Visit to the Petroglyphs site

Yesterday we spent several hours at the Jeffers site located just to the west of Comfrey, Minnesota. The Interpretive Staff were working with a busload of children from the Dawson/Boyd school district. We walked the two mile trail that goes through the tall grass prairie and up to quartzire ridge where the primary glyphs are located. It was nearing mid day so the rock drawings are not as evident as in the shadowy time of early morning and near sunset time. The glyphs pictures here were in the same shape as when the pictures were taken in 1996.

The Staff shared information new to me. Apparently some Native Elders are quite concerned that the glyphs and their designs not be used for commercial purposes. The offense is in that the glyphs have spiritual meaning for Native peoples and so the site is to be respected in the same way as a church, synagogue or mosque. Although I am not using them here in a commercial manner, some people may have question about their use in this web log. Here is my rationale.

In my study of world religions, the art and productions of those religions are common knowledge and are used to understand religious history and practice more fully.It is my observation that buildings and artistic creations are in the public realm and are open for observation, study and reflection. Hence, pictures are included on this site. Persons who may be offended need to be in touch with me.

More petroglyph photos added

After several months of inactivity, attention is returning to the Jeffers site in that a visit will be paid there later in the week. Additional information will be gathered and will eventually be reflected here.

One of the new pictures shows a surrounding field as it appeared in 1996. This is the year when the glyph photos were taken. Since the pictures were taken additional work has been done on the natural prairie area surrounding the site.

We will be giving special attention to the names of people who have lived on that acreage since it first came into ownership by white settlers. If anyone has more information on this, please send it to Delton.