and the hunt, of events long past and perhaps yet to come.
Rock art, as it is known, was created prolifically in the Northwest from 100 to 5,000 years ago, maybe longer. There are two types: petroglyphs chipped into stone and pictographs painted on it.
Today rock art piques the curiosity with its mystery, inspires with its beauty, is still revered by Native Americans and is being sought out by professional archaeologists and amateur enthusiasts alike. It is also being damaged and destroyed at an alarming rate.
"It is art, it is old, it is from American Indians, it is beautiful to look at and it stirs your imagination," says James Keyser, U.S. Forest Service archaeologist and rock-art expert.
"It is almost the only archaeological artifact that gives us a window to the minds of the people who created it. Old firepits or tepee circles or arrowheads don't do that."
Although only a handful of sites are widely known by and easily accessible to the public, rock art exists at dozens of places -- 200 were inventoried in 1978 -- in Central and Eastern Washington. A relative few sites are in Western Washington.
 This petroglyph showing a hunter and elk was mounted at Ginkgo State Park after its original site along the Columbia River near Vantage was flooded by the construction of Wanapum Dam.Mike Urban/ P-I |
The sad truth today, however, is that non-Indians have proven miserable stewards of this irreplaceable historical resource. Rock art has been and is being vandalized, stolen, submerged, disrespected and destroyed.
At least 45 known sites along the Columbia River and its tributaries have been destroyed or damaged over the years by the construction of dams and rising reservoirs. Vandalism such as spray-painted or scratched graffiti is a continuing problem, even at protected sites. Tribal sources say a home-builder in Skamania County recently bulldozed a boulder with rock art on it over a riverbank.
Even the well-meaning damage these carvings and paintings, simply by touching them or trying to reproduce them with paper rubbings.
"A lot of people simply do not understand ... that their actions could have an adverse effect on rock art," says Dan Meatte, archaeologist for Washington State Parks. "People want to touch it, but just one person touching a pictograph can remove some of the pigment. Some of the vandalism is just malicious behavior. Today it's rock art, tomorrow it might be park facilities."
Rock art is so threatened that state and federal land managers will not divulge locations of unprotected sites.
"My opinion is we are better off focusing public use at certain sites where we can control access and spread the message: Do not vandalize this art, do not touch it; respect it," says Keyser. "I'd rather educate the public, but I don't give directions to any site that isn't already interpreted with a sign or protected with a gate around it."
But amateur rock-art enthusiasts do seek out and find these spots.
"In the Pacific Northwest, hundreds if not thousands of people search out these places as a hobby," Keyser says. "They hike to it, bike to it, boat to it. There's a whole lot of sites out there that haven't been discovered professionally, although the big sites have pretty much been found and are professionally known."
Why petroglyphs and pictographs were created and what they mean is a matter of debate. All rock-art sites are special to the ancestors of their creators and many are sacred. Native Americans today are ambivalent about non-Indians' interest and most won't interpret the images for non-Indians.
 These twin figures at Ginkgo State Park are a common rock-art theme and are thought to have been associated with shamanism. Note the vandalism: a heart and initials scratched above the figures. Mike Urban/P-I |
"That's not real information."
Washines says many of the images represent events, traditions and prophecies by ancient religious leaders that remain vital. Although many were created by superbly skilled individuals, they are not art per se.
"These were not Leonardo da Vinci people who we might say were artists," Washines says. "These are from prophets and a lot of them are prophecies that are happening today."
Washines says tribal members find offensive any behavior that disrespects the images, including ceremonies by New Age spiritualists and their commercialization.
"This is our culture," Washines says. "We don't like to see it commercialized; put on T-shirts, calendars, coffee mugs. It has traditional value, not monetary value."
At the same time, it isn't hard to understand the fascination by non-Indians for rock art. Although some were created 2,000 or more years ago and many are now faded, the images still exude a certain power and magic.
Many were created in places considered to be power spots -- on sheer rock faces above roaring river rapids, for example, or high on remote cliffs. Many show hunting scenes and a variety of animals are portrayed: bighorn sheep, deer, elk, owls and other birds, lizards and snakes.
Many are believed to portray "vision quests," during which young tribal members ventured to power spots in the wilderness. Here they fasted and prayed until entering trances in an effort to see spirits, which took the form of animals, and obtain their power.
The single best location in Washington to experience rock art is Horsethief Lake State Park, which is just downstream of the now-inundated Celilo Falls on the Columbia. Before The Dalles dam was built and flooded the falls, they provided the biggest single aboriginal fishing location on the Columbia and tribes from all over the Northwest came each year to catch salmon and trade.
The Horsethief Lake area was a major village site and, over the centuries, dozen of images were painted and chipped into the volcanic basalt that lines that part of the Columbia River Gorge.
In 1993 after continuing vandalism at the most popular rock-art site in the park, that area was closed except to those who take twice-weekly ranger-led tours. Reservations for the tours must be made well in advance.
"We get people from Japan, Germany, all around the world who come to see it," says ranger Rich Davis. "We get over 100,000 visitors per year and I would say at least 10 percent are here to see the petroglyphs."
They include one of the most famous rock-art images anywhere, a stunning, stylized smiling face, called "Tsagiglala" by the Wishram Indians, or "She Who Watches."
Much of the site's significance stems from the fact that both pictographs and petroglyphs there represent influences from far and wide, including the coast, the Columbia Plateau, even the Southwest.
The site is just above the river, in full view of the gorge and its interesting geologic features, many of which are spiritually significant to the tribes.
"I think something special happens when people come out here," says Davis. "You're walking in the same places the people who came before walked, you're sweating like they did, and it provokes some thought. It's pretty neat. You get a sense of place."
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