Development threatening sacred petroglyphs

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A set of 500-year-old stone drawings outside Halifax, Nova Scotia Micmacs say should be a treasured piece of Aboriginal history will have to wait at least a few months longer to gain recognition as a national historic site.

At their meeting in June, the National Historic Sites and Monuments Board decided that although the drawings, called petroglyphs, were "of obvious importance to the Mi'Kmaq people," the board needed "more contextual information" before deciding to protect the area and develop it as an historical resource.

The board won't meet again until November.

"It's a little worrying," said Dwight Dorey, president of the Native Council of Nova Scotia. "The board seems to be talking more about the petroglyphs themselves, not the land surrounding them. This site has had major significance in our culture, our history, our spiritual values."

The petroglyphs, covering about 90 acres of rocky, marshy woods called the Barrens just inside the town limits of Bedford, were discovered in 1983, hidden under layers of moss and bush. Archaeologist and Micmac historians say they are likely the work of the Micmaqs who lived in the area from before the arrival of the European explorers. Micmac peoples of the time kept record of their history and culture through stone drawings, and the sites where the drawings were made probably had spiritual significance. Archaeologists believe Micmacs used the Barrens for religious ceremonies.

"When I first visited the site, I was quite taken," said Dorey. "I had this feeling that I'd never had before. It was like I was there all by myself, even though a couple of other people were with me. There seemed to be no sounds, no modern atmosphere. It was like I was transported back in time."

But more recently, the Barrens have been targeted to be wiped out. A Bedford company, Redden Brothers Development, has asked the town to approve its developing the land for residential use. Bedford, a prosperous suburb of Halifax, is expanding rapidly, and Redden Brothers would put more than 150 single family homes and townhouses, along with 8 apartment buildings on 13.2 hectares of the Barrens.

When Micmacs pointed out the history of the Barrens, the town of Bedford put the development on hold and studied the area, analyzing the petroglyphs archeologically and tracing the legal background of the land.

A Bedford advisory committee recommended in the summer of 1992 the Barrens be recognized as a spiritual site the municipal, provincial and federal government should protect as an history resource. That would permanently stop any development of the Barrens.

Since then, the federal National Historic Sites and Monuments Board agreed to look at the case, and the provincial government arranged to swap land with the owners of the land directly around the petroglyphs, protecting 14.8 hectares. Micmacs leaders say that's not enough - another 21 hectares, including the land drawn out in the development proposal, should also be protected.

But Bedford town council still hasn't officially stopped the development. A preliminary public information meeting was held in early July, and the town's planing committee is concerning the Redden Brothers proposal. A formal public hearing will probably happen in mid-August.

"It's confusing to me," said Dorey. "Even though Peter Kelly (mayor of Bedford) has been supportive in town meetings, Bedford hasn't taken any initiative to stop development aside from watching the provincial and federal governments."

But Kelly says he's not the bad guy.

"I'm in support of protecting the Barrens," said Kelly. "But the current land owners also have intrinsic rights under the Municipal Planning Strategy. Even though we're hoping to secure the historic site status, (Redden Brothers) is entitled to the process regarding their develop proposal. We're trying to respect both sides, and it's not easy.

The latest ruling from the Historic Sites Board is an optimistic sign, said Kelly.

The Grnd Chief of Grand Council, all 13 Nova Scotia band chiefs and Dorey held a ceremony on the Barrens in June, declaring them "our responsibility to protect and nurture." They claimed the site to be traditional Micmac land, with inalienable historical and spiritual significance.

"Any development just flies right in the face of the Micmac people," said Dorey. "It totally rejects our legitimate concerns. And I think the responsibility for that lies squarely on the shoulders of "Bedford) town council."