Inuksuk And The Stacking Of Rocks

Photo by Ansgar Walk. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5

Photo by Lynn Wyminga. Used without permission.

Imagine you're out for a hike in the woods or along a streambed and you come across an unexpected, unexplained stack of rocks. Would you be delighted? You may find yourself wondering who might have stacked them and when did they stack them there. Surely it's not a natural formation.

That's why I like to stack rocks everywhere I go. Front of neighbor's houses, in the park, gardens. It's fun, creative and could come in handy should I become misplaced. No doubt there's an art to it as an act of expression and a way of saying, "I was here." Somewhere down the line, someone will discover it and thus, make a connection.

I made one for my dad once in his garden. The stack was a litte precarious, but looked great amidst his habitually luscious blossoms. To my protest, he and mom decided to go at it with epoxy to keep it from falling over. I disowned the piece and cringe whenever I see it now.

Sculptor Dave MacIntyre first taught me about inuksuk. He was making a great beast of a stack for The Toledo Zoo Arctic Explorations exhibit about ten years ago. It was to be permanent, in fact integrated with a little wayfinding signage. I visited his studio when he was composing the piece, which would eventually be de-stacked and set back up at The Zoo.

"It is the sign," he lamented, as he talked about the one inch hole drilled vertically through the center of the inuksuk. A long steel bar would string the rocks together forever. He wasn't partularly in love with the idea, much like my opinion of mom and dad's epoxy, but it was a good high-profile, paying gig for Dave.

I think the signage thing is not bad, either. Turns out inuksuk are navigation tools used by various nomadic peoples to help people find their way. There aren't many natural landmarks out on the tundra, but apparently there are a lot of rocks. So people would make their own.

It's an Inuit word that means 'as a person.' Norman Hallendy, Arctic ethnogeographer and fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society says, "A stoplight or a stop sign is an inuksuk, because it acts in the capacity of a person telling you to stop." Inuksuk could also be made to indicate safe passage, fresh water, thin ice or any number of things integral to survival on the tundra.

There are some who are not so happy with this ever more ubiquitous symbol. Especially in Canada. You can suddenly see them on flags, as names of schools, brands of beer and the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver will soon make inuksuk a household word with their little guy. (Though apparently he is an inunnguaq or 'friend'.)

True, not all stacks of rocks are inuksuk. My neighbor called one of mine a cairn, which I always thought was more of a pile. I don't know what you would call the little stack of pebbles on my desk, but type 'zen' in a stock photo search and you might get a few thousand variations of stacked pebbles. I do like the larger rocks, however.

Though there is indeed balance required for a good piece, in my opinion rock stacking should not be confused with rock balancing. I've seen some compositions that are very amazing in their defiance of gravity, but aren't particularly good looking nor long lasting. I like a nice, solid stack that will stand for a while in keeping with tradition.

You should try it. Do it in a remote location and without pronouncement. Make it beautiful. There is great peace in making something of balance, of which you expect nothing in return and for no other reason than to make a mark.

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