Inuksuit: Silent Messengers of the Arctic

Monika Rohlmann is an environmental consultant in Victoria, B.C.

Author and photographer Norman Hallendy has spent 40 years traveling
throughout Nunavut and arctic Quebec. A large part of that time was
spent navigating to various locations on Baffin Island. Hallendy’s
curiosity and study of the inuksuit have privileged him with membership
in a number of scholarly institutions. His photographs have been
exhibited in Paris and other cities around the world.

Piles of rocks on a rocky landscape, inuksuit are the traffic signs and
life markers of Inuit life. Depending on their use, inuksuit can
resemble human figures, caribou, birds, window frames, columns, or
simply heaps of stones on a hilltop. They are a tradition as old as the
ancestors of the Inuit, and it is not unusual to discover inuksuit that
predate the modern-day Inuit. Most inuksuit are rich in oral history and
this is how Hallendy discovers their wonder and use. Inuit elders who
appreciated his curiosity traveled with him on land and water to
demonstrate the use and history of inuksuit. There are inuksuit used in
giving direction for travel, others that assist with successful hunting
and fishing, formal arrangements used to structure community counsel
meetings, and columns of rock framed as windows that point to visual
markers or give entrance to spirits. Accompanying Hallendy’s account
of his trips and conversations are more than 50 full-page color
photographs.

The photography in this book is stunning and the analysis is
fascinating. Hallendy delivers the first comprehensive book about Arctic
inuksuit, and he does so in a way that is respectful of Inuit culture.
More than a coffee table collection of pictures, this book should be
required reading for all northern travelers and Arctic enthusiasts.