Boulder in Thunderbird Park

This granite boulder, which weighs 1633 kg, was moved in 1935 from its location near an alkali lake approximately 11 km south of Kamloops to the grounds of the Tanquille Sanitarium a few kilometers away. It was donated to the provincial museum in 1940 and placed near the original Carving Studio. It was later moved to the northeast corner of Thunderbird Park.

When water fills the depression on top of the stone, it acts like a mirror. The details of its meaning have been lost but we know that First Nations in the area considered many of the isolated or unusual boulders to be transformed people or animals of an earlier time. The people of this early world had animal characteristics; they were gifted in magic and their children reached maturity in a few months. This era ended with the coming of the transformer beings who changed some people into real animals and others, as well as animals, into rocks. Many of these boulders were connected to the activities of the supernatural Coyote.