Bon Echo Provincial Park, an area known for its natural surroundings and home of the Mazinaw Pictographs, is now the victim of vandals.
The national historical site, where more than 200 Indigenous pictographs, or symbols, have adorned the sides of the rocks for hundreds of years, is now covered in graffiti.
Park officials were notified over the Labour Day weekend that images that are between 300 and 1,000 years old and are only visible from the water had been defaced.
Ontario Parks confirmed to Global News that unknown visitors to the park appear to have done more than admire the historical site, carving names in some parts of the rock and leaving graffiti on others.
“The vandalism on the Indigenous Sacred Place at Mazinaw Rock in Bon Echo Provincial Park is a terrible act that is disrespectful and destructive,” Ontario Parks confirmed in an email.
The Mazinaw Pictographs became a historic site in 1982 and is considered sacred to some Indigenous people. Ontario Parks says the pictographs are thought to have been made by the ancestors of the Anishinaabe, which includes Algonquins.
Parks Canada says on its website that Mazinaw, named for an Algonquin word meaning “picture” or “writing,” is the largest rock art site on the southern Canadian Shield and the only major pictograph site in southern Ontario.
Along the base of a cliff, Mazinaw is the canvas for more than 260 painted images or pictographs.
The Chiefs of the Anishinabek Nation Southeast Region called out the vandalism in a statement, saying the site is sacred to their communities and others.
“It is appalling to see this purposeful desecration and vandalism to Mazinaw Rock,” Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Reg Niganobe said in the statement.
“This site is a living testament to the history of the Anishinaabe and other nations who used these waterways as travelling routes for generations. This blatant destruction is a deliberate attempt to further erase our history and deprives us and future generations of rightful access to our spiritual and sacred sites.”
After self-preserving the site for centuries, he said the official historic designation in 1982 was a welcome gesture.
“We appreciated the effort to preserve our living history through the protection of this sacred site; however, it is more than a historic site,” Niganobe said. “There are over 250 pictographs on the rocks at Mazinaw Lake that feature spiritual and cultural elements holding immeasurable value to our peoples; it is a link to our past, present and future. We all have the responsibility to ensure that Mazinaw Rock is protected for the benefit of the generations to come.”
The Anishinabek Nation will be reaching out to Parks Canada and the Province of Ontario to discuss how it can work together to properly clean the site, saying in a statement it needs to be done with the inclusion of proper cultural protocol and the involvement of local community Elders and Knowledge Keepers.
The First Nation is also calling for more protection efforts to ensure this type of vandalism does not happen again.
“We consider this heinous act a hate crime, rooted in discrimination and racism, and should be treated as such,” Niganobe said.
It has not been confirmed if all the vandalism is connected, but park officials say this is the first time this has happened and that it is “extremely disappointing.”
Ontario Parks confirms it is investigating the vandalism, but it is not known whether it will be able to fully restore the site to its former state.
Ontario Parks is asking anyone with information regarding these types of incidents to submit an anonymous tip to Bon Echo Provincial Park at 613-336-2228.
With files from Global News’ Fawwaz Muhammad-Yusuf