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Image 2
Petroglyphs and Pictographs: Wyoming's Original
Artwork
Number Two: “Butterfly Panel” – Hot
Springs County
 This
fascinating petroglyph appears to exhibit a butterfly with a water
ghost figure. Insects are rare in Dinwoody petroglyphs and any
relationship between the butterfly and the water ghosts is not
understood. Perhaps the figure is actually intended to be a dragonfly
or some flying insect that lives near the water.
Note that the water ghost has a rattle much like other water
ghost figures. Judith Vander (1997:222) reports that Shoshone
rattles were sometimes made from a deer’s ears and filled
with pebbles from anthills and the pebbles were believed to contain
the power of the ants below. In the merged world of multiple powers,
the rattles of the water ghosts expand the power to combine the
underwater spirits with those found under the ground.
The characteristic canid-like figure is also present in the petroglyph;
the relationship between the spiritual deities and dogs is not
understood. The Sheep Eaters or Mountain Shoshone – who
archaeologists believe made the vast majority of the Dinwoody
Tradition petroglyphs -- raised and used large wolf-like dogs,
both as beasts of burden and to drive game in the hunt. It is
possible that the dogs in the petroglyphs are simply a signature
figure to denote the Mountain Shoshone.
Reproduction of a tracing completed by Linda Olson with Wendy
Kimble. Research sponsored by Bureau of Land Management, Worland
and Minot State University.
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