Grandfather Rocks
In Anishinaabe tradition, Kinoomaag Waapkong (Grandfather Rocks) are living Elders who hold memory, spirit, and sacred teachings. Formed at Creation, they ground the land and guide us with humility, resilience, and respect. These stones reveal themselves when teachings are needed, embodying the Seven Grandfather Teachings and reminding us of our kinship with all Creation, our duties to the land, and the strength in quiet endurance.
Rocks as Living Elders
In Anishinaabe worldview, mishoomis manidoog, the spirits of our Grandfathers, reside in the stones. These Grandfather Rocks are living beings, not metaphors. They hold memory and presence, and they reveal themselves when teachings are needed. Gently brushing away moss or soil is itself a ceremonial act—an invitation to witness what the land is ready to share.
One story that carries this teaching comes from the Berens River region of northern Manitoba and Ontario, where Chief William Berens (1877–1947) served as Keeper of a sacred site known for its distinctive, rounded stones. These rocks were considered animate Elders, beings with spirit and voice, and Chief Berens inherited their care from his great-grandfather, a respected Midewiwin priest named Yellow Legs.
In stories passed down to anthropologist A. Irving Hallowell, Yellow Legs is said to have walked across the water in broad daylight to an island, guided and returned by the memegwesug, mysterious spirit beings who live in rocks. He brought back sacred medicine and gulls’ eggs “so that people would believe in his power.”
In another vision, Yellow Legs dreamed of a large round stone located on Egg Island. He instructed two men to retrieve it by following a bear’s tracks along the shore. As foretold, they found the stone beneath broken branches and returned it to him. In ceremony, this stone revealed a mouth-like opening when tapped with a knife. From it, Yellow Legs would draw out a medicine packet and prepare a healing concoction to be shared among those present. That same stone remained in the family, eventually coming into the care of William Berens, who dreamed, like his ancestor, of the memegwesug, but chose not to ask them for medicine.
These teachings exemplify the Anishinaabe understanding that rocks are not inanimate objects, but Elders in their own right. Through memory, presence, and vision, they connect generations, ceremonies, and spirit worlds, speaking quietly to those prepared to listen.
Story Stones and Creation Roots
In many Anishinaabe histories, rocks were among the first beings shaped by the Creator, witnesses to the birth of the land, keepers of memory, and teachers in their own right.
One powerful site is Kinomaage Waapkong, where over 1,000 carved petroglyphs tell stories of clan responsibilities, teachings for men and women, connections to ceremony, and the sacredness of life. These images speak of Weneboozhoo, the Elder Brother, of the moon and waters, of spiritual obligations and communal roles. Beneath the stone once flowed water said to carry the voices of teachers and healers.
For generations, families paddled to this site. Elders uncovered the carvings with care, shared teachings, and then covered the stones again, protecting them until the next time they were needed. These stones are M’shoomisnaan (Grandfathers), living beings who have witnessed time and continue to guide us. The ceremonies held here—fasts, feasts, prayers, sweat lodges, offerings—honour the land, the ancestors, and the enduring spirit of the teachings.
Youth are at the heart of this story. Today, young First Nations staff at Kinomaage Waapkong carry the responsibility of learning these teachings and sharing them with respect. Their journeys echo the wisdom passed down for generations: that it is the youth who will lead us back to tradition.
We call this path Bimaadiziwin: living life in a good way, with humility, balance, and respect. The stones continue to teach, and we continue to learn.
Embedding the Seven Grandfather Teachings
Grandfather Rocks are quiet teachers, bearing the weight of memory, presence, and spirit. In Anishinaabe thought, they reflect and embody the Seven Grandfather Teachings: foundational values passed from generation to generation to guide us in living Bimaadiziwin, a good life in harmony with all of Creation.
As the story goes, the Creator gave Seven Grandfathers the sacred task of watching over the Anishinaabe people. To share their wisdom, they sent a Messenger to find someone who could carry these teachings. After a long search, the Messenger returned with a child, who was then taken on a seven-year journey to learn the Anishinaabe way of life. Upon his return, the Grandfathers gifted him with seven teachings: love, respect, bravery, truth, honesty, humility, and wisdom. These teachings should be viewed as relationships, not proscriptive rules. They are ways of being that live in the land, in the animals, and in us.
Each teaching finds echoes in the natural world. Love is carried by the eagle, who soars high and sees far, strong enough to hold all the other teachings. Respect is embodied by the buffalo, who offers its whole being to sustain others, asking nothing in return. Humility, practiced by the wolf, teaches us to know our place within the pack, to live for the good of the whole rather than the ego of the self. The bear brings bravery, not just in battle, but in the courage to protect, nurture, and face our fears. The beaver shows wisdom in how he shapes his world for future generations, using his gifts with care. Honesty is reflected in beings like the raven and the sabe (Bigfoot), who walk upright in truth and know who they are. And the turtle, who carries the story of creation on his back, teaches us truth, not as opinion, but as something lived and experienced over time.
In Anishinaabemowin, the Seven Grandfather Teachings are ways of living, rooted in action and responsibility. Dabasendiziwin (humility) teaches us to understand ourselves in relation to all that sustains us. Debwewin (truth) asks us to communicate only from what we have lived and know to be real. Zaagi’idiwin (love) flows outward, a practice of care that includes all beings, human and more-than-human. Manaaji’idiwin (respect) means honouring the balance of life and treating all of Creation with gentleness. Zoongide’ewin (bravery) calls us to face hardship with a strong heart. Gwayakwaadiziwin (honesty) is the courage to live with integrity, without pretence or falsehood. And Nibwaakaawin (wisdom) reminds us to use the gifts we’ve been given to live well, not just for ourselves, but for our communities and future generations. These words carry the structure of verbs, ways it is done. Like Grandfather Rocks, they are shaped by time, pressure, and relationship. They are not called upon lightly; they are lived.
Elders often draw comparisons between the teachings and the qualities of stone: quiet endurance, grounded presence, and the strength to hold memory without ego. In the presence of Grandfather Rocks, these teachings are not called upon so much as felt. They are carved into the land, embedded in the silence, waiting for those who come with humility and respect to learn.
In a world that often moves too fast, the Grandfather Teachings offer another way, a reminder to slow down, to live rightly, and to carry our responsibilities to each other, to the land, and to future generations. The rocks teach us that strength does not shout; it learns. It remembers.
Cultural Landmarks and Ceremony
Across Anishinaabe homelands, Grandfather Rocks are both markers of memory and living landmarks. These are places where ceremony unfolds, where teachings are passed on, and where people gather to remember their responsibilities to the land and to one another. Some are hidden in quiet forests or revealed beside rivers. Others now stand in public view, carrying teachings into shared space.
In Marquette, Michigan, the Seven Grandfather Teachings—Zaagi’idiwin (Love), Manaaji’idiwin (Respect), Gwayakwaadiziwin (Honesty), Zoongide’ewin (Bravery), Debwewin (Truth), Dabasendiziwin (Humility), and Nibwaakaawin (Wisdom)—have been carved into stone by contemporary Anishinaabe artist Jason Quigno, a citizen of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. His monumental sculptures, unveiled at the city’s waterfront in 2023, form a sacred circle of Grandfathers. These stones are the first completed element of Marquette’s Seven-Mile Shoreline Cultural Trail, a project that honours the region’s diverse cultural heritage and uplifts the Anishinaabe presence in spaces long marked by erasure.
Each of Quigno’s seven stones embodies one of the Grandfather Teachings. Locally sourced and carefully sculpted, they bring ancestral values into public consciousness. The site is being developed as a ‘natural room,’ encircled by birch trees and native plantings, where people can pause, reflect, and connect with the land and the histories it holds. In future phases, the City of Marquette and the Public Art Commission plan to install an Ishkode, a symbolic fire created from three entwined stones, representing the Anishinaabek Council of Three Fires.
This ceremonial and interpretive space is just one part of a broader effort to reconnect people with the spirit of place. The Cultural Trail will eventually stretch from Gichi-namebini-ziibiing (the Carp River) to Presque Isle, passing through Mattson Park and other significant sites. Future story markers will explore additional Indigenous teachings and histories, helping all visitors understand that these lands were never empty; that teachings have always been here.
Projects like this are about relationship and return, not just art and public space. They are contemporary ceremonies in their own right: acts of remembrance, reclamation, and respect. Whether gathered in the forest for a sweat lodge or pausing before a carved stone along a lakeside path, the presence of Grandfather Rocks continues to root us in kinship with land, with story, and with each other.
Indigenous content does not yet reflect direct consultation with local Elders, Knowledge Keepers, or Indigenous governance bodies. It is being developed by Design de Plume Inc. with the Georgian Bay Geopark team, drawing on publicly available sources and community-shared materials such as cultural reports, language guides, and interpretive writings, used respectfully as a foundation for future, community-guided storytelling. It will be guided by the OCAP® principles of Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession and shaped through meaningful engagement with the communities whose histories and teachings are connected to this land. Design de Plume is committed to supporting the Geopark’s ongoing efforts to expand and steward this content through Indigenous leadership.
Why Grandfather Rocks Matter
Anchoring Identity and Knowledge
M’shoomisnaan (Grandfather Rocks) are living beings, memory keepers, and Elders in stone. In Anishinaabe and Wendat worldviews, knowledge is rooted in land and relationship. These rocks offer tangible, land-based pathways to reconnect with teachings that guide communities across generations. They remind us to live Bimaadiziwin, a good life grounded in balance, responsibility, and deep respect for all beings.
Guardians of
Knowledge
Not every Grandfather Rock is meant to be seen. Many are kept private, protected by families and communities. The act of revealing a teaching stone, of brushing away moss or returning to a known site, is itself ceremonial. These rocks appear when the time is right, when the learner is ready. Their presence teaches us that knowledge is not something to be extracted or displayed, but entered into through care and relationship.
Teaching
Resilience
In times of disruption—ecological, cultural, or spiritual—Grandfather Rocks remind us to pay attention, to endure, and to remember. Formed by fire, pressure, and time, they model the quiet strength needed to hold memory. Their presence calls us back to the values of our ancestors: humility, patience, and care. In this way, they offer more than stories; they offer strategies for survival, cultural continuity, and renewal.
Discover the DEEP TIME geology of the Georgian Bay Geopark
DEEP TIME’ is the themed expression of how exploring and understanding the past helps create a better future. The unique DEEP TIME story and its eight geological chapters encourages both visitors and residents to know the past, celebrate the present and help create a more resilient future for the Bay and its many communities.
DEEP TIME Zone 1
The Huronian
Ocean
2.7 billion years
Sault Ste Marie to Serpent River
The ancient mineral-rich rocks of the North Channel record the breakup of the planet’s oldest supercontinent – and the birth of the Huronian Ocean.
DEEP TIME Zone 2
Continents
Collide
1.8 billion years
Serpent River to Killarney
The Group of Seven’s white rolling quartzite hills are the stumps of mountains formed when landmasses collided to form supercontinent Nuna
DEEP TIME Zone 3
The Ancient
Himalayas
1.3 billion years
Killarney to Honey Harbour
The waterscape of the 30,000 Islands exposes the deep crustal roots of the immense Grenville Mountains formed when North and South America collided.
DEEP TIME Zone 4
Tropical
Seas
500 million years
Manitoulin Island
Much of North America was covered by warm shallow seas, teeming with early marine life that left fossil-rich limestones on Manitoulin Island.
DEEP TIME Zone 5
The Limestone
Coast
350 million years
Tobermory to Wiarton
Within the last 2 million years, the Bruce/Saugeen peninsula was scoured by Ice Age ice sheets that cut deep valleys into the face of the Niagara Escarpment such as at Owen Sound.
DEEP TIME Zone 6
Ice Ages &
Early
Cultures
13,000 years
Collingwood to Wiarton
The raised beaches of glacial Lake Algonquin surround the coast of southern Georgian Bay like staircases and hosted the camps of caribou-hunting Paleo-Indians 11,000 years ago.
DEEP TIME Zone 7
The Meeting
Place
Last 10,000 years
Collingwood to Honey Harbour
The ancient hard rocks of the Canadian Shield meet the softer limestones of the ancient seas creating a stark contrast in landscapes, ecosystems, and a diverse cultural history unique in North America.
DEEP TIME Zone 8
Mindo Gami Great
Spirit Lake
4,000 years to today
Waters of Georgian Bay
In 1615 Samuel de Champlain called Georgian Bay ‘La Mer Douce’ (the sweet water sea). An early map also portrays it as Karegnondi, derived from ‘lake’ in the language of the Petun First Nation.