Exploring the cultural significance of Indigenous rock art and its history. Rock art—etched in blood-red lines into granite cliffs, boulders, and caves—appears as a beguiling, graffiti-like abstraction. But, the petroglyphs and red-ochre pictographs found across Nlaka’pamux territory in present-day British Columbia and Washington State are far more than ancient motifs. Signs of the Time explores the historical and cultural reasons for making rock art.  Archaeologist Chris Arnett draws on extensive research and decades of work with Nlaka’pamux people to document the variability and similarity of practices. Through a blend of Western records and Indigenous oral histories and tradition, rock art is revealed as communication between the spirit and physical worlds, information for later generations, and powerful protection against challenges to a people, land, and culture. Nlaka’pamux have used such cultural means to forestall threats to their lifeways from the sixteenth century through the twentieth. As this important work attests, rock art remains a signature of resilience. "This book is for those who enjoy an ontological mystery. This book is for those who live their lives through story." -- Wendy Burton, University of the Fraser Valley ― The British Columbia Review In this beautiful book, Chris Arnett illuminates the artistry of Nłeʔkepmx rock painting with passion and precision. In doing so, he draws the reader into British Columbia’s forests and lakes, river canyons and mountain cliffs to paint a stunning tapestry of Indigenous creativity and power. A magnificent achievement! -- Wendy Wickwire, professor emerita in the Department of History at the University of Victoria and author of At the Bridge: James Teit and an Anthropology of Belonging Innovative and provocative, Signs of the Time adds dramatically to the discussion of how Western science interacts with and accommodates Indigenous knowledge, concerns, and heritage. -- David S. Whitley, author of Cave Paintings and the Human Spirit: The Origin of Creativity and Belief Signs of the Time is informative and accessible, giving equal voice to Indigenous knowledge keepers and academics in presenting the ideas in petroglyphs and pictographs. It is an excellent example of how Eurowestern academics can work alongside Indigenous knowledge experts to understand the Indigenous world. I highly recommend it. -- Lorna Wanosts’a7 Williams EdD; OC; OBC; Lil’watul; professor emerita, University of Victoria A major compendium of Nłeʔkepmx ethnohistorical and ethnographic accounts. Chris Arnett has undertaken a commendable enterprise in this book. -- George P. Nicholas, professor, Archaeology, Simon Fraser University Drawing on a unique blend of Indigenous and Western sources, Signs of the Time explores Nlaka’pamux rock art making to reveal the historical and cultural meaning beneath its beguiling imagery. Chris Arnett is an archaeologist, researcher, and writer who lives on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia. He has lectured in anthropology and archaeology at the University of British Columbia, the University of Victoria, and Malaspina University-College (now Vancouver Island University).