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An inuksuk (plural inuksuit) (from the Inuktitut: ᐃᓄᒃᓱᒃ, plural ᐃᓄᒃᓱᐃᑦ; alternatively inukhuk in Inuinnaqtun, inussuk in Greenlandic or inukshuk in English〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Inukshuk )〕) is a human-made stone landmark or cairn used by the Inuit, Inupiat, Kalaallit, Yupik, and other peoples of the Arctic region of North America. These structures are found from Alaska to Greenland. This region, above the Arctic Circle, is dominated by the tundra biome and has areas with few natural landmarks. The inuksuk may have been used for navigation, as a point of reference, a marker for travel routes, fishing places, camps, hunting grounds, places of veneration, drift fences used in hunting or to mark a food cache.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.sfu.ca/aboriginalpeoples/inukshuk.html )〕 The Inupiat in northern Alaska used inuksuit to assist in the herding of caribou into contained areas for slaughter.〔(28 Ethnobiology Conference Abstracts )〕 Varying in shape and size, the inuksuit have ancient roots in Inuit culture. Historically, the most common type of inuksuk is a single stone positioned in an upright manner. 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. The size of some inuksuit suggest that the construction was often a communal effort.〔 At Enukso Point on Baffin Island, there are over 100 inuksuit. The site was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1969.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/lhn-nhs/det_E.asp?oqSID=0327&oqeName=Inuksuk&oqfName=Inuksuk )〕〔(National Historic Sites Of Canada System Plan )〕 ==Name== The word ''inuksuk'' means "something which acts for or performs the function of a person". The word comes from the morphemes ''inuk'' ("person")〔(Nunavut Living Dictionary )〕 and ''-suk'' ("ersatz" or "substitute"). It is pronounced ''inutsuk'' in Nunavik and the southern part of Baffin Island (see Inuit phonology for the linguistic reasons). In many of the central Nunavut dialects, it has the etymologically related name ''inuksugaq'' (plural: ''inuksugait''). While the predominant English spelling is ''inukshuk'', both the Government of Nunavut and the Government of Canada through Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada promote the Inuit-preferred spelling ''inuksuk''. A structure similar to an inuksuk but meant to represent a human figure, called an ''inunnguaq'' (''ᐃᓄᙳᐊᖅ'', "imitation of a person", plural ''inunnguat''), has become widely familiar to non-Inuit. However, it is not the most common type of inuksuk. It is distinguished from inuksuit in general. The Hammer of Thor, located on the Ungava Peninsula, Quebec may be an inuksuk. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Inuksuk」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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