Rock Art Damaged in British Columbia

NANAIMO, BRITISH COLUMBIA—The Cedar By the Sea Petroglyphs site on Vancouver Island has reportedly been damaged by workers contracted by the local power company. “This is a well-known site. I don’t understand this to be a mistake that can be made… this is the kind of desecration where I would expect charges to be laid,” said Douglas White, chief of the Snuneymuxw First Nation. The same site was damaged in 1960 when a power pole was installed. Lyle Viereck, director of aboriginal relations for BC Hydro, said that the site had been omitted from the information provided to the contractor in error. Archaeologist Guy Prouty of Vancouver Island University commented that an inspection of the area should have been carried out before construction began.