Book Review: Magic on the Rocks
by Brand Frentz

Furtman, Michael. Magic on the Rocks. Birch Portage Press, Duluth, 2000. 182 pp. $14.95 (paper).

Hats off to Michael Furtman! The Duluth outdoorsman and writer has put an enormous amount of work and thought into his recent book about the pictographs (drawings on rocks) in the BWCA and Quetico, and the result is an outstanding work on several levels. Magic on the Rocks is a practical guide to finding and viewing the pictographs, a clear and friendly explanation of Ojibwe traditions, and an invitation to speculate and let the magic flow from these wild mysteries. On top of that the book contains a short story centering on pictographs, and presents a useful technical innovation in clarifying the pictograph images.

The book describes all known pictograph sites in the Quetico-BWCA country. There are 50 pictographs at 34 locations. Agnes Lake in Quetico has the most with seven. Quetico has the majority of the pictographs, 39 sites at 24 locations; the BWCA has 11 sites in 10 places. Furtman believes, very reasonably, that there are more sites that have not been found yet. For example, it seems odd that there is only one site (Sea Gull Lake) in all of the eastern BWCA.

The book gives careful instructions on how to get to the pictographs, and includes clear maps with arrows pointing to the locations. Then Furtman tells you and shows pictures of what is to be seen at each site. His technical innovation is important here: the computer enhanced representations of the pictographs clarify images that, in nature, are often hard to find and even harder to understand. Some of the drawings remain mysterious, even when enhanced. But Furtman provides intelligent commentary and conjecture about what they are and what they mean. You take it from there.

Furtman says it is generally agreed that the pictographs were made by the Ojibwe. His book is respectful of the Ojibwe and their traditions. He walks lightly on this ground, and in my opinion succeeds in outlining the main elements of the culture into which the pictographs fit. He does this with an essay, "The People of the Shield," to start the book, and with a fictional story, "The Gift of the Caribou," at the end.

Furtman writes with a clear, sensible style. He says what he means. In this book, the subject is neither clear nor sensible; pictographs are mysterious and obscure. The contrast between his down-to-earth writing and this strange, otherworldly art is impressive. The unclear nature of the subject also leaves Furtman relying heavily on sentences that begin "This may be" and "That might mean" and "It could possibly be" and so on. This is simple honesty, because nobody knows for sure. Or if there are Ojibwe who do know, they aren’t talking (or writing books).

This is an excellent book for winter dreaming, to read by the fire. It will suggest routes to fascinating destinations: sit back, close your eyes, and imagine what you might see next summer. For the hard core or impatient, you could try to visit in winter, "but the wind can sure blow cold up there." In any case, you will definitely want to take this book along, or copy out the relevant pages.

It is worth every cent of its $14.95 price tag, but would be even better if a bibliography were added and the many typos were fixed.