'Shameful' vandalism of sacred Indigenous site at Bon Echo Provincial Park

Hundreds of Indigenous pictographs have covered the soaring cliffs of Mazinaw Rock for centuries, but in recent weeks they've been joined by names hastily scratched into the stone.

Located at Bon Echo Provincial Park, roughly 115 kilometres northwest of Kingston, Ont., the rock is a national historic site and considered sacred.

Ontario Parks said officials were notified about the damage on Sept. 2 and believe a stone was used to etch names near the pictographs.

It described the vandalism as "shameful" and said staff are investigating.

Mazinaw Rock holds deep cultural and spiritual meaning, according to Veldon Coburn, an associate professor at McGill University and a member of Algonquins of Pikwakanagan.

"There's very few [sites] on Algonquin territory left and through the Anishinabek Nations that haven't been destroyed by colonialism," he explained.

"This kind of thing is like our Mona Lisa. There are things that you can't duplicate."

More than 260 pictographs, painted using red ochre, are scattered along the base of the rock face.

They're believed to be between 300 and 1,000 years old and thought to have been made by ancestors of the Anishinaabe, which includes Algonquins, Ontario Parks spokesperson Zachary Tucker wrote in an email.

Staff are now "assessing the damage and determining potential repairs" and have contacted the Algonquins of Ontario to talk about the vandalism, his statement reads.

Provincial police said they've also been in touch with park staff about what happened.

Coburn said the entire site is significant both as a meeting place and as a "picture of our history."

The Anishinabek Nation shared a similar message, writing that Mazinaw Rock is a "living testament to the history of the Anishinaabe and other nations who used these waterways ... for generations."

Its statement referred to the vandalism as "appalling," saying they consider this "heinous act a hate crime."

Grand Council Chief Reg Niganobe told CBC in an interview that the pictographs tell stories and teach lessons. 

Chiefs with the nations felt "frustration, a little bit of anger and some sadness" when they heard about the vandalism, he added, calling it "an attack on our identity."

Niganobe said the rock is more than a historic site — it's a link connecting their past, present and future.

"We all have the responsibility to ensure that Mazinaw Rock is protected for the benefit of the generations to come."