IQALUIT - An iconic symbol of the North, the inuksuk has assumed an increasingly prominent profile in recent years. Today, examples can be found in many southern cities and as far away as Norway, Mexico and Guatemala. Few locations can compare to Enukso Point, Nunavut, however.

Declared a national historic site in 1969, the area is home to more than 100 inuksuit of varying shapes, sizes and ages. Taken individually, the stone markers of Enukso Point are no different from those in many other parts of Nunavut. Their extraordinary concentration on the windswept headland northwest of Cape Dorset is what makes them unique.

Inuksuit come in numerous forms and are much respected for their various roles.

For those who know their meaning, many have a message to share. Some were built as navigational aids; signifying a dangerous area or pointing the way home. Others were erected for spiritual reasons or to commemorate an important event. Yet others were built simply to pass the time and mark a people's place beneath the sky.

Depending on their form and function many inuksuit have specific names. For example, Ilimasuit refer to those used to drive caribou towards water so they can be hunted from kayaks. Pirujaqqarviit mark meat caches and Ikaarviit indicate good places to cross a river. Widely recognized in the south but often mislabeled, stone structures resembling a person are not actually innuksuit but inunguat.

Enukso Point is not associated with any regular camps or hunting activity. As a result, the number of structures found there, and their apparently random distribution, is somewhat puzzling.

Since the site overlooks the Foxe Channel, many suggest the inuksuit were built by generations of Inuit as they prepared for the dangerous voyage to Southampton Island. Whether spiritual or navigational in function, they are of immense archeological and cultural value.

As inuksuit and innunguat are increasingly used for their symbolic value, Enukso Point represents an authentic, unique and inspiring reminder of their true significance to the north.

If you have an idea for a historic place we should profile please contact:

Shamus MacDonald, Historic Places Initiative, Nunavut Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth. Email: smacdonald@gov.nu.ca