Writing-on-Stone / Áísínai’pi, Alberta

Writing-on-Stone / Áísínai’pi, was designated as a World Heritage site by UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee under the following criteria:

Criterion (iii)

The sacred landscape and the rock art of Writing-on-Stone / Áísínai’pi provide exceptional testimony to the living cultural traditions of the Blackfoot people. According to Blackfoot beliefs, spiritual powers inhabit the earth, and the characteristics of the landscape and the rock art in the property reflect tangible, profound and permanent links with this tradition. The viewsheds of the sacred valley, with high grassland prairies, also contribute to its sacred character and influence traditional cultural practices.

The property consists of three components – the main component Áísínai’pi, and some 10 km away, Haffner Coulee and Poverty Rock - and contains thousands of rock art images. Most of the dated archaeological remains cover a period from 1800 BCE up to the beginning of the post-contact period. The rock art has been made in the valley for thousands of years, and most of the images date from the pre-contact period, around 3000 BP.