Arctic string figures are often difficult to form from their original descriptions. To make these fascinating figures more accessible, the International String Figure Association began the Arctic String Figure Project in the 1996 ISFA Bulletin with revised descriptions for a series of figures collected by G.B. Gordon. The project originated with the sharing of notes by Richard Darsie, Mark Sherman, and Ronald Read.  This World Wide Web document continues the project with instructions and illustrations for figures collected by Diamond Jenness. It is edited by Joseph D'Antoni and Will Wirt with contributions from  Richard Darsie, Ronald Read, Mark Sherman, and Michael Pollock. It is very much a work in progress; as new figures are revised and illustrated they will be added to the document with the hope that ISFA members will suggest corrections and improvements.

Diamond Jenness traveled among the Inuit in Alaska and Canada with the Canadian Arctic Expedition during the years 1913 to 1916. In that time he collected 155 string figures and 12 string tricks and published them in Report of the Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1913-19I8, Volume XIII: Eskimo Folk-Lore, Part B: Eskimo String Figures.  Jenness's wonderful arctic experiences are described in his journals published as Arctic Odyssey, the Diary of Diamond Jenness, 1913-1916, edited by his son, Stuart E. Jenness. Diamond Jenness also wrote two popular accounts of his experiences, Dawn in Arctic Alaska and People of the Twilight. He later spent many years as Chief of the Division of Anthropology of the National Museum of Canada.