Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the world.

Welcome to Fascinating Facts and Tantalizing Trivia

A Hartson Dowd Column

August 14, 2006

About the Inukshuk / Inuksuk

Inukshuk (ee-nook-shook or ee-nook-sook) is an Inuktitut word that means to look like a person (an Inuk). It is a stone cairn which has been used by the Inuit people to mark high points of land, good hunting and fishing spots or the way home. Inuit have been building Inuksuit (ee-nook-soo-eet / plural) for thousands of years. It is a symbol of trust and reassurance for those who travel across the vastness of the Arctic.

For thousands of years, the Inuit peoples have hunted and fished the Canadian arctic. They did not build permanent settlements. Instead, they adapted their living conditions to the seasonal changes in the northern climate and to the behavior of the animals they hunted.

During the long darkness of the arctic winter, numbers of Inuit families gathered together in camps. They hunted seals for food, clothing, and the oil that fueled their lamps. Their homes at this time of the year were igloos, the snow houses that many people still identify with the Inuit [though most modern Inuit live in houses].

When the sun rose over the horizon, and the darkness gave way to entire days of sunshine, the camps broke up into smaller hunting groups, often no larger than a single family. Some Inuit hunted caribou, the arctic deer that migrated during the summer and fall. Some moved to the rivers and coastal regions to fish and to gather bird eggs, berries, and shellfish. Whale and polar bear hunting were also ways that the hunting groups found food. During the hunts, the families lived in tents - sometimes of sealskin, sometimes of caribou hide.

The Inuit culture revolved around the closeness of the family. Each member of the family was important to the group's survival, and all - including children and the elderly - were valued for the contributions they made. The older people taught their social values to the younger ones by example. By sharing their food and other goods freely with others, the elders showed the high value the Inuit place on generosity and cooperation, qualities that are very important in a climate as harsh as the Arctic’s. The stories that respected adults told the children also were lessons in the Inuit way of sharing and working together.

During their summer hunts, Inuit families sometimes built stone piles, often in the shape of humans with outstretched arms. The Inuit call these sculptures "inukshuks." They marked good fishing sites, provided shelter from the wind, and sometimes offered a place for hunters to ambush caribou. On the wild arctic landscape they are often the only sign that humans have passed through, a symbol of the traditional Inuit way of life.

Despite the predominant English spelling as Inukshuk, both the Government of Nunavutand the Government of Canada through Indian and Northern Affairs Canada  are promoting the Inuit preferred spelling Inuksuk.

Inuksuit vary in shape and size, and perform a diverse array of tasks. It is a symbol with deep roots in the Inuit culture, a directional marker that signifies safety, hope and friendship. The word inuksuk means "something which acts for or performs the function of a man." The word comes from the morphemes inuk ("man") and -suk ("ersatz or substitute"). It 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').

An inunguak forms 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 is under question, it is widely acknowledged that it pays tribute to the inuksuk that stands at Vancouver's English Bay, which was created by artisan Alvin Kanak of Rankin Inlet, Northwest Territories (which is now in the territory of Nunavut that separated from the Northwest Territories in 1999.) It was given as a gift to the city for the 1986 World Exposition. The land has since been donated to the city and it is now a protected site. Friendship and the welcoming of the world are the meanings of both the English Bay structure and the 2010 Winter Olympics emblem, with Kanak's creation having the additional representation of the strength of his people and the modes of communication and technology before modern Canada.

Hartson Sager Dowd

hsdowd@telus.net