Inuksuk

An inuksuk at Igloolik, Nunavut, Canada

An inuksuk (plural inuksuit) (from the Inuktitut: ᐃᓄᒃᓱᒃ, plural ᐃᓄᒃᓱᐃᑦ; alternatively inukshuk in English or inukhuk in Inuinnaqtun is a stone landmark or cairn built by humans, used by the Inuit, Inupiat, Kalaallit, Yupik, and other peoples of the Arctic region of North America. These structures are found from Alaska to Greenland, a region above the Arctic Circle that is dominated by the tundra biome and has areas with few natural landmarks.

This article contains Canadian Aboriginal syllabic characters. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of syllabics.

Name

Inuksuk in the vicinity of Kuujjuarapik, Quebec.

The word inuksuk means "something which acts for or performs the function of a person." The word comes from the morphemes inuk ("person") and -suk ("ersatz" or "substitute") in the Inuit language, Inuktitut. The plural is inuksuit.

The word is pronounced inutsuk in Nunavik and the southern part of Baffin Island. In many of the central Nunavut dialects, it has the etymologically related name inuksugaq (plural: inuksugait).

It is often alternatively written inukshuk in English or inukhuk in Inuinnaqtun However, the Governments of Nanavut and Canada support the Inuit-preferred spelling inuksuk.

A structure similar to an inuksuk, but meant to represent a human figure, is called an inunnguaq (ᐃᓄᙳᐊᖅ, "imitation of a person," plural inunnguat), has become widely familiar to non-Inuit. However, it is not the most common type of inuksuk, and it is distinguished from inuksuit.

Description

Inuksuit are markers, beacons, or cairns built of dry stacked stones, driftwood or bones. They generally range in size from .5 meters (1.6 ft) 2 meters (6.6 ft) in height and up to 2 meters (6.6 ft) in width.

There are many styles of inuksuk, the most common built with stone placed upon stone. The structure may consist of a single upright stone, or a cairn-like structure created by stacking the stones on top of each other. Four general shapes of inuksuit can be found. The most elementary kind of inuksuit is the nalunaikkutaq ("deconfuser") that is made of a single upright stone. A second type consist of tikkuuti, which are pointers. They may appear as a triangular-shaped rock lying flat on the ground or a line of rocks arranged in a straight line, with the largest rock at one end grading down to the smallest at the other end, indicating the direction to be taken. The third type is theinuksummarik or a inuksukjuaq, noted for its larger than average size enabling it to be seen from a distance. Finally, there are inuksuit where an arrangement of stones at their base has been left as a message.

They appear throughout the Arctic, with several prominent forms along the shores and in the interior between Hudson Bay and Ungava Bay in Nunavik. Most hilltops near Inuit villages feature an inuksuk. There are unusual concentrations of between 100-200 inuksuit at Inuksualait (Enukso Point), on Baffin Island. The site was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1969.

Historical usage

Inuksuit at the Foxe Peninsula (Baffin Island), Canada

Varying in shape and size, the inuksuit have longtime roots and served an important role in the Inuit culture for thousands of years. Many conveyed messages, while others were used as aids in hunting. Still others had a spiritual meaning.

An inuksuk could be used for navigation, as a point of reference, a marker for travel routes, fishing places, camps, hunting grounds, places of veneration, drift fences used in hunting, or to mark a food cache. The Inupiat in northern Alaska used inuksuit to assist in the herding of caribou into contained areas for slaughter. Hunters could also hide behind a larger inuksuk.

Modern usage

An inuksuk on the flag of Nunavut

Inuksuk sculpture by David Ruben Piqtoukun in the lobby, Canadian Embassy, Washington, D.C.

Inuksuit continue to serve as an Inuit cultural symbol. For example, an inuksuk is shown on the flag and coat of arms of the Canadian territory of Nunavut, and the flag of Nunatsiavut. The high school in Iqaluit is named Inuksuk High School after the landmarks.

InuksuitTemplate:Emdashparticularly, but not exclusively, of the inunnguaq varietyTemplate:Emdashare also increasingly serving as a mainstream Canadian national symbol. In 1999 Inukshuk was the name for the International Arctic Art & Music Project of ARBOS in the Canadian provinces of Québec, Ontario, Nunavik, and Nunavut; and in Greenland, Austria, Denmark and Norway.

On July 13, 2005, Canadian military personnel erected an inuksuk on Hans Island, along with a plaque and a Canadian flag, as part of Canada's longstanding dispute with Denmark over the small Arctic island. The markers have been erected throughout the country, including a nine-metre-high inuksuk that stands in Toronto on the shores of Lake Ontario. Located in Battery Park, it commemorates the World Youth Day 2002 festival that was held in the city in July 2002.

Artisan Alvin Kanak of Rankin Inlet, Northwest Territories (now in the territory of Nunavut), created an inuksuk as a gift to the city for Expo 86. The land has since been donated to the city, and is now a protected site.

"Ilanaaq," the mascot logo of the 2010 Winter Olympics, located on Whistler Mountain

An inunnguaq is the basis of the logo of the 2010 Winter Olympics designed by Vancouver artist Elena Rivera MacGregor. Its use in this context has been controversial, both among the Inuit and the First Nations of British Columbia. Although the design has been questioned, people believe it pays tribute to the inuksuk that stands at Vancouver's English Bay. Friendship and the welcoming of the world are the meanings of both the English Bay structure and the 2010 Winter Olympics emblem.^{[citation needed]}

The Vancouver 2010 logo and the construction of inuksuit around the world have led to increasing recognition of them.^{[citation needed]} There are five authentic inuksuit which were donatedTemplate:Emdashwholly or in partTemplate:Emdashby the government of Canada: in Brisbane, Australia; Monterrey, Mexico; Oslo, Norway; Washington D.C., United States; and Guatemala City.

The Monterrey Inuksuk is unveiled by Canada's ambassador to Mexico and the governor of Nuevo León

The most recent Canadian-donated inuksuk was built in Monterrey in October 2007 by the Inuvialuit artist Bill Nasogaluak. The sculpture was presented to the people of the northern state of Nuevo León as a gift from the Monterrey chapter of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Mexico and the Government of Canada, to mark the chamber’s 10th anniversary in the city. The sculpture stands over the Santa Lucía Riverwalk. Nasogaluak, of Tuktoyaktuk, personally chose the rocks for the structure from a local quarry near Monterrey. The inuksuk contains two rocks which the artist took to Mexico from Canada, one from the high Arctic and another from his home town of Toronto. Together they form the inuksuk’s heart.

The inuksuk was also used as the symbol of the Summit of the Americas, because of its connotations of "guidance and unity...towards common goals."

Officials in various wilderness parks throughout Canada routinely dismantle inuksuit constructed by hikers and campers, for fear that they could misdirect park visitors from the cairns and other markers that indicate hiking trails. The practice of erecting inuksuit in parks has become so widespread that Killarney Provincial Park, on the north shore of Ontario's Georgian Bay, issued a notice in 2007 urging visitors to "stop the invasion" of inuksuit.

A large number of inuksuit have been built in some areas along the Trans-Canada Highway, including Northern Ontario. In 2010, a journalist from Sudbury's Northern Life counted 93 inuksuit along Highway 69 between Sudbury and Parry Sound. The journalist successfully tracked down a person who had built two inuksuit along the route; he attributed his action to having had a "fill the dreams moment where I needed to stop and do it" while driving home from a family funeral.

According to Guinness World Records, the tallest inuksuk is in Schomberg, Ontario, Canada. Built in 2007, it is 11.377m tall.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Angulalik, Gwen (ed.). Inuinnaqtun-English Dictionary. Inhabit Media, 2012. ASIN B00DZG5PI8
• Gray, Charlotte. The Museum Called Canada: 25 Rooms of Wonder. Random House of Canada, 2004. ISBN 978-0679312208
• Hallendy, Norman. Inuksuit: Silent Messengers of the Arctic. Douglas & McIntyre, 2001. ISBN 978-1550548747
• Hallendy, Norman. Tukiliit: The Stone People Who Live in the Wind. University of Alaska Press, 2009. ISBN 978-1602230576
• Niosi, Goody. Ken Kirkby: A Painter's Quest for Canada. Libros Libertad, 2009. ISBN 978-0981073576
• Spalding, Alex. Inuktitut: A Multi-dialectal Outline Dictionary. Nunavut Arctic College, 1998, ISBN 978-1896204291

External links

All links retrieved

• Arctic Inuit Art
• Inuksuk, Inunnguaq, Inuksuit
• Places of Power - essay and photographs of inuksuit
• Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games Emblem
• Canadian Heritage Minute video about the inuksuk

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