The Inuit have been building inuksuit for thousands of years. To build an inukshuk, the Inuit place stones on top of each other. However, some inuksuit are made of only with one rock. Others are made in the shape of a person, built with many stones.
The Inuit built inuksuit in very specific places. The biggest and most visible gave travellers information about the depth of the snow, places where the ice could break in the spring and ideal spots for hunting seals and caribou.
Sometimes, the Inuit built several inuksuit in a circle to attract caribou into a cul-de-sac, making hunting easier. Inuksuit also marked the boundaries of a territory. Sometimes, they indicated a direction to take to get to the nearest village. An inuksuit could also indicate a place where food or changes of clothing were hidden.