A gift for Luke

Inukshuk, are stone monuments erected by the Inuit, that have been used for centuries to guide them across one of the world's most desolate landscapes. The Inukshuk serves as a navigational guide, leading weary travellers home.

Each stone is a separate entity; each supports, and is supported by, the one above and the one below it. The strength lies in its unity. Its significance comes from its meaning as a whole. The stones, which make up the Inukshuk, are secured through balance. They are chosen for how well they fit together.

I was eleven years old when I built my first Inukshuk. It was in the middle of the summer, at the back of my parent’s property, along the creek and under a willow tree. I had seen a special on television about aboriginal heritage and was fascinated.

It took me hours to find just the right rocks from the creek bed. I also fought an intense battle against my new foes, balance and gravity. But I was determined. I became completely  absorbed in the process and all sense of time was lost. I remember placing that last rock and tiptoeing away from it really slowly afraid that all of my hard work would crumble.

Then I climbed the willow tree and waited. You see, I thought with all the wisdom of an eleven year old, that the animals and birds would come around to see it.  So, I waited and while I waited, I thought about the places I would go once I was old enough to make my own rules and chart my own course. I imagined the freedom I would have and the journeys I would take. Mostly, I realized then that although I wanted to, I didn’t need to see the rest of the world, to love where I was. This is the day my patriotism was born.

This was also the first of many, many Inukshuks that I have built. Along portages, on moonlight beaches and deep in the heart of the Algonquin forest; I have built them every year since I was eleven, with the same determination and sense of pride in my country. I spent twenty five years building them for myself. Now, for the rest of my life, I am going to build them for you, Luke.  

On trails and cliff tops, on beaches and docks, and on that same sunny spot where the willow tree once stood, I will build them for you. I will build one each year in recognition and appreciation for all that you are and for all that you have done for me. Each individual rock will symbolize a specific moment, memory or gift that you have given me. As a whole, they will symbolize a love that is eternal, the specific love a mother holds for her son.