Ezhibiigaadek Asin (Sanilac Petroglyphs)
The Petroglyphs in the middle of Michigan’s Thumb are the coolest thing I have seen in this amazing state I had never heard of them until I went there. The Petroglyphs are Native American teachings carved into a huge stone outcropping called Ezhibiigaadek Asin, or “written on stone,” in Anishinaabemowin, the language of the Ojibwe. Although the area is a state park and managed by the DNR, it is also co-managed by the Saginaw Chippewa Nation. The petroglyphs are expected to be between 400 and 1400 years old, but they weren’t discovered by the white man until the late 1800s. In the summer of 1881 a fire broke out in northern Lapeer County that would burn almost the entire thumb of Michigan down. Almost 300 people were killed as over a million acres of land burnt to the ground, destroying over 2,000 buildings and causing damage in Sandusky, Deckerville, Bad Axe, Huron City, and Grindstone City. The fire took out everything in its path, revealing the rocky outcropping of sandstone that the petroglyphs had been carved into centuries before. The site was not properly preserved until the 1990s, about 20 years after it became a state park. Over the years, the weather has done damage to the sandstone, and humans have walked and graffitied over the petroglyphs. On a few occasions, people stole carvings of the rock by chiseling them away, leaving large holes in the outcropping. In 2019, the Saginaw Chippewa Nation began to co-manage the park, which I think is a step in the right direction. When we visited, I was blown away that the petroglyphs existed just 70 miles from where I grew up, and I had never heard of them. I take photos of literally everything, and I was so invested in looking at the carvings that I did not take a single picture. On my next visit, I may, but I might just get lost in them once again. The state park also offers a 2-mile hike that follows the Cass River, which we hiked and enjoyed very much. Ezhibiigaadek Asin was something I never imagined I would see in Michigan, but as usual, this state continues to surprise me.
