Historic Sites of Manitoba: Boulder Mosaics / Bannock Point Petroforms (Whiteshell Provincial Park)

While the exact cultural origin of the boulder figures laid out on the tablerock in the Whiteshell Provincial Park is unknown, they are believed to be prehistoric, and may represent the ritual activity of Algonkian speaking groups. The turtles, snakes, humans and geometrics represented here cover nearly the full range of variation in North American sites of this kind. For this reason, and because of the limited styles of effigies which occur elsewhere, it may be that this phenomenon was diffused outward from the Whiteshell, particularly south and west through Minnesota, the Dakotas, Iowa, Nebraska, Montana and Alberta.

In 1959, a plaque was installed near the site by the Historic Sites Advisory Board of Manitoba.

Bannock Point Petroform (no date) Source: Historic Resources Branch Bannock Point Petroform (May 2020) Source: George Penner Commemorative plaque and information kiosk (October 2013) Source: Ed Ledohowski Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.11248, W95.61747 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Medicine on the Rocks, The Strange Tale of the Ojibwa Mosaics by Frank Hall
Manitoba Pageant, Volume 6, Number 3, April 1961

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Historic Sites Advisory Board of Manitoba / Manitoba Heritage Council

Sources:

We thank George Penner for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Ed Ledohowski and Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 10 May 2025

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