Inukshuk

The mysterious stone figures known as inuksuit can be found throughout the circumpolar world. Inukshuk, the singular of inuksuit, means "in the likeness of a human" in the Inuit language. They are monuments made of unworked stones that are used by the Inuit for communication and survival. The traditional meaning of the inukshuk is "Someone was here" or "You are on the right path." Credit to 'The Inukshuk Gallery' for the quote.

More and more over the last 25 years these stone symbols have become more popular and crept into the common consciousness. You used to see them rarely while driving on northern roads and usually on the horizon where they would catch your eye. Now they pop up all over. Their original intent in the far north was as a sort of assurance that someone had passed this way before - keep going. The one above was made by one of our clients from some simple building materials he had at hand - keep going.

The inukshuk has been adopted as the official symbol of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.