Inuksuk

{{Redirect|Inukshuk|the Canadian wireless network|Inukshuk Wireless}}

File:Inuksukjuaq Foxe-PI 2002-07-26.jpg, Nunavut, Canada]]

An inuksuk (plural inuksuit){{cite book |last=Spalding |first=Alex |author2=Thomas Kusugak |date=1998 |title=Inuktitut: A Multi-dialectal Outline Dictionary |publisher=Nunavut Arctic College |isbn=978-1-896204-29-1 }} or inukshuk{{cite web |url=http://www.livingdictionary.com/term/viewTerm.jsp?term=52780539622 |title=Inukshuk |work=Asuilaak Living Dictionary |access-date=2007-02-16 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{efn|From the {{langx|iu|ᐃᓄᒃᓱᒃ}}, plural {{lang|iu|ᐃᓄᒃᓱᐃᑦ}}; alternatively {{lang|ikt|inukhuk}} in Inuinnaqtun,{{cite book |last=Ohokak |first=G. |author2=M. Kadlun |author3=B. Harnum |title=Inuinnaqtun–English Dictionary |publisher=Kitikmeot Heritage Society |url=http://nbes.ca/2014/03/27/inuinnaqtun-to-english-dictionary/ |access-date=2014-12-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402193115/http://nbes.ca/2014/03/27/inuinnaqtun-to-english-dictionary/ |archive-date=2015-04-02 |url-status=dead }} {{lang|ik|iñuksuk}} in Iñupiaq, {{lang|kl|inussuk}} in Greenlandic}} is a type of stone landmark or cairn built by, and for the use of, Inuit, Iñupiat, Kalaallit, Yupik, and other peoples of the Arctic region of North America. These structures are found in northern Canada, Greenland, and Alaska. This combined region, north of the Arctic Circle, is dominated by the tundra biome and has areas with few natural landmarks.

The inuksuk may historically have been 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,{{cite book |last=Gray |first=Charlotte |title=The Museum Called Canada, 25 Rooms of Wonder |date=2004 |publisher=Random House Canada |location=Toronto |isbn=978-0679312208 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/museumcalledcana00gray }} or to mark a food cache.{{cite web |title=The Inuit Inukshuk |url=https://www.sfu.ca/aboriginalpeoples/inukshuk.html |publisher=Simon Fraser University |access-date=1 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121223083538/http://www.sfu.ca/aboriginalpeoples/inukshuk.html |archive-date=23 December 2012 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }} The Iñupiat in northern Alaska used inuksuit to assist in the herding of caribou into contained areas for slaughter.[http://www.ethnobiology.org/conference/abstracts/pdfs/28th_abstracts.pdf 28 Ethnobiology Conference Abstracts] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080530011304/http://www.ethnobiology.org/conference/abstracts/pdfs/28th_abstracts.pdf |date=2008-05-30 }} Varying in shape and size, the inuksuit have ancient roots in Inuit culture.{{Cite web |url=http://www.freespiritgallery.ca/inukshuk.htm |title=The Inuit Inukshuk |access-date=2018-11-28 |archive-date=2022-11-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118082351/http://www.freespiritgallery.ca/inukshuk.htm |url-status=dead }}

Historically, the most common types of inuksuit are built with stone placed upon stone. The simplest type is a single stone positioned in an upright manner.{{cite encyclopedia |last=Hallendy |first=Norman |title=Inuksuk (Inukshuk) |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia |date=8 December 2020 |publisher=Historica Canada |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/inuksuk-inukshuk}} The size of some inuksuit suggests that the construction was often a communal effort.

At Inuksuk Point (Enukso Point) on Baffin Island, there are more than 100 inuksuit. The site was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1969.{{cite web|url=https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=322 |title=Inuksuk National Historic Site of Canada|publisher=Directory of Federal Heritage Designations, Parks Canada|access-date=22 July 2021}}{{CRHP|18947|Inuksuk National Historic Site of Canada}}

Name

File:Inuksugalait Foxe-PI 2002-07-26.jpg (Baffin Island), Canada.]]

The word {{wikt-lang|iu-Latn|inuksuk}} means "that which acts in the capacity of a human".{{Cite book |title=Tukiliit: An introduction to inuksuit and other stone figures of the North |last=Hallendy |first=Norman |publisher=Douglas & McIntyre and University of Alaska Press |date=2009 |isbn=9781553654247 |location=Vancouver, British Columbia |pages=60 }} The word comes from the morphemes {{wikt-lang|iu-Latn|inuk}} ({{gloss|person}}){{Cite web|title=LivingDictionary.com - Online casino dictionary|url=https://www.livingdictionary.com/|access-date=2020-11-29|website=www.livingdictionary.com}} and {{lang|iu-Latn|-suk}} ({{gloss|ersatz, substitute}}). It is pronounced {{lang|iu-Latn|inutsuk}} in Nunavik and the southern part of Baffin Island (see Inuit phonology for the linguistic reasons). In many of the central Nunavut dialects, it has the etymologically related name {{lang|iu-Latn|inuksugaq}} (plural: {{lang|iu-Latn|inuksugait}}).{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

While the predominant English spelling is {{wikt-lang|en|inukshuk}}, both the Government of Nunavut{{cite web |url=http://www.gov.nu.ca/Nunavut/English/about/symbols.shtml |title=Symbols of Nunavut |publisher=Government of Nunavut |access-date=2006-06-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060427062906/http://www.gov.nu.ca/Nunavut/English/about/symbols.shtml |archive-date=2006-04-27}} and the Government of Canada through Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada{{cite web|url=http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ks/inukstrn_e.html |title=Transcript of Sharing a Story: The Inuksuk |publisher=Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada |access-date=2006-06-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080506171800/http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ks/inukstrn_e.html |archive-date=May 6, 2008 }} promote the Inuit-preferred spelling {{wikt-lang|en|inuksuk}}.

A structure similar to an inuksuk is called an {{lang|iu-Latn|inunnguaq}} ({{lang|iu|ᐃᓄᙳᐊᖅ}}, {{gloss|imitation of a person}}, plural {{lang|iu-Latn|inunnguat}}); it is meant to represent a human figure. {{lang|iu-Latn|Inunnguaq}} has become widely familiar to non-Inuit, and is particularly found in Greenland.{{Cite journal |last=Fitzhugh |first=William W. |date=2017-03-01 |title=Mongolian Deer Stones, European Menhirs, and Canadian Arctic Inuksuit: Collective Memory and the Function of Northern Monument Traditions |journal=Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=149–187 |doi=10.1007/s10816-017-9328-0 |s2cid=254605923 |issn=1072-5369 }} However, it is not the most common type of inuksuk. It is distinguished from inuksuit in general.

The Hammer of Thor, located on the Ungava Peninsula, Quebec is most likely an inuksuk rather than of viking origin. Gendron, Daniel. "On the “Viking” presence in Nunavik: Much ado about nothing!" Études/Inuit/Studies, volume 39, number 2, 2015, p. 285–293. https://doi.org/10.7202/1038151ar (accessed Oct 16 2024)

Modern usage

File:Flag of Nunavut.svg]]

Inuksuit continue to serve as an Inuit cultural symbol. An inuksuk is the centrepiece of the flag and coat of arms of the Canadian territory of Nunavut, and the flag of Nunatsiavut. The Inuksuk High School in Iqaluit is named after the landmark.

Inuksuit{{emdash}}particularly, but not exclusively, of the {{lang|iu|inunnguaq}} variety{{emdash}}are 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 Quebec, Ontario, Nunavik,{{Clarify|reason=Nunavik is in Quebec and is not a province of its own.|date=February 2024}} and Nunavut; and in Greenland, Austria, Denmark and Norway.Inukshuk – The Arctic Art & Music Project of ARBOS, Edition Selene, Vienna, 1999. {{ISBN|3-85266-126-9}}

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.Press release from the Government of Canada, Foreign Affairs and International Trade. [http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/canadaeuropa/Hans%2520Island%2520-%2520website.doc Google cache copy]{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. The markers have been erected throughout the country, often as generic gateways into tourist regions, including a {{convert|9|m|abbr=on}} 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.

An {{lang|iu|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 among the Inuit, and the First Nations within British Columbia. Although the design has been questioned, people believe it pays tribute to Alvin Kanak's 1986 inuksuk at English Bay. Friendship and the welcoming of the world are the meanings of both the English Bay structure and the 2010 Winter Olympics emblem.{{cite news |date=27 April 2005 |title=Vancouver Olympic emblem comes under fire |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/vancouver-olympic-emblem-comes-under-fire-1.557252 |work=CBC News }}{{cite news |date=18 February 2010|title=Vancouver Olympic Logo: A Smiling Marker Of Death? |url=https://www.npr.org/2010/02/18/123851564/vancouver-olympic-logo-a-smiling-marker-of-death |work=NPR News }}

File:All Your Base Are Belong to Ilanaaq (10615471).jpg

The Vancouver 2010 logo and the construction of inuksuit around the world have led to increasing recognition of them.{{Citation needed|date=November 2007}} There are five authentic inuksuit which were donated to other jurisdictions {{emdash}}wholly or in part{{emdash}}by the government of Canada: they are located in Brisbane, Australia;{{Cite web|title=Australian Bicentenary {{!}} Monument Australia|url=https://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/landscape/settlement/display/102651-australian-bicentenary|access-date=2021-06-19|website=monumentaustralia.org.au}} Monterrey, Mexico; Oslo, Norway; Washington, D.C., United States; and Guatemala City, Guatemala.Green, Sarah. [https://web.archive.org/web/20071105041036/http://www.torontosun.com/News/Canada/2007/11/02/4624880-sun.html "Inuit art finds home in Mexico"], Toronto Sun, 2 Nov 2007, Retrieved 2007-11-08.

File:Inukshuk Monterrey 3.JPG]]

A Canadian-donated inuksuk was built in Monterrey, Mexico, in October 2007 by the Inuvialuk 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."[http://summit-americas.org/SIRG/XLVI%20SIRG/Acta_ENG%2010-16-06.DOC Proceedings of the XLVI Meeting of the Summit Implementation Review Group (SIRG)]

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.{{cite news |last=Dubé |first=Rebecca |date=August 15, 2007 |title=Enough with the inukshuks already |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/enough-with-the-inukshuks-already/article1080258/ |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |location=Toronto }}

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.{{cite web |title=The Inukshukification of Highway 69 |url=http://www.northernlife.ca/news/lifestyle/2010/09/inukshuk230910.aspx |publisher=Northern Life |date=September 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151030143846/http://www.northernlife.ca/news/lifestyle/2010/09/inukshuk230910.aspx |archive-date=October 30, 2015 |url-status=live}}

In 2015, a small group of women near Hamilton, Ontario, constructed 1,181 inuksuit on the Chedoke Rail Trail to memorialize the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, while seeking government action. It was one of many types of activism across the county, and the newly elected government committed to conducting a national inquiry that year.[http://www.rememberoursisterseverywhere.com/photo/missing-married-women Adam Carter, "Aboriginal women remembered with 1,181 inukshuks" (sic- inuksuit)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222092358/http://www.rememberoursisterseverywhere.com/photo/missing-married-women |date=2015-12-22 }}, CBC News, 5 Nov 2015, posted at Remember Our Sisters website

According to Guinness World Records, the tallest inuksuk is in Schomberg, Ontario, Canada. Built in 2007, it is {{convert|11.377|m}} tall.{{cite web |title=Tallest Inukshuk |url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/5000/tallest-inukshuk |publisher=Guinness World Records |access-date=1 January 2013 }}

On the occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the Rome Statute, to mark Canada's support for the International Criminal Court (ICC){{Cite web |url=http://www.international.gc.ca/court-cour/index.aspx?lang=eng |title=Canada and the International Criminal Court |access-date=2018-03-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330212704/http://www.international.gc.ca/court-cour/index.aspx?lang=eng |archive-date=2018-03-30 |url-status=dead }} and as a symbol for its commitment to reconciliation with Canada's First Nations{{citation needed|date=November 2018}}, Canadian Minister of Justice and Attorney General Wilson-Raybould on 7 March 2018 donated an inuksuk as a gift to the ICC. It was unveiled by her and ICC President Judge Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi at the ICC premises in The Hague.{{Cite web |url=http://www.diplomatmagazine.nl/2018/03/08/canada-justice-minister-icc-president-unveil-artwork-donation/ |title=Canada Justice Minister and ICC President unveil artwork donation |access-date=2018-03-30 |archive-date=2020-11-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116021858/http://www.diplomatmagazine.nl/2018/03/08/canada-justice-minister-icc-president-unveil-artwork-donation/ |url-status=dead }}

Gallery

File:Inuksuit marking Canada's building site at Auroville, Tamil Nadu, India.jpg|Inuksuk marking Canada's building site at Auroville, Tamil Nadu, India

File:Inukshuk Park 05.jpg|This sculpture is situated in the western part of Toronto near Lake Ontario

File:Inukshuk Sunset Kuujjuaraapik January.jpg|Inuksuk in the vicinity of Kuujjuarapik, Quebec

File:Inuksuk_Gardens_Peggys_Cove.jpg|Inuksuk gardens at Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada

File:Inuksuk in Quebec City.jpg|An inuksuk on the grounds of the National Assembly, Quebec City

File:Inuksuit in Auyuittuq, Nunavut.jpg|Inuksuit in Auyuittuq National Park, Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada

File:InuksukOsoyoos2.jpg|Inuksuk on the shore of sẁiẁs Provincial Park, Osoyoos Lake, British Columbia

File:Inukshuk, Canadian Embassy, Washington.jpg|Inuksuk sculpture by David Ruben Piqtoukun in the lobby, Canadian Embassy, Washington, D.C.

File:Small Inukshuk.jpg|Very small Inuksuk in Drumheller, Alberta

File:KandaharInuksuk.jpg|Kandahar Inuksuk, June 2018

Notes

References

External links

{{cite web |title=Places of Power – essay and photographs of inuksuit |publisher=Canadian Museum of History |url=https://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/archeo/inuksuit/inukphoe.html}}
{{cite web |title=Inukshuk |website=Heritage Minutes |publisher=Historica Canada |date=1993 |url=https://www.historicacanada.ca/content/heritage-minutes/inukshuk}}
{{cite AV media |title=History of Inuksuk |publisher=HISTORY Canada |date=January 9, 2020 |via= YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emSv0xHmDLs |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/emSv0xHmDLs |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}
{{cite AV media |title=What is an Inukshuk? |publisher=Ap Verheggen |date=March 30, 2007 |via=YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKQ97rOwBH0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/NKQ97rOwBH0 |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}