Agawa Bay | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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Agawa Bay

Agawa Bay is located 90 km northwest of Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, on the north shore of Lake Superior. The area was sacred to the Ojibwa and the name is Indigenous for "sacred place".
Agawa Pictograph Site
Profile of the Agawa site (courtesy of Serge Lema\u00eetre).

Agawa Bay is located 90 km northwest of Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, on the north shore of Lake Superior. The area was sacred to the Ojibwa and the name is Indigenous for "sacred place." The magnificent beach is strewn with innumerable pebbles, worn smooth by the waves. Nearby bands of rock, some 1 billion, some 2.5 billion years old, lie twisted in layers like hardened candy. The famous pictographs are on the sheer rock face above. Located by Selwyn Dewdney in 1959, the red ochre and grease paintings are thought to celebrate a safe passage across the lake, or possibly a war victory of a great chief, some 200 years ago. Among the images are a fabulous panther, a serpent and a rider and galloping horse.