On Friday afternoon, the Town of Collingwood and Blue Mountain resident Muckpaloo Ipeelie unveiled a new placard which sits adjacent to the Inuksuk located at Sunset Point Park.
The sign encourages passersby to pause and reflect at the Inuksuk and to learn more about Inuit traditional land, language and food.
“This journey actually started last September and it’s been a long journey. Through it I learned a lot about myself. I learned a lot about forgiveness and harmony,” said Ipeelie. “Today’s a wonderful day that the town has provided so I can share my culture.”
Ipeelie contributed her own personal stories as an Inuk woman who was born in Nunavut, later moving to Ottawa and Niagara and finally settling in Blue Mountain. She also shared the traditional uses and meaning of the Inuksuk in Inuit culture, which can be accessed by scanning a QR code on the placard.
The Inuksuk have historically been used for navigation, as a point of reference, a marker for travel routes, fishing places, camps, hunting grounds, places of veneration, drift fences used in hunting or to mark a food cache.
The Inuksuk at Sunset Point was erected in the early 2000s as a donation from a local family. It was originally intended to honour the memory of the family’s son following his death.
“Good things can come out of things that may not have had the proper intention in the first place,” said Ipeelie. “It’s important for Collingwood to know why the Inuksuk is here.”
Ipeelie said she feels proud whenever she sees an Inuksuk, whether it be in Collingwood or elsewhere.
“The Inuksuk is now on the map and now, we are too. The Inuit are on the map in Collingwood,” she said.
