The area's rock art represents both males and females, although the sex of many anthropomorphs cannot be determined. Since women painted many pictographs during their vision quests, the difficulty in determining a figure's sex is understandable. Sympathetic Magic Much of the rock art is of animals like deer and mountain sheep, and appears to have been sympathetic magic intended to aid in hunting. The image to the left, for example, depicts a mountain sheep with stylized internal organs. There are few images of the salmon, despite its importance to the food supply, because fishing was relatively easy given the abundance of salmon, and there was no need to invoke supernatural aid to catch fish.
Some rock art represents mythology.
The image to the right is of Spedis Owl whom the Wishram believe married a cannibal woman who steals children. Some rock art was instruction on proper behavior. The image below and to the right is from the Dalles, Oregon, and appears next to one of the best fishing locations. Before the Dalles Dam was built, the river narrowed for several miles and turned into a channel of boiling, white water several hundred feet wide that was an excellent fishing ground. The key to the meaning is given by the triangular symbol extending away from the buttocks.