Inuksuk

Evan's Inuksuk

On our first day of studying Canada, we covered the First Nations and the animals of Canada.  (The French and the English arrive later.)  Eskimo is an Algonquin word meaning "eaters of raw meat."  The 'eskimo' call themselves Inuit- "people".

Our hands-on project for the day was experimenting and building Inuksuk. 

Inuk means 'person' in the Inut language, suk means 'substitute'.

The inuksuk was used by the Inuit in Canada to show people the way.

Did you know Canada changed her map in 1995 to recognize the Nunavet Territory in Northeast Canada in 1995?  The Nunavut flag prominently features an Inuksuk and the North Star.

Xavier's first Inuksuk

The book we read to guide our project explained that the Inuksuk acted as Arctic messengers of stone.  It contained comments from several Inuit who were born in the 1915-1930s.  It seems that though Inuksuit are "people substitues", they are really not intended to look like people;  at least that is not the goal.  I saw many inuksuk trinkets in a Canadian souvenir shop this summer and I think that as their popularity spreads they will be increasingly equated with having a human like form.

A "hole" in an inuksuk communicates that direction that should be taken.

They can also have a more cairn like shape or arrow like features for pointing the way.

A larger inuksuk