The welcoming figure was made on the Inuit model for the NWT pavillion designed by Bing Thom and "shaped like a five-story igloo" at Expo 86. The figure was sited at English Bay after the fair. The stones were brought in from a quarry in the Fraser Valley and then shaped and stacked by crane and pinned together with rebar. Inukshuks in the north are usually much smaller and the rocks are balanced on each other. They act as sign posts or distance markers that can be seen on the flat horizon. Artist Kanak said, "By a lake an Inukshuk means lots of fish." The figure is a "reminder of the ingenuity of my people in addressing transportation and communications challenges prior to the introduction of modern technology." (sources: M.Farrow, V.Sun, April 24, 1985; V.Province, May 5, 1985)