Thursday, June 4, 2009

Inuksuk





We've been learning about Inuksuk!  What fun.

In case you don't know what an inuksuk is....It's a Canadian indiginous place marker.
They have been used for thousands of years by the Inuit, Canadian Arctic people, to mark an important location.  

An inuksuk (pronounced Ee nook sook) is used to mark a spot where surplus food has been stored, or to tell about a prime location for hunting or fishing.   They also were used for marking a good resting place, or to indicate a residence.  

Inuksuit (the plural form of inuksuk) were originally built in unique shapes to give specific meaning.  But, more recently, they have come to resemble the shape of stone people. 

We built an inuksuk in our backyard.  

First we collected up the required stones 


Next, we decided on a good way to arrange them.



Next was the tricky part, stacking them!

We wanted ours to look like a person!

And here it sits, to welcome us and our friends!

To learn more about inuksuk visit this site:

1 comment:

  1. Too cool!!!! I have never heard of them, so I am assuming they are an eastern Native American tradition (I studied Native American cultures in university but we focused on Western)

    We so are going to look for rocks to try this!

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