In the language of the Inuit , inukshuk refers to an arrangement of boulders that resembles a human figure. Most are simple cairns or vertically placed slabs built as part of drift-fences to guide caribou towards hidden hunters, or to mark the location of a trail, a good fishing-spot, or other significant site. A more elaborate form with ‘arms’ and a ‘head’ has become an arctic icon and is featured on the flag of Nunavut . It is associated with the area frequented by European vessels during the 17th to 19th centuries, and may have been designed to attract the attention of potential European trading partners. This form may have originated in stone crosses that were built on the Baffin Island coast by Martin Frobisher's 1578 expedition.
The Oxford Companion to Canadian History. © 2004
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