Inuksuk: Difference between revisions

An '''inuksuk''' (plural '''inuksuit''')<ref name="inudict">{{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 }}</ref> or '''inukshuk'''<ref name="livingdict">{{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 }}</ref> (from the {{lang-iu|ᐃᓄᒃᓱᒃ}}, plural {{lang|iu|ᐃᓄᒃᓱᐃᑦ}}; alternatively '''{{lang|ikt|inukhuk}}''' in [[Inuinnaqtun]],<ref name=translate>{{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 }}</ref> '''{{lang|ik|iñuksuk}}''' in [[Inupiaq language|Iñupiaq]], '''{{lang|kl|inussuk}}''' in [[Greenlandic language|Greenlandic]]) is a type of stone [[landmark]] or [[cairn]] built by, and for the use of, [[Inuit]], [[Iñupiat]], [[Kalaallit]], [[Yupik peoples|Yupik]], and other peoples of the [[Arctic]] region of North America. These structures are found in [[northern Canada]], [[Greenland]], and [[Alaska]] (United States). This combined region, north of the [[Arctic Circle]], is dominated by the [[tundra]] [[biome]] and has areas with few natural landmarks.

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.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Hallendy |first=Norman |title=Inuksuk (Inukshuk) |workencyclopedia=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]] |date=8 December 2020 |publisher=[[Historica Canada]] |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/inuksuk-inukshuk}}</ref> There is some debate as to whether the appearance of human- or cross-shaped cairns developed in the [[Inuit culture]] before the arrival of European [[missionary|missionaries]] and explorers.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}} The size of some inuksuit suggests that the construction was often a communal effort.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

The word {{wikt-lang|iu-Latn|inuksuk}} means "that which acts in the capacity of a human".<ref>{{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 }}</ref> The word comes from the morphemes {{wikt-lang|iu-Latn|inuk}} ("{{gloss|person"}})<ref>{{Cite web|title=LivingDictionary.com - Online casino dictionary|url=https://www.livingdictionary.com/|access-date=2020-11-29|website=www.livingdictionary.com}}</ref> and {{lang|iu-Latn|-suk}} ("{{gloss|[[wikt:ersatz|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|iu-Latnen|inukshuk}}, both the Government of Nunavut<ref name=symbols>{{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}}</ref> and the [[Politics of Canada|Government of Canada]] through [[Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada]]<ref name=inac>{{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 }}</ref> promote the Inuit-preferred spelling {{wikt-lang|iu-Latnen|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.<ref>{{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 }}</ref> However, it is not the most common type of inuksuk. It is distinguished from inuksuit in general.

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 – Company for Music and Theatre|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.<ref>''Inukshuk – The Arctic Art & Music Project of ARBOS'', Edition Selene, Vienna, 1999. {{ISBN|3-85266-126-9}}</ref>

On July 13, 2005, Canadian military personnel erected an inuksuk on [[Hans Island]], along with a plaque and a [[Flag of Canada|Canadian flag]], as part of Canada's longstanding dispute with Denmark over the small Arctic island.<ref>Press release from the Government of Canada, Foreign Affairs and International Trade. [http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:ZDN3uoDK-n0J:www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/canadaeuropa/Hans%2520Island%2520-%2520website.doc Google cache copy]{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}.</ref> 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 in Canada|First Nations]] within [[British Columbia]]. Although the design has been questioned, people believe it pays tribute to Alvin Kanak's [[Inukshuk (Kanak)|1986 inuksuk]] at [[English Bay (Vancouver)|English Bay]]. Friendship and the welcoming of the world are the meanings of both the English Bay structure and the 2010 Winter Olympics emblem.<ref>{{citationcite news needed|date=January27 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]] }}</ref><ref>{{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]] 2013}}</ref>

File:Inuksuit marking Canada's building site at Auroville, Tamil Nadu, India.jpg|thumb|InukshukInuksuk marking Canada's building site at [[Auroville]], Tamil Nadu, India

File:KandaharInuksuk.jpg|thumb|[[Kandahar]] Inuksuk, June 2018

* {{cite journal |first=Nelson |last=Graburn |url=http://www.erudit.org/revue/etudinuit/2004/v28/n1/012640ar.html |title=Inuksuk: Icon of the Inuit of Nunavut |journal=Études/Inuit/Studies |volume=28 |issue=1 |date=2004 |pages=69–82 |doi=10.7202/012640ar|s2cid=194117083 }}

* {{cite journal |first=Scott |last=Heyes |url=http://www.erudit.org/revue/etudinuit/2002/v26/n2/007648ar.html |title=Protecting the authenticity and integrity of inuksuit within the arctic milieu |journal=Études/Inuit/Studies |volume=26 |issue=2 |date=2002 |pages=133–156 |doi=10.7202/007648ar|s2cid=190698081 }}

* {{cite magazine |last=Irnig |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Irniq |title=The Ancestral Inuksuk |workmagazine=Naniiliqpita Magazine |publisher=[[Nunavut Tunngavik]] |date=Spring 2006 |pppages=18–19 |url=https://www.tunngavik.com/documents/publications/2006-Naniiliqpita-Spring.pdf}}

[[Category:CanadianCulture cultureof Canada]]