Lessons learned from the petroglyphs

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

JEFFERS -- Sleepy Eye St. Mary's Junior High students enjoyed variety on a Wednesday field trip.

Stops ranged from the Jeffers Petroglyphs to the Richard Wildt alpaca farm near Morgan.

Although the petroglyphs site is closed for the season, it was opened by staff to accommodate the students.

Interpreter Tom Sanders described the site "a very sacred place, like a church" that has been mapped with satellite technology.

Students also learned about Indian spirituality. All life is wakan (sacred). So are the wind, clouds, stars, even the storms. Rock formations provide a link between the physical and spiritual worlds. They were chosen to record visions, events, stories and maps. It is a place where grandmother earth speaks to the past, present and future.

Scholars say ancestors of American Indians made rock carvings or petroglyphs on the Sioux quartzite outcropping 5,000 years ago. Some carvings were created as recently as 250 years ago.

Images include buffalos, throwing sticks, darts, thunderbirds, turtles and humans.

Students learned about alpacas (domesticated South American llamas) on the Wildt farm. The Wildts were the first Americans to raise alpacas.

The herd animals are known for their long, luxurious, silky wool used for blankets, sweaters and other clothing.

Alpaca fibers are as soft as cashmere and warmer, lighter and stronger than wool and come in 22 natural colors, mostly a blend of black, white and brown.

Wildt raises alpacas because of the return on investment, tax benefits, fleece and love for them as pets. With 300 animals, the Wildts have the fifth-largest alpaca herd in the country.

"They're a heck of a lot more profitable than corn and soybeans," Wildt said.