Ethnic Studies - Indigenous Peoples - General & Miscellaneous, Native American Studies

The Inuksuk Book

Name: The Inuksuk Book
Author: Mary Wallace
ISBN: 9781897066133

by Mary Wallace, Norman Hallendy

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Overview

The Inuksuk Book offers a fresh glimpse into the culture, customs, and ingenuity of the Inuit by examining the symbolic information revealed in the mysterious inuksuk. Found throughout the Far North, inuksuit are stone structures that act in the place of human beings to communicate knowledge essential for Arctic survival. Through the collective wisdom of Inuit elders and noted experts, archival photography, and the author's own exquisite silk paintings, the reader is introduced to the ten major types of structures and is shown how they have provided travelers with information on location, danger spots, food storage, hallowed land, and hunting grounds.

Synopsis

Anthropology

Chosen as on of the "Best Books for Junior High and High School Readers 1999" by Science Books & Film in the category of Social Sciences.

About the Author, Mary Wallace

Mary Wallace is an award-winning writer, teacher, artist and author of Make Your Own Inuksuk.

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Editorials

Anthropology

Chosen as on of the "Best Books for Junior High and High School Readers 1999" by Science Books & Film in the category of Social Sciences.

School Library Journal

Gr 4-8In the Arctic, an inuksuk is a stone construction that can act in the place of a human being. These structures, sometimes in human shape, have been built in the tundra to serve as directional signs; markers for sites of important events, food caches, or rest stops; memorials to beloved individuals; aids in hunting; and even as surrogate caribou herders. For the modern Canadian Inuit, they also serve as striking connections to the past. The introduction reminds readers that most people employ tools where human help is not available: scarecrows, traffic lights, statues, and signs serve as our modern equivalents. The author explores the meanings and uses of inuksuit and describes the people who built them and the Arctic environment. By providing both a historical and modern context for these structures, she helps readers view them as more than just artifacts. The numerous full-color and black-and-white photographs present a good mixture of current and historical images of inuksuit and the Inuit people. Wallaces landscape paintings are interspersed throughout the text. The artists vivid hues dispel the stereotype of a monochromatic north. Instructions for constructing an inuksuk and a glossary of Inuktitut words are appended. This well-designed book makes a much better introduction to Arctic life than the usual peoples-of-the-polar-regions overviews.Sue Sherif, Fairbanks North Star Borough Public Library, AK Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

For many years, perhaps many centuries, the Inuit of arctic Canada (now Nunavut) have built artfully arranged stone cairns and figures to mark caches, dangers, trails, and special events; here Wallace not only uses these inuksuit to open a window onto traditional and modern Inuit lifeways, but builds cultural bridges by pointing out similar artifacts in other parts of the world, e.g., traffic lights, and goes on to provide simple instructions for creating personal inunnguaq, the type of stone inuksuk that represents a human form. Heavily illustrated with a mix of old and new photographs, many in full-color, plus a dozen of the author's shimmering silk paintings, this perceptive study makes edifying background reading, as well as introducing an art form that will be unfamiliar to most readers. (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)