Inuit religion is thetraditional religion ofInuit people. It is practiced within Inuit communities in parts ofChukotka,Alaska,northern Canada, andGreenland. The tradition has no formal leadership or organizational structure and displays much internal variation.
Traditional Inuit theology encompasses a range of deities and spirits inhabiting theArctic andSub-Arctic landscapes. Humans are regarded as havingtwo souls, one of which can journey out of the body. Historically, an important role was played by ritual specialists known asangakut (sing.angakoq), who mediated between humanity and the spirits. They performed rituals for healing, to recover lost objects, or to assist the hunt. Hunting was traditionally a crucial part of Inuit subsistence, and is informed by various religious taboos. The use of amulets and the observance of various taboos have also been important parts of Inuit tradition.
Inuit were first exposed toChristian Europeans in the 16th century. Over the following centuries, Christian missionaries made efforts to proselytise among Inuit communities, and by the mid-20th century most Inuit had formally converted to Christianity. This process resulted in the substantial decline in theangakut and various other Inuit traditions. From the 1970s, there was a renewed movement to encourage Inuit pride and celebrate traditional culture.
Inuit inhabit a stretch of theArctic andSub-Arctic region encompassing the northeast tip of Asia and much of northern North America.[1] This includes the Russian province ofChukotka, the American state ofAlaska,northern Canada, and the island ofGreenland.[1] They often self-identify under a range of regional names, often reflecting their own dialects.[1] TheYupik people of Alaska are sometimes considered culturally distinct from other Inuit, but consider themselves to be Inuit for political purposes.[1] The Inuit are also closely related to theAleut people of theAleutian Islands.[1]
The termInuit means "the human beings".[1]Inuit have historically also been referred to as theEskimo.[2] This term likely derived from aMi'kmaq language term meaning "the eaters of raw flesh" and was subsequently widely adopted by Europeans. By the early 21st century, the termEskimo was largely rejected as derogatory, withInuit favoured in its place.[1]
Inuit religion has been characterised as being highly individualised.[3] It has been informed by the difficult natural conditions in which Inuit live.[4] Historical documentation of these traditions comes largely from Christian missionaries and explorers as well asanthropologists active since the late 19th century.[5]
Jakobsen noted that the Greenland Inuit's belief system "derives from a holistic view of the visible and the invisible existing side by side".[6]
Among the Copper, the Sea Mother is called Arnakapshaluk.[7]The veneration of the sea mother was spread from northern Alaska through to eastern Greenland.[8]Nuliajuk, the Sea Woman, was described as "the lubricous one".[9] If the people breached certain taboos, she held marine animals in the basin of herqulliq (anoil lamp that burns seal fat). When this happened, theangakkuq had to visit her to beg for game. In Netsilikoral history, she was originally an orphan girl mistreated by her community.[10] Because of their inland lifestyle, the Caribou have no belief concerning a Sea Woman. Other cosmic beings, named Sila or Pinga, control thecaribou, as opposed to marine animals. Some groups have made a distinction between the two figures, while others have considered them the same. Sacrificial offerings to them could promote luck in hunting.[11]
Moon Man, another cosmic being, is benevolent towards humans and their souls as they arrived in celestial places.[12][13] This belief differs from that of theGreenlandic Inuit, in which the Moon's wrath could be invoked by breaking taboos.[12]
Sila orSilap Inua, often associated with weather, is conceived of as a power contained within people.[14] Among the Netsilik, Sila was imagined as a male. The Netsilik (andCopper Inuit) believed Sila was originally a giant baby whose parents died fighting giants.[15]
Below is an incomplete list of Inuit deities believed to hold power over some specific part of the Inuit world:
The termsilap inua /sila,hillap inua /hilla (amongInuit),ellam yua /ella (amongYup'ik) has been used with some diversity among the groups.[19] In many instances it refers to "outer space", "intellect", "weather", "sky", "universe":[19][20][21][22][23] there may be some correspondence with thepresocratic concept oflogos.[20][24] In some other groups, this concept was more personified ([sɬamjuɣwa] amongSiberian Yupik).[25]AmongCopper Inuit, this "Wind Indweller" concept is related to spiritual practice:angakkuit were believed to obtain their power from this indweller, moreover, even their helping spirits were termed assilap inue.[26]
Inuit religion holds that human illness can be caused by offending the spirits.[27] Fear of retribution from spirits results in caution so as to avoid offending them.[28] To help prevent causing offence, Inuit have observed various rules and taboos, have offered prayers and songs, worn amulets, and consulted theirangakut specialists.[29]Scarcity of game animals is for instance often attributed to breaches in traditional observances and can be remedied through reconciliation with the animals or their indwellers.[30]
Knud Rasmussen asked his guide and friendAua, anangakkuq (spiritual healer), about Inuit religious beliefs among theIglulingmiut (people ofIgloolik) and was told: "We don't believe. We fear." Authors Inge Kleivan and Birgitte Sonne debate possible conclusions of Aua's words, because the angakkuq was under the influence ofChristian missionaries, and later converted to Christianity. Their study also analyses beliefs of several Inuit groups, concluding (among others) that fear was not diffuse.[31]
Inuit beliefs also involve a range of other beings whose existence is not accepted by modern scientific investigation. The anthropologist Erica Hill suggested that these entities could be described as "other-than-human persons", a term originally devised by anthropologistAlfred Irving Hallowell.[32]A belief in similar entities can be found across the Inuit world, from theYupik in the west to Greenland Kalaallit in the east.[5]
Among the Yupik, dangerous water-based entities included the human-shapedkogat which dwell in lakes and thepalraiyuk which live in swamps.[33] Posing threats on land is thetisikh-puk, a large worm with a human head, while theqununit have seal bodies and human faces, with holes in their hands or shoulders.[33] In many cases, Yupik people have identified specific areas of the landscape where they believe such non-human entities live.[33]
Inuitcosmology provides a narrative about the world and the place of people within it.Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley writes:
The Inuitcosmos is ruled by no one. There are no divine mother and father figures. There are no wind gods and solar creators. There are no eternal punishments in the hereafter, as there are no punishments for children or adults in the here and now.[36]
Some people starring inunipkaaqtuat ("traditional stories"[37]) orunikkaaqtuat ("to tell stories"[38]) include:
Humans were a complex of three main parts: two souls (iñuusiq andiḷitqusiq: perhaps "life force" and "personal spirit") and a name soul (atiq). After death, theiñuusiq departed for the east, but the other soul components could be reborn.[39]
In Inuit traditional belief, a human hastwo souls, one of which can leave the body at night.[40] Among various Inuit groups, the free soul is referred to as a shadow.[41] In many Inuit communities, when flying the free soul could be visible as fire; Merkur suggested that the widespread distribution of this belief suggests it was once a pan-Inuit notion.[42] Inuit on Saint Lawrence Island and in northern Alaska for instance traditionally believed that the soul wandered during sleep, while among the Mackenzie Inuit was recorded the idea that the human eyes journey during sleep.[43] The prolonged absence of the free-soul can result in bodily death.[44]
The Caribou have adualistic concept of the soul. The soul associated with respiration is calledumaffia (place of life)[45] and the personal soul of a child is calledtarneq (corresponding to thenappan of the Copper Inuit). The tarneq is considered so weak that it needs the guardianship of a name-soul of a dead relative. The presence of the ancestor in the body of the child was felt to contribute to a more gentle behavior, especially among boys.[46] This belief amounted to a form ofreincarnation.[45][47]
Dreams are generally deemed to have religious significance, for instance sometimes having aprophetic quality.[43] According to ethnographic accounts from the Polar and Labrador Inuit, a recurring belief was that ghosts and spirits may visit a person through their dreams.[43]
Inuit religion maintains that a free soul travels to the afterlife after bodily death, but that if death taboos are not observed then their free soul may become a ghost and remain in the vicinity of the living.[44]Ghosts were often thought to take the form of fire, sometimes perceived as a ball of fire.[48]
Some spirits have never been connected to physical bodies. These are calledtuurngait (alsotornait,tornat,tornrait, singulartuurngaq,torngak,tornrak,tarngek) and "are often described as a shaman's helping spirits, whose nature depends on the respectiveangakkuq".[49] Helpful spirits can be called upon in times of need and "are there to help people", as explained by Inuit elder Victor Tungilik.[49]
Inuit traditional beliefs maintain that humans are interconnected with the broader natural world.[6] This view impacts Inuit relations, especially with animals who provide them with food and garments.[6]Hunters must propitiate their prey, ingratiating themselves with them and warding off their vengeance.[6] The IglulikangakoqAua told the ethnographerKnud Rasmussen that "The greatest peril of life lies in the fact that human food consists entirely of souls."[6]
Across the various Inuit groups, it is considered important to treat the flesh and bones of killed animals in prescribed ways so as to remain good relations with their species.[50] Archaeologists have excavated caches of seal bones inNelson andNunivak Islands which probably reflect these attitudes.[50]
Inuit at Amitsoq Lake onKing William Island had seasonal and other prohibitions for sewing certain items. Boot soles, for example, could only be sewn far away from settlements in designated places.[51] Children at Amitsoq once had a game calledtunangusartut in which they imitated the adults' behaviour towards the spirits, even reciting the same verbal formulae asangakkuit. According to Rasmussen, this game was not considered offensive because a "spirit can understand the joke."[52]
Tattooing among Netsilik women provided power and could affect which world they went to after their deaths.[53]
The main ritual specialist in Inuit religion is termed theangakoq (pluralangakut).[54][a] These terms exist in slightly different forms across the various Inuit dialects,[57] although theiretymology is unclear.[57] Certain regions also had other terms for these specialists, usually those which highlighted the importance of theangakoq's helping spirit.[57] The Chugach for instance used the termkalalik, meaning a "possessor of akalaq orkalagaq" helping spirit.[57] Various Bering Sea Inuit referred to thetunghak,tunghalik, ortunralik, meaning "one who is furnished with a helping spirit".[57]
Europeans devised their own terms for theangakoq. In Danish, which became dominant in Greenland, theangakoq was called anåndemaner (spirit-invoker).[58] Various English-language sources refer to them as "shamans";[59] introduced to English from theTungusic languages at the end of the 17th century, the term "shamanism" has never received a commonly agreed definition and has been used in at least four distinct ways.[60] An alternative English-language term is "medicine men", although has attracted criticism.[61]
Both men and women have becomeangakut,[62] although most have been male.[58] OnSaint Lawrence Island, Inuit communities were recorded as maintaining that "transvestite homosexuals" made the bestangakuq.[54] Transvestiteangakuq have not been historically documented among other Inuit communities,[54] however Merkur noted that legends of both male and female homosexualangakut across central and eastern Inuit groups suggests that "ritual transvestitism" was once widespread.[63] In recorded history, theangakut were typically married,[64] and throughout many Inuit societies, maleangakut had the prerogative of demanding sex with other men's wives.[65]
Theangakut were historically important for their community's social life, its health, and its prosperity.[29] Accordingly, Jakobsen noted that they could exert "a huge influence on their society".[66] Reflecting an ambiguous relationship, Inuit typically respectedangakut,[67] but also feared them;[68] these specialists were deemed capable of using their spirits to harm as well as to heal, and efforts to help one family might bring misfortune to another.[69] Theangakut were also often attributed with the ability to steal all or part of a person's soul.[70]
Angakut possess helper spirits,[71] entities often residing in dolls or figurines that theangakut create for that purpose.[64] It was the command of these spirits that distinguishedangakut from other individuals in Inuit society.[72] A trainedangakoq was expected to control their spirits,[73] often using certain words, spells, or songs known only to theangakut.[64] In Eastern Greenland, these serving spirits were calledtartoks.[74] In this region, various spirit types were recorded. These included thetarajuatsiaks, shadow forms with pointed bald heads that could make the wind blow or steal and/or retrieve souls; thetimerseks, who live inland and were also useful in stealing souls; and theinersuaks, spirits of the sea who could assist in attracting marine animals to the shore.[74] Historical records also indicate that manyangakut had anamortok as a helper spirit; this was a being with black arms that could bring news and answer questions. It was dangerous and those who touched it were reputed to turn black and die.[75]
Inuit lore traditionally attributed special powers to theangakut, including an ability to fly,[76] and to displaysilanigtalersarput, an enhanced vision allowing them to see in the darkness and through clothing and flesh.[77] Their ability to withstand physical dangers, such as harmful spirits, was also taken as evidence of their power.[78]
Theangakut's central function was healing.[79] At other times, they were tasked with curing female infertility,[80] locating lost objects,[81] or attracting game animals.[30] Elsewhere, they were asked to predict future events like the weather or the outcome of a hunt,[30] or to determine if a traveller faced problems on a road ahead, and if so, to remove those obstacles.[82] In payment for their efforts,angakut were traditionally given meat or other goods,[64] things which would supplement a primary income from their existing livelihood.[64]
The particular practices ofangakut could be highly individualised,[83] with Merkur noting that no two seances were "ever quite the same".[84] Patients will often approach theangakoq, who will then seek to determine the cause of their illness using divination.[79] The most common divinatory method employed isqilaneq ('head-lifting').[79] Most illnesses will subsequently be diagnosed as soul-loss caused by spirits, indwellers of nature, or witchcraft.[79] Theangakoq will commonly respond with a séance in which they send their helping spirit out to find the lost soul, or, if theangakoq is more experienced, to go on their own "spirit journey" to retrieve it.[79]
Anangakoq will often verbally ask their helping spirit a question, for instance the cause of a patient's illness, and then receive a visual image in their mind that provides them with an answer.[85] In many cases, anangakoq will attribute a patient's illness to their breach of a taboo that has offended the spirits;[86] often, given the small, close-knit nature of Inuit communities, theangakoq will already have been aware of any broken taboos due to community gossip.[87]
Angakut often made, or directed the manufacture, of their ritual paraphernalia.[64] During rituals, they have often been naked or naked above the waist;[88] alternatively they may wear a gutskin raincoat.[79] If undertaking a spirit-journey, a common practice among manyangakut was to cover their face.[89]
Angakut rites typically involved inducing a trance state as part of a séance engaging with the spirits.[64] These have most commonly taken place at night, inside huts with the lights turned out, but sometimes have occurred outdoors during daylight hours.[64] Merkur termed these techniques a "platform séance".[90] In many cases, theangakoq secreted themselves on a sleeping platform at the back of their hut, behind a curtain of skins, to perform their ceremony.[91]The arrival of spirits at the séance may be signalled by sounds of growling and scraping.[92] Someangakut produced noises during the séance, which other attendees would then interpret.[93]
There are also accounts ofangakut performing theshaking tent rite found among many North American Native communities.[94] Inuit variants of this ritual often feature theangakoq being bound hand and foot, or sometimes with their neck to their knees, using cords.[94] Sometimes, at the end of the rite, they are found to still be bound in the same manner, or alternatively to be free of all bondage.[95] In East Greenland, thoseangakoq who performed these bound seances were calledqimarraterssortugssat, and among them it was often considered the greatest of theangakoq feats.[95]
Inuit observers often recognised thatangakut employedventriloquism and sleights of hand during their séances and other rites, but believe that there remains spiritual importance to this.[96] These sleights of hand were sometimes aided by assistants.[97]To demonstrate that they have been in combat with spirits, theangakoq sometimes presented their torn clothes, or evidence that their hands or weapons had been reddened with blood, to the audience.[98] They might also present apparent wounds indicating that they have been stabbed, with these wounds evidently healing without trace.[99]
The ability to journey to other realms in spirit form was deemed an exceptional feat and onlyangakut of considerable ability are thought capable of achieving it.[100] When theangakoq travels to the spirit world, the audience around them may sing to encourage them on their way.[101] In various cases, Inuit belief maintained that there were dangers facing the travelingangakoq. West Greenlandic legends outlined how these soul-travelers were repeatedly almost captured by the dangerous spirit Amarsiniook.[102]
For instance,angakut may respond to bad weather by spirit-journeying, or sending their helper spirit, to the indweller of the winds, blizzard, or rain;[30] there are accounts ofangakut traveling to Narsuk to stop the storms.[103]Sometimes,angakut have also pursued spirit-journeys for their own curiosity, for instance to visit the Moon Man or the abode of the dead.[98]
Becoming anangakoq typically required an innate aptitude, one which was deemed to often be reflected in a dream.[104] Inuit rarely hold to the idea of sick people subsequently becomingangakut – in this they differ from Siberian ethnic groups, who often believed that ill individuals became ritual specialists.[105] There are various accounts of people becoming anangakoq on their own initiative,[83] for instance as a response to some frustration or humiliation.[106]Although there are no records of ethnographers observing anangakoq initiation, various accounts of such a process have been provided byangakoq and other Inuit.[107] Initiation to become anangakoq is a secretive process, about which comparatively little is known by outsiders.[108]
An aspiringangakoq was usually expected to train with an existing practitioner.[74] Children would typically be taken on as apprentices, although sometimes adults were too.[109] In Northeast Asia and Alaska,angakut often selected their own child, grandchild, or nephew as an apprentice.[110] More broadly, and especially in Eastern Greenland, it was common forangakut to choose an orphan.[109] If the apprentice was not a close relation of their teacher, it was common for the former to make a payment of furs or other goods.[111] The new apprentice was often prohibited from telling others about their training,[71] was expected to adopt a specific diet,[71] and was made to follow certain taboos.[112]
The length of an apprenticeship varied.[113] In Greenland, it often took around ten years,[114] while among the Caribou this instruction could be accompanied over a single winter.[113] Among various Inuit groups, the apprentice had to acquire a metaphorical "inner light".[115] Unlike other communities, the Iglulik explicitly linked this acquisition of the inner light to the Moon Man.[116] The inner light was obtained before acquiring any helper spirits.[117] During their training, an apprentice was expected to learn special terminologies to communicate with the spirits.[118] To become skilled, a trainee was expected to then gather as manytartoks as possible.[119]In the early stages of training, anangakoq exposes themselves to spirit possession with no control over the spirits.[120] A recurring notion in these initiatory experiences was an encounter with a bear spirit, something that challenged the apprentice's strength and their ability to endure hardship.[83]If anangakoq, having completed their apprenticeship, failed to alert their community of their new status then it was sometimes believed that they would become anilisiitsoq.[119]
Initiation required going to remote areas to seek out a spirit encounter.[121] In a case from eastern Greenland recorded in the late 19th century, an apprentice traveled to a cleft or cave to rub a stone upon another stone in the direction of the sun for three days, at which point their first spirit was believed to appear.[74] Another account, recorded by Rasmussen, involved an apprentice going to a lonely place and calling out for three days, each time hearing his echo. At the end of that period, another voice was reputed to be heard, which would be that of the apprentice's helping spirit.[106]
A widely used divinatory practice among Inuit isqilaneq.[122] This involves a sick person lying prone, with their face up; beneath their head will be fastened either the diviner's waistbelt or a line attached to a ceremonial stick. The diviner will then seek to move the patient's head up and down through the affixed fabric, asking questions while doing so. When the head is deemed to become heavy, particularly so heavy that it cannot be moved, then that is interpreted as an affirmative answer to a question.[123] It is believed that the disease-causing spirit is the entity ultimately answering the questions the diviner is putting to it.[124]Qilaneq may practiced byangakut but also by other individuals,[122] for unlike the practices of anangakoq is does not require the involvement of a helping spirit.[124] These sorts of divination using weight oracles is also found among various Siberian societies and theSámi people.[125]
Inuit society also contains various individuals deemedclairvoyant, and thus capable of seeing spirits, but these differ from angakut in not engaging in seances. They may nevertheless offer services for diagnosing illnesses, finding lost property, and prophesying.[126] Among the Netsilik Inuit, for example, an individual called anangarkungaruk does not perform seances but is thought capable of seeing a disease-causing spirit and thus diagnosing a person's illness.[124] Thenerfalassok is a type of clairvoyant responsible for locating missing objects and diagnosing illness among the Inuit of Western Greenland.[124]
In Alaska, the influence of neighboring indigenous communities has resulted in the extensive development of Inuit festivals.[98]Angakut have often been involved in feasts connected with the start and end of the hunting season.[98]The Yupik bladder festival involves a feast to which is brought the bladders of seals, walruses, and caribou killed that year. After the feast, the bladders are placed back into the sea to ensure that these species will offer themselves up as prey for the following year.[50]
Inuit have historically often employedamulets, the efficacy of which is attributed to its corresponding spirit.[127]Amulets may be constructed byangakuq but also by lay Inuit too.[98]
Unlike the Iglulik Inuit, the Netsilik used a large number of amulets. Even dogs could have amulets.[128] In one recorded instance, a young boy had 80 amulets, so many that he could hardly play.[129][130] One particular man had 17 names taken from his ancestors and intended to protect him.[129][131]
Anangakoq might create an entity called atupilaq that had the function of killing a person. To create this, anangakoq would craft an object using hair, grass, or moss, before ritually bringing it to life.[132] Merkur described these beings as "witchcraft automatons".[133]In Inuit belief, anangakoq was often thought capable of determining if a person was a witch.[70] Due to a belief that witches were bloodless, accused witches might be stabbed to see if they bleed from the wound.[70] If executed, the body of the witch would be carried onto a mountain and cut to pieces.[70]
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European ships first began encountering Inuit in what became northeast Canada in the 16th century.[134] When Christianity was introduced to Inuit, they often displayed what Jakobsen called "an openness" to incorporating Christian elements into their "existing spirit world".[29]In Greenland,angakut continued to practice, sometimes secretly, following Christianity's introduction.[66] In 1746, the Danish KingChristian VI wrote a formal letter to Greenlanders complaining about the continued activities of theangakut.[66]
The 19th century saw substantial population decline among Inuit of continental North America, largely due to the introduction of new diseases.[135] Increasingly, Inuit were employed by whalers, economic changes that contributed to cultural change.[135] Ethnographic accounts from the period highlight the decline in many traditional Inuit customs, such as the tattooing of women.[136] Europeans generally perceived the demise of Inuit culture to be inevitable,[134] with whiteethnographers likeFranz Boas andKnud Rasmussen hoping to document Inuit culture before it disappeared.[136]
In Canada, the first Anglican mission post among Inuit was established in 1894 atUumanarjuaq, with the first Roman Catholic post created atIgluligaarjuk in 1912.[137] Christianity subsequently spread rapidly among Canada's Inuit population.[138] Often, the Christian missionaries were interested in recording Inuit traditions.[138]In the 20th century, the Canadian government pursued a policy of deliberately settling Inuit in permanent communities.[138]
The Polar Inuit of Northwest Greenland were all baptised by 1934, and theangakut were extinct among them by the mid-20th century.[139]In Eastern Greenland, theangakut remained in operation, largely unhindered by Christianity, until the early 20th century.[140]
During the 1970s, the emergence of a pan-Inuit ideology contributed to a growing appreciation of old Inuit traditions.[141] TheInuit Cultural Institute launched in 1975.[141] In 1999, theNunavut government was established in Canada, something that assisted research into traditional Inuit culture.[141]
In 1991, Merkur noted that Inuit religion was varyingly "extinct, obsolescent, and persisting", depending on the community in question.[2]
As of as of 2021[update], 71 percent of Canadian Inuit identified as Christian.[142]
