Building the Dam Story


Monday, June 7, 2010

Stones of meaning

The Canadian Inuit use the symbol of an Inuksuk, which means "something which acts for or performs the function of a person." The word Inunnguaq is also used for this particular type of rock formation (that look more like a person rather than a conical heap of stones, and interestingly is shown on the cover of the Rush album Test for Echo).

I was given a small inuksuk today by a friend who recently traveled to Canada and brought back this "guardian spirit". Immediately I experienced a deep sense of gratitude and honor with this gift in my hand. It reminded me that all over the earth humans connect themselves with symbols unique as a design of stones, and with amazing feats such as massive concrete dams.

The surprise in all this is when we "use" a symbol of any kind to develop within ourselves greater understanding and appreciation of our culture, there's the chance we can see a bit farther into the future of our civilization. As Edward Abbbey suggests in his brilliant book, Desert Solitude,"Civilization is the wild river; culture, 592,000 tons of cement."