Inuksuit : silent messengers of the Arctic / Norman Hallendy with photographs by the author.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hallendy, Norman.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Inuit--Material culture.

Inuit.

Inuit--Rites and ceremonies.

Inuit--Antiquities.

Stone--Arctic regions.

Stone.

Building stones--Arctic regions.

Building stones.

Stone carving--Arctic regions.

Stone carving.

Rites and ceremonies.

Arctic regions--Antiquities.

Arctic regions.

Arctic Regions.

Antiquities.

Physical Description:

127 pages : illustrations (some color), maps ; 25 x 27 cm

Place of Publication:

Seattle : University of Washington Press, [2000]

Summary:

The mysterious stone figures known as inuksuit can be found throughout the circumpolar world. Built from whatever stones are at hand, each one is unique. Inuksuit are among the oldest and most important objects placed by humans upon the vast Arctic landscape and have become a familiar symbol of the Inuit and of their homeland.

In author Norman Hallendy's forty years of travels throughout the Arctic, he developed lasting friendships with a number of Inuit elders. Through them, he learned that inuksuit are a nuanced, complex and vital form of communication. Some are navigational or directional aids, offer hunting information, or indicate caches of food or supplies. Some are practical "helpers" that once assisted in hunting caribou or luring geese. Other stone structures that look very much like inuksuit were objects of veneration, indicating places of power or the abode of spirits.

Although most inuksuit appear singly, sometimes they are arranged in sequences spanning great distances or are grouped to mark a specific place. Others define the ghostly geography of the spiritual landscape.

Hallendy's dramatic colour photographs of many different kinds of inuksuit and objects of veneration not only capture a sense of wonder and power but reveal the Arctic landscape in all its haunting beauty.

Contents:

Introduction: The Sense of Wonder 8

First Encounters 21

Silent Messengers 44

Places of Power, Objects of Veneration 76

Epilogue: In the Stillness of the Moment 113

Appendix Inuksuk Types, Functions and Related Features 116.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (page 119) and index.

ISBN:

0295979836

155054778X

OCLC:

43648607