Inuit religion Inuit religion is the shared spiritual beliefs and practices of the Inuit, an indigenous people from Alaska, northern Canada, parts of Siberia and Greenland. Their religion shares many similarities with some Alaska Native religions. Traditional ...

, Adlivun (''those who live beneath us'',Boas 1888, Sedna and the fulmar p. 589 from ''at ~ al'' below, ''-lirn'' in a certain direction, ''-vun'' possessive first person plural; also known as

Idliragijenget In Inuit mythology, Idliragijenget is the god of the ocean The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also ...

) are the spirits of the departed who reside in the

underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld ...

, and by extension the underworld itself, located beneath the land and the sea. The souls are purified there, in preparation for the travel to the Land of the Moon ( Quidlivun or Qudlivun, ''the uppermost ones''),Boas 1888, Glossary p. 662 where they find eternal rest and peace.Gabryl 1895, p. 333 Sedna, Torngarsuk and the tornat (spirits of animals and natural formations) and

tupilaq In Greenlandic Inuit religion, a (, , or in Inuktitut syllabics) was an avenging monster fabricated by a practitioner of witchcraft or shamanism by using various objects such as animal parts (bone, skin, hair, sinew, etc.) and even parts take ...

(souls of dead people) live in Adlivun,Leach 1956, Roll over p. 50 which is usually described as a frozen wasteland. Sedna is the ruler of the land, and is said to imprison the souls of the living as part of the preparation for the next stage of their journey. When an Inuk dies, they are wrapped in caribou skin and buried. Elderly corpses have their feet pointing towards west or southwest, while children's feet point east or southeast and young adults towards the south. Three days of mourning follow, with relatives staying in the deceased's hut with nostrils closed by a piece of caribou skin. After three days, the mourners ritualistically circle the grave three times, promising

venison Venison originally meant the meat of a game animal but now refers primarily to the meat of antlered ungulates such as elk or deer (or antelope in South Africa). Venison can be used to refer to any part of the animal, so long as it is edible ...

to the spirit, which is then brought when the grave is visited. The

psychopomp Psychopomps (from the Greek word , , literally meaning the 'guide of souls') are supernatural creatures, spirits, entities, angels, demons or deities in many religions whose responsibility is to escort newly deceased souls from Earth to the afte ...

Pinga In Inuit religion, Pinga ("the one who is p onhigh") is a goddess of the hunt and medicine. She is heavily associated with the sky. Caribou Inuit tradition In Caribou Inuit communities, Pinga had some authority over caribou herds. She became a ...

and

Anguta Anguta is the father of the sea goddess Sedna in the Inuit religion. In certain myths of the Greenlandic Inuit, Anguta (also called "His Father," Anigut, or Aguta) is considered the creator god and is the supreme being among Inuit. In other m ...

bring the souls of the dead to Adlivun, where they must stay for one year before moving on.

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* * * Inuit mythology Inuit legendary creatures Underworld {{NorthAm-myth-stub