English Bay Inukshuk, Vancouver

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A close up of the Inukshuk in Vancouver's West End, off English Bay. It is a popular attraction throughout the year.

The English Bay Inukshuk is a popular attraction. Located off the popular Vancouver Seawall, This simple yet stunning piece of art identifies with the Canadian land it has been built on. Sitting on the edge of a small peninsula with a circular walking path with the Burrard Inlet, Cascade Mountain range and ocean lines behind, it is a picturesque and popular site no matter the weather or time of day as the Inukshuk is lit up at night. Hundreds of tourists a day have their photo taken with this iconic Vancouver art piece and it was the symbol for the 2010 Winter Games.

One of the most iconic Canadian images in the last decade has become the inuksuk, which can be seen coast to coast on road sides, as art forms and in Vancouver's case, as a two story granite sculpture on a small jetty by English Bay created by artisan Alvin Kanak from the North West Territories in 1987 as a gift for the World Expo.

The inukshuk is a familiar image as it was the chosen symbol for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is called 'Ilanaaq', the Inuktitut interpretation for the word: 'friend'.

The Inuksuk is a tourist favourite with hundreds of passersby in the summer stopping to photograph or sit near this mammoth monument.

No matter the weather or the time of day, the inuksuk is a beautiful image against the picturesque backdrop of English Bay, especially in the summer months when the setting sun ignites the sky with colour creating beautiful photos the symbolize both Vancouver's amazing seaside location and its west coast local.

The history behind the Inukshuk is its use in the northern region of Canada where these built forms are used as a point of reference, or navigation, necessary since in the winter months pathways are indistinguishable and the landscape all appears the same. These stone 'signposts' mark hunting grounds and directions to settlements. Traditional Inukshuk however, are not built in the shape of a person, the figures that appear human like are usually refered to as inunnguaq.