The labyrinth at Louise McKinney Park was designed and built in June 2010 by Leah Dorion. She is a Metis artist from Saskatchewan who constructed the labyrinth as part of The Works, Edmonton's annual art and design festival. The labyrinth's official name is Turtle Rock Effigy and here is a description of its significance from the festival program:
Turtle Rock Effigy combines the First Nations turtle rock effigy with a Celtic labyrinth path on its back, a symbolic representation of the bringing together of First Nations and European cultures.
Zing! The lightbulb comes on! Turtle Island is the traditional native name for North America. And so all those rock piles around the edge of the labyrinth must represent the head, limbs and tail of the turtle! I certainly didn't figure that out when I was there, so I must return to walk the labyrinth again sometime in light of this new understanding!
[Photo of Leah Dorion and her turtle labyrinth artwork found on her website. Photo by Debra She Who Seeks.]
17 comments:
That is lovely, and I am envious of your abundance of labyrinths.
I thought it was an ancient one.
I love it even more now.Beautiful!
Fascinating and yes, those strange rock piles make much more sense now.
I love the turtle labyrinth. Very beautiful artwork. Fun fact: it's hard to solve mazes when you've been drinking. Also, sharpie doesn't come off of computer monitors. Live and learn.
oh how cool!
nice blog you have here!
Behind everything is a story that makes the item or event even more interesting. Good for you for finding out the story of this labyrinth and letting us know.
Ergh! Is that still a beer can in the center? I can't tell.
Thanks for the info on this artist, Debra!
Very cool.
Oh how wonderful for you to post this. Thanks for looking it up. Yes, muskrat swam down deep enough finally of all the animals who tried to bring some dirt up from the bottom of the waters, and put the dirt on turtle's back and from there the land grew and became North America. I love that story. :-)
wow..I love when I learn something new
Yes, that does all makes sense now.....seeing the photo and artwork. Thanks Debra.
I asbolutely love when you post about labryinths! The turtle is especially meaningful to me as it's my power animal. Other people get power animals like wolves or hawks; I get turtle. It just speaks to me. My shaman friend calls me Turtle Woman. I'd love to walk this Turtle Labyrinth. When you go back, please give a thought to me walking with you. :-)
Oops! Typo: labyrinths
superb :)
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