Inukshuks

The Inukshuk is a distinctive landmark to native Inuit travelers on their journeys in the Canadian Artic environment. This is a hostile and an un-forgiving environment and any sign of someone else being there is comforting. from: http://www.squidoo.com/inukshuk is a man-made stone landmark or cairn, used by the Inuit, Inupiat, Kalaallit, Yupik, and other peoples of the Arctic region of North America, from Alaska to Greenland. This region, above the Arctic Circle, is dominated by the tundra biome, containing areas with few natural landmarks. The inuksuk may have been used for navigation, as a point of reference, a marker for hunting grounds, or as a food cache.[4] The Inupiat in northern Alaska used inuksuit to assist in the herding of caribou into contained areas for slaughter.[5] Inukshuk vary in shape and size, with deep roots in the Inuit culture. Historically the most common type of inukshuk are a single stone positioned in an upright manner.[6] An inukshuk is often confused with an inunnguaq, a cairn representing a human figure. There is some debate as to whether the appearance of human or cross shaped cairns developed in the Inuit culture before the arrival of European missionaries and explorers.[6] from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inukshuk