Editing Inuksuk (section)

==Name==
[[File:Inuksugalait Foxe-PI 2002-07-26.jpg|thumb|left|Inuksuit at the [[Foxe Peninsula]] ([[Baffin Island]]), Canada.]]

The word {{wikt-lang|iu-Latn|inuksuk}} means "that which acts in the capacity of a human".<ref>{{Cite book |title=Tukiliit: An introduction to inuksuit and other stone figures of the North |last=Hallendy |first=Norman |publisher=Douglas & McIntyre and University of Alaska Press |date=2009 |isbn=9781553654247 |location=Vancouver, British Columbia |pages=60 }}</ref> The word comes from the morphemes {{wikt-lang|iu-Latn|inuk}} ({{gloss|person}})<ref>{{Cite web|title=LivingDictionary.com - Online casino dictionary|url=https://www.livingdictionary.com/|access-date=2020-11-29|website=www.livingdictionary.com}}</ref> and {{lang|iu-Latn|-suk}} ({{gloss|[[wikt:ersatz|ersatz]], substitute}}). It is pronounced {{lang|iu-Latn|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 {{lang|iu-Latn|inuksugaq}} (plural: {{lang|iu-Latn|inuksugait}}).{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

While the predominant English spelling is {{wikt-lang|en|inukshuk}}, both the Government of Nunavut<ref name=symbols>{{cite web |url=http://www.gov.nu.ca/Nunavut/English/about/symbols.shtml |title=Symbols of Nunavut |publisher=Government of Nunavut |access-date=2006-06-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060427062906/http://www.gov.nu.ca/Nunavut/English/about/symbols.shtml |archive-date=2006-04-27}}</ref> and the [[Politics of Canada|Government of Canada]] through [[Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada]]<ref name=inac>{{cite web|url=http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ks/inukstrn_e.html |title=Transcript of Sharing a Story: The Inuksuk |publisher=[[Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada]] |access-date=2006-06-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080506171800/http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ks/inukstrn_e.html |archive-date=May 6, 2008 }}</ref> promote the Inuit-preferred spelling {{wikt-lang|en|inuksuk}}.

A structure similar to an inuksuk is called an {{lang|iu-Latn|inunnguaq}} ({{lang|iu|ᐃᓄᙳᐊᖅ}}, {{gloss|imitation of a person}}, plural {{lang|iu-Latn|inunnguat}}); it is meant to represent a human figure. {{lang|iu-Latn|Inunnguaq}} has become widely familiar to non-Inuit, and is particularly found in Greenland.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fitzhugh |first=William W. |date=2017-03-01 |title=Mongolian Deer Stones, European Menhirs, and Canadian Arctic Inuksuit: Collective Memory and the Function of Northern Monument Traditions |journal=Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=149–187 |doi=10.1007/s10816-017-9328-0 |s2cid=254605923 |issn=1072-5369 }}</ref> However, it is not the most common type of inuksuk. It is distinguished from inuksuit in general.

[[Hammer of Thor (monument)|The Hammer of Thor]], located on the [[Ungava Peninsula]], [[Quebec]] is most likely an inuksuk rather than of viking origin.  <ref> Gendron, Daniel. "On the “Viking” presence in Nunavik: Much ado about nothing!" Études/Inuit/Studies, volume 39, number 2, 2015, p. 285–293. https://doi.org/10.7202/1038151ar (accessed Oct 16 2024) </ref>