Inukshuk is an Inuit word referring to a stone image meaning resembling man. Some are thousands of years old. Traditionally one arm is longer than the other as it points the way. For hundreds of years, inukshuks have marked a safe passage, or pointed the way to a specific place such as an important caribou crossing or seabird colony, to a place where food or where a safe refuge could be found. Often surplus food of travelers would be stored in these stone images for hungry travelers to take.
They also held a spiritual purpose for a safe journey and return. The tundra, especially when covered in snow, can be like the desert, and one can easily lose his direction. The Celts did the same thing on the moors using Celtic crosses, which could be seen from long distances. Often coins were left on the cross arms of the cross for a needy traveler.
Some inukshuks are made from large boulders and one has to wonder how man managed such large objects. We saw a large one in Churchill and a couple more on the tundra. I am fascinated by them and actually came home and built one in my backyard.
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