Inuksuit: Silent Messengers of the Arctic

by Norman Hallendy

Overview

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 their homeland.In author Norman Hallendy’s forty years of travels throughout the Arctic, he developed deep and lasting friendships with a number of Inuit elders. Through them, he learned that inuksuit are a nuanced, complex and vital form of communication. Hallendy’s dramatic color photos of many different kinds of inuksuit and objects of veneration capture not only a sense of wonder and power but reveal the unfamiliar Arctic landscape in all its magical beauty.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781926706634
Publisher:	D & M Publishers
Publication date:	12/01/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	128
File size:	17 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Norman Hallendy is an Arctic researcher, writer, photographer, designer, artist and chronicler of Inuit life and landscapes. A traveller in the Arctic for over forty years, he is director of the Tukilik Project. He is a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Sense of Wonder		8	(13)
First Encounters		21	(23)
Silent Messengers		44	(32)
Places of Power, Objects of Veneration		76	(37)
Epilogue: In the Stillness of the Moment		113	(3)
Appendix: Inuksuk Types, Functions and Related Features		116	(3)
Bibliography		119	(1)
Author's Note		119	(3)
Acknowledgements		122	(2)
Index		124

Editorial Reviews

In the barren but incredibly beautiful polar regions west of Greenland, from Baffin Island to the Northwest Territories of Canada, stone figures rise above the ground in mysterious and awesome configurations. These inuksuit are built by the native Inuit of the local stone and are usually no taller than five feet, the height a man can lift a heavy rock. Hallendy has studied this area and its people for over 40 years and among other honors is a fellow at both the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the Smithsonian. He writes with a warm familiarity and engaging style, illustrating the text with fine photographs of these mystic figures, some recent and some hundreds of years old and venerated. Other similar forms, innunguait, seem to be the same but are "in the likeness of a human," while inuksuit "act in the capacity of a human," that is, they relay messages to those who understand, telling where fishing is good, framing an important trail or hunting ground, demarking sacred places, or simply serving as messages to those who follow a trail. Rising from flat ground or lichen-smeared rocks, these figures are stark, powerful, and evocative. More than an anthropological introduction, this is a book of fine art and powerful beauty. Recommended for all libraries.--Gay Neale, Meredithville, VA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal