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Written by Brian Grover
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Monday, 19 February 2007 11:58 |
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The Dancing Man, Gabriola's most famous petroglyph, had become a defacto logo for the island and its Summer Music Festival. The charming figure was a popular motif for jewelry, t-shirts and other island crafts as well. At the turn of the new millenium the savvy Nanaimo Indian Band registered the image, along with the rest of the Gabriola petroglyphs, as a trade mark, restricting use of the symbol to license holders. The band is seeking to eliminate the petroglyph copies on dislay outside the Gabriola Museum as well. Gabriola Islanders are understandably incensed. The issue is less about heritage than about profit. The irony being anyone could have registered the marks but the Nanaimo Indian Band thought of it first
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