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Archaeological discoveries and syntheses in Western Canada, 2020 ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALBERTA OCCASIONAL PAPER NO. 40 Anthropomorphic Napi effigies on the northwestern Plains: A petroform record of Siksikaitsitapi (Blackfoot) belief Trevor R. Pecka* a Circle CRM Group Inc., 102, 9440 49 Street, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6B 2M9 *corresponding author: [email protected] ABSTRACT Anthropomorphic Napi effigies are petroforms (boulder outlines) of a static, frontal, male figure with a simple head, rectangular body, upraised arms, heart-line (lifeline), simple-extensions legs with out-turned feet and male genitalia. These petroforms have been called ‘Napi’ effigies owing to evidence linking them to the Siksikaitsitapi (Blackfoot) entity. This link was suggested over 50 years ago by Thomas F. Kehoe, Alice B. Kehoe and Richard G. Forbis for anthropomorphic petroforms in Montana, Alberta and Saskatchewan. More recently, J. Roderick Vickers formalized criteria that separate these Napi effigies from other human effigies. Since then, six new figures meeting the criteria of Napi effigies have been found compelling the reconsideration of four previously discounted effigies. This larger sam- ple of distinct anthropomorphic effigies (n=22) provides an opportunity for a further assessment of their style and dis- tribution. A stronger case is made for linking the distinct anthropomorphic effigies to theSiksikaitsitapi (Blackfoot). KEYWORDS Napi (Old Man), Natos/Natosi (Sun, Creator Sun), Siksikaitsitapi (Blackfoot), Old Women’s Phase, legendary history/ mythology, petroform, human effigy 1. Introduction Napi effigies are petroforms (boulder outlines) of a ed their authorship and age has not been resolved (Worm- static, frontal, male figure with a simple single-tier cairn ington and Forbis 1965:100; Vickers 2008:218). head, rectangular body, upraised arms (sometimes with fingers), heart-line (or lifeline), simple-extension legs (of- Vickers (2003, 2008) provided the most recent review ten with out-turned feet) and genitalia (Kehoe and Kehoe of Napi effigies establishing that twelve figures are pres- 1959; Wormington and Forbis 1965; Vickers 2003, 2008). ent on the Northern Plains. The current paper provides These archaeological phenomena are referred to as Napi evidence of six newly recorded human effigies that meet effigies owing to the efforts of numerous researchers to the criteria for Napi effigies; these new data provide com- link them to the venerated Siksikaitsitapi (Blackfoot) enti- pelling evidence for reconsideration of four previously ty. While there is no doubt that the effigies are recognised discounted effigies. The larger sample of Napi effigies as Napi by modern Blackfoot people (Kehoe and Kehoe (n=22) allows for an expanded assessment of style and 1959:123; Vickers 2008:199), past scholars have suggest- distribution. 71 Peck / Archaeological Survey of Alberta Occasional Paper 40 (2020) 71–91 2. Background With regards to further interpretation of anthropomor- Napi effigies were first described in the archaeological lit- phic effigies, Wormington and Forbis (1965:100) were quite erature in 1956 (Daugherty 1956:219; Krieger 1956:450). At guarded. They acknowledged that the effigies surrounded by this time, however, the figures were not ascribed to Napi. In specific oral histories could be linked to that group and con- 1959, Kehoe and Kehoe (1959:125) documented the Boze- sidered historic or proto-historic, while the more ‘mythical’ man effigy and tied it to Grinnell’s re-telling of Napi’s travels: human effigies interpreted as Napi may have been construct- ed by unrelated people and taken over by the Blackfoot as [Old Man] made the Milk River (the Teton) and crossed these figures are widely distributed over the Northern Plains. it, and being tired, went up on a little hill and lay down Thus, Wormington and Forbis (1965:98-100) recognised two to rest. As he lay on his back, stretched out on the basic categories of human figures: Historic Period effigies ground, with arms extended, he marked himself out documenting actual historic events and single figures without with stones, - the shape of his body, head, legs, arms associated features representing the ‘mythological’ past. and everything (Grinnell 1962:137). Gill and Hymers (1968) examined the human effigy at Cabri In another Grinnell reference, they noted: Lake, Saskatchewan and echoed sentiments of the Kehoes (1959) that such anthropomorphic effigies were representa- When [Old Man] had come nearly to the Red Deer’s tions of Napi. Working in Montana, Malouf (1975) recorded River, he reached the hill where the Old Man sleeps. the Bozeman human effigy and attributed it to the Blackfoot There he lay down and rested himself. The form of his citing the Kehoes (1959). Interestingly the Kehoes, who had body is to be seen there yet (Grinnell 1892:143 in Ke- supplied much initial insight to human effigies, provided an hoe and Kehoe 1959:125). interpretation at the Roy River’s Medicine Wheel that shift- ed emphasis away from human effigies. At the Roy Rivers The Kehoes acknowledged there were a number of other Medicine Wheel, a cluster of cobbles inside the stone circle effigies similar in form and appearance to the Bozeman effigy and adjacent to the cairn had been mapped and interpreted in Alberta’s Red Deer River area, including Steveville (Sand- as a ‘man’ but the Kehoes reinterpreted the cluster of stones gathe), Rumsey, and Consort, and another in Saskatchewan. as a ‘sunburst’ owing to their interest at the time in celestial Although willing to suggest ties to Napi, it is interesting that alignments and petroforms (Kehoe and Kehoe 1979). More the Kehoes referred to these effigies as ‘dead’ boulder effigies recently, Brace (2005) synthesized petroforms on the North- owing to their lack of associated historic narrative accounts ern Plains. With regards to human effigies, he provided an (Kehoe and Kehoe 1959:123). They took this position despite updated list of recorded sites, but little with regards to novel that fact that one of their own informants, Chewing Black interpretation. Bones, attributed the Bozeman effigy to “…the mythical Napi, the Old Man, or Creator” (Kehoe and Kehoe 1959:125). Vickers (1998, 2003, 2008) synthesised knowledge of hu- man effigies on the Plains and provided strong evidence that In Alberta, Richard Forbis of the Glenbow Foundation had Napi effigies are a sub-group of human effigies on the Plains. been recording Napi effigies since the mid-1960s (Alberta As a larger group, human effigies consist of petroforms cre- Archaeological Site Data Inventory Forms- EiPf-1, ElPd-44). ated using boulder outlines, rock cairns, or boulder filled fig- Wormington and Forbis (1965, see also Forbis 1970:32-34) ures, rock covered mounds, and even sod cut figures, all of discussed the Consort, British Block, and Rumsey effigies which are restricted to the Central and Northern Plains (Vick- as likely representing “…the peregrinations of Napi, the ers 2008). While human effigies take on a variety of forms, Blackfoot trickster, as he coursed his way over the Alberta Vickers (2008) refined Wormington and Forbis’ (1965) ideas Plains”. They noted that these human figures lacked accom- and argued that petroforms depicting humans on the Plains panying ‘action’ features. In contrast, Wormington and For- could be classified into two distinct categories: 1) Narrative bis (1965:100) saw other human effigies as commemorating human effigies with similarities to Biographic Tradition rock historic events: art and Robe and Ledger art traditions of the Historic Period, and 2) Iconic human effigies with similarities to Ceremonial Some [human effigies] commemorate events that have Tradition rock art of the Late Prehistoric Period. This classi- occurred in living memory. They are usually concerned fication system relied heavily on previous rock art research with the murder of an individual from a neighboring (e.g., Keyser 1977, 1987; Klassen 1995) that suggested Pre- band or tribe. The effigy figures are usually accompa- historic Period images tended to consist of iconic figures that nied by other rock formations that are said to indicate were static, frontal depictions without references to actual the routes of the participants in the story. landscapes while Historic Period images were narrative with action attributes often relatable to known historic tales. 72 Peck / Archaeological Survey of Alberta Occasional Paper 40 (2020) 71–91 Narrative human effigies include petroforms such as the legs extend directly below the rectangular body with feet that Young Medicine Man effigy (EcPf-67) and the Wild Tur- appear to point south. The area where the genitals should be nip Hill effigy (DjPg-2) in Alberta (Vickers 2008). Both located exhibits a few rocks that may represent a phallus or sites are associated with historic stories and ‘action’ lines may be part of the rectangular body. Unlike other Napi ef- accompanying the ‘protagonist’ human figures (Kehoe and figies, this effigy has two small, single-tier cairns on either Kehoe 1959; Dempsey 1994). Similarly, narrative figures side of it, located at the waist-level (see Table 1, Figure 1). are known from South Dakota. At Punished Woman’s Hill a male and female human effigy, with accompanying cobble The British Block Medicine Wheel and Napi effigy lines and cairns, are associated with an historic story (Lewis (EdOp-1) is located on the highest hill in the area overlook- 1889; Vickers 2008). Some of these figures are cobble out- ing Dishpan Lake and the Middle Sand Hills. The British line figures while others are infilled and there is substantial Block Medicine Wheel, with which the Napi effigy is asso- variability in size amongst the figures (For a more complete ciated, consists of a central cobble cairn 9 m in diameter and review of narrative figures see Vickers [2008]). 5 m high that is encircled by a cobble circle 30 m in diame- ter (Wormington and Forbis 1965:123-124 Forbis 1970:33; Iconic human effigies are almost entirely restricted to Napi Quigg 1984:77-81).

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