Graffiti on a rock that has held a petroglyph of Kokopelli for the last few hundred years. Courtesy photo

BY SUSANNA MARSHLAND

someone has added a modern-day message on a rock that has held a petroglyph of Kokopelli for the last few hundred years.

I have been hiking the Red Dot Trail most of my life, and in the past few years have observed a proliferation of new additions, some likely done with a Dremel tool, some perhaps created by hand. In some places, a few scribbles have damaged the ancient artwork. Fortunately, many of these new creations are on different rocks, unlike the one depicted, which is only inches away from the Kokopelli. While some of the new messages and/or images might have meaning or resonate with me, I nonetheless find myself deeply disturbed by their proximity to what I experience as ancient and meaningful creations of past peoples. These modern day creations disturb my sense of the sacred history depicted in the ancient images. So far as I know, I am not a direct descendant of these ancient peoples, but I wonder how I might feel if I were?

So, to the anonymous artists who have created these messages: your works might convey something important to you at this moment in time, but please consider locating them elsewhere, so that they are set apart from these ancient works and situated in a context reflective of our present culture. I would enjoy your creations if they weren’t taking away from what is already located there and reflective of a very different time and context.  

Susanna Marshland is an intermittent resident of White Rock (and Kensington CA)