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The ARARA 2011 Logo

 
The ARARA 2011 Conference logo is based on a pictograph that is familiar to rock art enthusiasts from Idaho. It was featured on the Archaeology Month poster for Idaho in 1990, and was the frontispiece photo in the book Backtracking: Ancient Art of Idaho by Max G. Pavesic and William Studebaker. The site is a favorite of Max's, who describes it beautifully in his book. He has given permission to use this quote.

The rock art occurs in a large overhang located in a narrow mountain canyon. The setting overlooks the Lemhi Mountains and the Birch Creek Valley floor, which appear frozen in the distance. One of the unique characteristics of the overhang is that during a full moon the canyon is literally set aglow. The moon fills the canyon from rim to rim, and the viewer becomes transfixed. The timing may have been considered sacred with the celestial source providing power and inspiration. Certainly, the large, horned being is a classic characterization of a shaman in North American iconography. This impressive figure in full headdress is one of the most powerful images in Idaho rock painting. Standing erect with spread arms and hands with splayed fingers and straight legs, the figure emanates power or importance. Its stark white coloring adds to the mystique.

This site will be visited during one of the tours planned for the 2011 meeting in Idaho Falls.

Common Pictograph Elements of Southeastern Idaho

 
The majority of pictographs found in southeastern Idaho were created by the Shoshone and Bannock Indians. Other tribes who intermittently visited or passed through the area were the Flathead Salish, the Pend d'Oreille, the Nez Perce, and the Blackfoot. These groups may have contributed new pictographs or adulterated existing pictographs.

Recent anthropological theory identifies some rock art sites as among the sacred time/places that are essential to Native American religious beliefs that identify fundamental symbols and patterns of these cultures. These sacred sites and sacred geography are access points to the sacred that are often impossible to know before the dreams or visions that reveal them.

Sacred sites are places of communication with the spirits, portals where people enter the sacred. Thus, they are a link between the world of humans and the sacred, where spiritual power can be accessed and even attained. They give order to both geographic and social space and by ordering space they order all that exists within it (Deward E. Walker, 1988, American Indian Sacred Geography, Indian Affairs, No. 116:vii, 1988).

Some of the pictograph sites offered for ARARA 2011 Conference tours are found at locations on the landscape that reinforce Walker's theory for sacred places .

Subjects and motifs common to Shoshone Bannock Pictographs

"Hunt Scene" — A group of stick-figure hunters with their helper dogs. The hunter holds a pulled bow pointed at the prey, most commonly a bear, with dogs holding the bear at bay. This composition is frequently seen on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. Prior to the horse, dogs were a very important part of Shoshone culture.

Topknot on head — This motif is usually found as a solitary figure. The topknot likely represents the hair style used by a Shaman or Medicine Person to designate his status or identity. This ball sometimes looks like it is rising above the head. This has been identified as possibly representing the Mugua or spirit essence of the body rising out of the body as it would at death or upon entering a trance-like state. These figures tend to be found at more sequestered or private locations. This representation is unique to sites attributed to Shoshone and has not been identified in rock art outside their ancestral territory.

Shields and shield bearers — The Shoshone were known among other Plains Indians for their superior large body shields. Occasionally, the rock art shows shield bearers in a proto-biographic context.

Spear Piercing — A single tall stick figure with a spear piercing the side of the body is found at several sites in the Birch Creek and Black Canyon wilderness areas. Significance of this motif is unknown.

Bears and Bear Paws

Hand prints, Dot or thumbprint formations, and "strikes" of pigment known as tally marks, usually done with the forefinger.

Commonly seen animals — bison, deer/elk, antelope, owl, and crane.