
Traditional
Alaskan Native religion involves mediation between people and spirits, souls, and other
immortal beings. Such beliefs and practices were once widespread among
Inuit
Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...
(including
Iñupiat
The Inupiat (singular: Iñupiaq), also known as Alaskan Inuit, are a group of Alaska Natives whose traditional territory roughly spans northeast from Norton Sound on the Bering Sea to the northernmost part of the Canada–United States borde ...
),
Yupik,
Aleut
Aleuts ( ; (west) or (east) ) are the Indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands, which are located between the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. Both the Aleuts and the islands are politically divided between the US state of Alaska ...
, and
Northwest Coastal Indian cultures, but today are less common.
[ Merkur 1985: 4] They were already in decline among many groups when the first major ethnological research was done. For example, at the end of the 19th century, Sagdloq, the last medicine man among what were then called in English, "Polar Eskimos", died; he was believed to be able to travel to the sky and under the sea, and was also known for using
ventriloquism
Ventriloquism or ventriloquy is an act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) speaks in such a way that it seems like their voice is coming from a different location, usually through a puppet known as a "dummy". The act of ventrilo ...
and
sleight-of-hand.
[ Merkur 1985:134]
The
term "Eskimo" has fallen out of favour in Canada and Greenland, where it is considered
pejorative
A pejorative word, phrase, slur, or derogatory term is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hosti ...
and "Inuit" is used instead. However, "Eskimo" is still considered acceptable among some
Alaska Natives
Alaska Natives (also known as Native Alaskans, Alaskan Indians, or Indigenous Alaskans) are the Indigenous peoples of Alaska that encompass a diverse arena of cultural and linguistic groups, including the Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tli ...
of Yupik and Inupiaq (Inuit) heritage and is at times preferred over "Inuit" as a
collective reference.
The
Inuit
Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...
and
Yupik language
The Yupik languages () are a family of languages spoken by the Yupik peoples of western and south-central Alaska and Chukotka. The Yupik languages differ enough from one another that they are not mutually intelligible, although speakers of one ...
s constitute one branch within the
Eskimo–Aleut language family and the
Aleut language
Aleut ( ) or is the language spoken by the Aleut living in the Aleutian Islands, Pribilof Islands, Commander Islands, and the Alaska Peninsula (in Aleut , the origin of the state name Alaska). Aleut is the sole language in the Aleut branch of ...
is another. (The
Sirenik Eskimo language
Sirenik Yupik, Sireniki Yupik (also Old Sirenik or Vuteen), Sirenik, or Sirenikskiy is an extinct Eskimo–Aleut language. It was spoken in and around the village of Sireniki (Сиреники) in Chukotka Peninsula, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug ...
is sometimes seen as a third branch
[Linguist List's description abou]
Nikolai Vakhtin
's book
''The Old Sirinek Language: Texts, Lexicon, Grammatical Notes''
. The author's untransliterated (original) name i
.[Representing genealogical relations of (among others) Eskimo–Aleut languages by tree]
(found on the site o
)
(found on the site o
) but sometimes as one of the Yupik languages.
[Ethnologue Report for Eskimo–Aleut]
/ref>)
Angakkuq and other spiritual mediators
Most Alaskan Native cultures traditionally have some form of spiritual healer or ceremonial person who mediate between the spirits and humans of the community. The person fulfilling this role is believed to be able to command helping spirits, ask mythological beings (e.g., Nuliayuk among the Netsilik Inuit
The Netsilik (Netsilingmiut) are Inuit who live predominantly in Kugaaruk and Gjoa Haven, and somewhat in Taloyoak of the Kitikmeot Region, Nunavut, and, to a smaller extent in the north Qikiqtaaluk Region, in Canada. They were, in the early 2 ...
and Takanaluk-arnaluk in Aua's narration) to "release" the souls of animals, enable the success of the hunt, or heal sick people by bringing back their "stolen" souls.
Among the Inuit
Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...
this person is known as an ''angakkuq
The Inuit angakkuq (plural: ''angakkuit'', Inuktitut syllabics ᐊᖓᑦᑯᖅ or ᐊᖓᒃᑯᖅ; Inuvialuktun: '; , pl. ''angakkut''; Iñupiaq: ''aŋatkuq'') is an intellectual and spiritual figure in Inuit culture who corresponds to a med ...
''. The ''alignalghi'' () of the Siberian Yupik
Siberian Yupiks, or Yuits (), are a Yupik peoples, Yupik people who reside along the coast of the Chukchi Peninsula in the far Russian Far East, northeast of the Russia, Russian Federation and on St. Lawrence Island in Alaska. They speak Si ...
s is translated as "shaman" in Russian and English literature.[ Menovščikov 1968:442] While the word "shaman" comes from the Tungusic language
The Tungusic languages (also known as Manchu–Tungus and Tungus) form a language family spoken in Eastern Siberia and Manchuria by Tungusic peoples. Many Tungusic languages are endangered. There are approximately 75,000 native speakers of the ...
, it is sometimes used by anthropologists when describing Alaskan Native beliefs.[Kleivan & Sonne 1985][Merkur 1985][Vitebsky 2001] However, most traditional people prefer to use the terminology found in their own, traditional Native languages.
Traditional spiritual beliefs among the Alaskan Native peoples exhibit some characteristic features not universal in cultures based in animism, such as soul dualism
Soul dualism, also called dualistic pluralism or multiple souls, is a range of beliefs that a person has two or more kinds of souls. In many cases, one of the souls is associated with body functions ("body soul") and the other one can leave the bo ...
(a dualistic or pluralistic concept of the soul
The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...
) in certain groups, and specific links between the living, the souls of hunted animals and dead people.[Oosten 1997: 86][Vitebsky 1996:14] The death of either a person or a game animal requires that certain activities, such as cutting and sewing, be avoided to prevent harming their souls. In Greenland, the transgression of this "death taboo" could turn the soul of the dead into a ''tupilaq
A ( or in Inuktitut syllabics, plural ) is a monster or carving of a monster.
In Inuit religion, especially in Greenland, a tupilaq was an avenging monster fabricated by an angakkuq (a practitioner of witchcraft or shamanism) by using various ...
'', a restless ghost
In mythology and folklore, a vengeful ghost or vengeful spirit is said to be the spirit of a dead person who returns from the afterlife to seek revenge for a cruel, unnatural or unjust death. In certain cultures where funeral and burial or crem ...
who scared game away. Animals were thought to flee hunters who violated taboos.
Chugach
Chugach , Chugach Sugpiaq or Chugachigmiut is the name of an Alaska Native people in the region of the Kenai Peninsula and Prince William Sound on the southern coast of Alaska. The Chugach people are an Alutiiq ( Pacific Native) people who speak ...
spiritual healers may begin their work after an out-of-body experience, such as seeing oneself as a skeleton, exemplified in Aua's (Iglulik
Igloolik (Inuktitut syllabics: , ''Iglulik'', ) is an Inuit hamlet in Foxe Basin, Qikiqtaaluk Region in Nunavut, northern Canada. Because its location on Igloolik Island is close to Melville Peninsula, it is often mistakenly thought to be on the ...
) narration and a Baker Lake artwork
Special language
In some Alaskan Native communities, the spiritual people have used a distinctly archaic
Archaic may refer to:
* Archaic Period (several meanings), archaeological term used to refer to a very early period differing by location
*Archaic humans, people before ''homo sapiens''
* ''Archaic'' (comics), a comic-book series created by write ...
version of the community's normal language interlaced with special metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide, or obscure, clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are usually meant to cr ...
s and speech styles.[ Merkur 1985:7][Freuchen 1961:277] For example, "the shadow is ripening" means the healer is returning from his spiritual journey during a " seance". Expert healers have been said to speak whole sentences differing from vernacular speech.[ The shamans among the ]Siberian Yupik people
Siberian Yupiks, or Yuits (), are a Yupik people who reside along the coast of the Chukchi Peninsula in the far northeast of the Russian Federation and on St. Lawrence Island in Alaska. They speak Central Siberian Yupik (also known as Y ...
s had a special language that used periphrastic
In linguistics and literature, periphrasis () is the use of a larger number of words, with an implicit comparison to the possibility of using fewer. The comparison may be within a language or between languages. For example, "more happy" is periph ...
substitutions for names of objects and phenomena; they used it for conversation with the ('spirits'). These spirits were believed to have a special language with certain substitutes for ordinary words ("the one with a drum": "shaman"; "that with tusks": "walrus
The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large pinniped marine mammal with discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. It is the only extant species in the family Odobeni ...
").[Bogoraz 1913]
437, 442, 444, 446, 448–449 The Ungazighmiit (a Siberian Yupik people) had a special allegoric usage of some expressions.
Observing the ''angakkuq'' Sorqaq's seance in a community at Qaanaaq
Qaanaaq (), formerly known as New Thule, is the main town in the northern part of the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. The town has a population of 646 as of 2020. The population was forcibly relocated from its former, traditiona ...
, Peter Freuchen explains the motivation in that case: In this case, the special language was understood by the whole community, not restricted to the ''angakkuit'' or a few "experts".
In some groups such variants were used when speaking with spirits invoked by the ''angakkuq'' and with unsocialised babies who grew into the human society through a special ceremony performed by the mother. Some writers have treated both phenomena as a language for communication with "alien" beings (mothers sometimes used similar language in a socialization ritual, in which the newborn is regarded as a little "alien" — just like spirits or animal souls). The motif of a distinction between spirit and "real" human is present in a tale of the Ungazighmiit.
Another interesting example of the special language and its contribution to relexicalization:
Techniques
Techniques and ceremonies vary among cultures.[ Kleivan & Sonne: 25] Sleight-of-hand
Sleight of hand (also known as prestidigitation or ''legerdemain'' () comprises fine motor skills used by performing artists in different art forms to entertain or manipulate. It is closely associated with close-up magic, card magic, card flou ...
,[ ]ventriloquism
Ventriloquism or ventriloquy is an act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) speaks in such a way that it seems like their voice is coming from a different location, usually through a puppet known as a "dummy". The act of ventrilo ...
[ Rasmussen 1965: 176] might be used to impress the audience. In some cultures the ''angakkuq'' was pinioned before the séance,[ Kleivan & Sonne: Pl XXX, XXXIII] or the ''angakkuq'' might hide behind a curtain. Holding the séance in the dark with lamps extinguished was not obligatory, but the setting was familiar and widespread.[
Some authors suggest that an ''angakkuq'' could be honest in his tricks, believing in the phenomena he himself mimicked, moreover, he could consciously cheat and honestly believe at the same time. ]Knud Rasmussen
Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen (; 7 June 1879 – 21 December 1933) was a Greenlandic-Danish polar explorer and anthropologist. He has been called the "father of Eskimology" (now often known as Inuit Studies or Greenlandic and Arctic Studies) ...
mentioned Arnaqaoq, a young Netsilik Inuit
The Netsilik (Netsilingmiut) are Inuit who live predominantly in Kugaaruk and Gjoa Haven, and somewhat in Taloyoak of the Kitikmeot Region, Nunavut, and, to a smaller extent in the north Qikiqtaaluk Region, in Canada. They were, in the early 2 ...
living in King William Island
King William Island (, ; previously: King William Land) is an island in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, which is part of the Arctic Archipelago. In area it is between and making it the list of islands by area, 61st-largest island in the world ...
. He smeared himself with the blood of a seal or reindeer, telling people that he had a battle with spirits. Rasmussen conjectured that he could honestly believe in this spirit battle experience which he mimicked with smearing blood. The personal impression of Rasmussen about this man was that he believed in the forces and spirits. As Rasmussen asked him to draw some pictures about his experiences, even his visions about spirits, Arnaqaoq was first unwilling to do so (having fear of the spirits). Later he accepted the task, and he spent hours to re-experience his visions, sometimes so lucidly that he had to stop drawing when his whole body began to quiver.[ Rasmussen 1965: 165–166]
Social position
The boundary between ''angakkuq'' and lay person has not always been clearly demarcated. Non-''angakkuq'' could experience hallucination
A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the compelling sense of reality. They are distinguishable from several related phenomena, such as dreaming ( REM sleep), which does not involve wakefulness; pse ...
s, and almost every Alaskan Native can report memories of ghosts, animals in human form, or little people living in remote places. Experiences such as hearing voices from ice or stones were discussed as readily as everyday hunting adventures. Neither were ecstatic experiences the monopoly of ''angakkuit'' (reverie, daydreaming
Daydreaming is a stream of consciousness that detaches from current external tasks when one's attention becomes focused on a more personal and internal direction.
Various names of this phenomenon exist, including mind-wandering, fantasies, a ...
, even trance were not unknown by non-''angakkuit''[ Merkur 1985c]), and laypeople (non-''angakkuit'') experiencing them were welcome to report their experiences and interpretations. The ability to have and command helping spirits was characteristic of ''angakkuit'', but laypeople could also profit from spirit powers through the use of amulets
An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word , which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects a pers ...
. In one extreme instance a Netsilingmiut child had 80 amulets for protection.[Kleivan & Sonne:43][ Rasmussen 1965:262] Some laypeople had a greater capacity than others for close relationships with special beings of the belief system; these people were often apprentice ''angakkuit'' who failed to complete their learning process.[ Kleivan & Sonne 1985:24]
Role in community
In some of the cultures, ''angakkuit'' may fulfill multiple functions, including healing, curing infertile
In biology, infertility is the inability of a male and female organism to reproduce. It is usually not the natural state of a healthy organism that has reached sexual maturity, so children who have not undergone puberty, which is the body's sta ...
women, and securing the success of hunts. These seemingly unrelated functions can be understood through the soul concept which, with some variation, underlies them.
;Healing
:It is held that the cause of sickness is ''soul theft'', in which someone (perhaps an enemy, whether human or a spirit) has stolen the soul of the sick person. It takes a spiritual healer to retrieve the stolen soul. The person remains alive because people have multiple souls, so stealing the appropriate soul causes illness or a moribund state rather than immediate death. According to another variant among Ammassalik
Ammassalik Island () is an island in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland, with an area of . in East Greenland, the joints of the body have their own small souls, the loss of which causes pain.[ Gabus 1970:274]
;Fertility
:The ''angakkuq'' provides assistance to the soul of an unborn child to allow its future mother to become pregnant.
;Success of hunts
:When game is scarce the ''angakkuq'' can visit (in a soul travel) a mythological being who protects all sea creatures (usually the Sea Woman), who keeps the souls of sea animals in her house or in a pot. If the ''angakkuq'' pleases her, she releases the animal souls thus ending the scarcity of game.[
Soul dualism is held in several cultures (including Eskimo, Uralic, Turkic peoples).][Hoppál 1975: 225] There are traces of beliefs that humans have more than one soul. The details have variations according to the culture. In several cases, a "free" soul and a "body" soul are distinguished: the free soul may depart body (during life), the body soul manages body functions. In several Alaskan Native cultures, it is the "free soul" of the ''angakkuq'' that undertakes these spirit journeys (to places such as the land of dead, the home of the Sea Woman, or the moon) whilst his body remains alive.[Oosten 1997: 92] According to an explanation, this temporal absence of the healer's free soul is tackled by a substitution: the healer's body is guarded by one of his/her helping spirits during the spirit journey.[ A tale contains this motif while describing a spirit journey undertaken by the free soul and his helping spirits.
When a new ''angakkuq'' is first initiated, the initiator extracts the free soul of the new ''angakkuq'' and introduces it to the helping spirits so that they will listen when the new ''angakkuq'' invokes them;][ Merkur 1985:121] according to another explanation (that of the Iglulik ''angakkuq'', Aua) the souls of the vital organs of the apprentice must move into the helping spirits: the new ''angakkuq'' should not feel fear of the sight of his new helping spirits.[ Rasmussen 1965:170]
Animals
Although humans and animals are not traditionally seen as interchangeable, there are diachronical notions of unity between human and animal: imaginations about an ancient time when the animal could take on human form at will — it simply raised its forearm or wing to its face and lifted it aside at the muzzle or beak, like a mask.[Oosten 1997: 90–91] Ceremonies may help preserve this ancient unity: a masked person represents the animal and, as s/he lifts the mask, the human existence of that animal appears.[ Masks among Alaskan Natives could serve several functions. There are also ''transformation mask''s reflecting the mentioned unity between human and animal.][Thomas 2008](_blank)
: +4 (= third page after the opening page of the article)
In some Inuit groups, animals may be believed to have souls that are shared across their species.
Naming
In some groups, babies have been named after deceased relatives. This might be supported by the belief that the child's developing, weak soul must be "supported" by a ''name-soul'': invoking the departed name-soul which will then accompany and guide the child until adolescence. This concept of inheriting name-souls amounts to a sort of reincarnation
Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the Philosophy, philosophical or Religion, religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new lifespan (disambiguation), lifespan in a different physical ...
among some groups, such as the Caribou Alaskan Natives.[
In a tale of the Ungazighmiit, an old woman expresses her desire to become ill, die and then "come" as a boy, a hunter. After specific preparations following her death, a newborn baby will be named after her.][ Рубцова 1954: 270–271 / 274–275 (= № 19 (132)–(162))] Similarly to several other Eskimo cultures, the name-giving of a newborn baby among Siberian Yupik meant that a deceased person was affected, a certain rebirth was believed. Even before the birth of the baby, careful investigations took place: dreams and events were analyzed. After the birth, the baby's physical traits were compared to those of the deceased person. The name was important: if the baby died, it was thought that he/she has not given the "right" name. In case of sickness, it was hoped that giving additional names could result in healing.
Secrecy (or novelty) and the neutralizing effect of publicity
It was believed in several contexts that secrecy
Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret.
Secrecy is often controver ...
or privacy
Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively.
The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...
may be needed for an act or an object (either beneficial or harmful, intended or incidental) to be effective and that publicity
In marketing, publicity is the public visibility or awareness for any product, service, person or organization. It may also refer to the movement of information from its source to the general public, often (but not always) via the media. The sub ...
may neutralize its effects.
* Magic formulae usually required secrecy and could lose their power if they became known by other people than their owners. For example, a Chugach
Chugach , Chugach Sugpiaq or Chugachigmiut is the name of an Alaska Native people in the region of the Kenai Peninsula and Prince William Sound on the southern coast of Alaska. The Chugach people are an Alutiiq ( Pacific Native) people who speak ...
man experienced a sea otter
The sea otter (''Enhydra lutris'') is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between , making them the heaviest members of ...
swimming around, singing a song, a magic formula. He knew it is a help in hunting, whose efficiency will be lost for him if anybody else learns it.[ Merkur 1985: 65]
Some of the functions of the ''angakkuit'' can be understood in the light of this notion of secrecy versus publicity. The cause of illness was usually believed to be soul theft or a breach of some taboo (such as miscarriage). Public confession (led by the shaman during a public seance) could bring relief to the patient. Similar public rituals were used in the cases of taboo breaches that endangered the whole community (bringing the wrath of mythical beings causing calamities).
In some instances, the efficiency of magical formulae could depend on their novelty. A creation myth
A creation myth or cosmogonic myth is a type of cosmogony, a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it., "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Cre ...
attributes such power to newly created words, that they became instantly true by their mere utterance. Also in practice, too much use of the same formulae could result in losing their power.[ Freuchen 1961: 277] According to a record, a man was forced to use all his magic formulae in an extremely dangerous situation, and this resulted in losing all his conjurer capabilities. As reported from the Little Diomede Island
Little Diomede Island or Yesterday Island (, formerly known as Krusenstern Island, ) is an inhabited island of Alaska. It is the smaller of the two Diomede Islands located in the Bering Strait between the Alaskan mainland and Siberia. The islan ...
, new songs were needed regularly for the ceremonial held to please the soul of the whale, because "the spirits were to be summoned with fresh words, worn-out songs could never be used...".
Cultural variations among Alaskan Natives
Inuit
Among Inuit, a spiritual healer is called an ' (plural: ''angakkuit'', Inuktitut syllabics
Inuktitut syllabics (, or , ) is an abugida-type writing system used in Canada by the Inuktitut-speaking Inuit of the Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Nunavut and the Nunavik region of Quebec. In 1976, the Language Commission of ...
''ᐊᖓᑦᑯᖅ'' or ''ᐊᖓᒃᑯᖅ'') or in
Yupik and Yup'ik
Like the Netsilik Inuit, the Yupik have traditionally practiced tattooing
A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the Human skin, skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several Process of ...
.[Tattoos of the early hunter-gatherers of the Arctic]
written b
/ref> They are also one of the cultures who have a special language for talking to spirits, called .
Ungazighmiit (Chaplino)
The Siberian Yupik
Siberian Yupiks, or Yuits (), are a Yupik peoples, Yupik people who reside along the coast of the Chukchi Peninsula in the far Russian Far East, northeast of the Russia, Russian Federation and on St. Lawrence Island in Alaska. They speak Si ...
s had shamans, and only in Siberia is the term, "shaman" traditionally found.[Духовная культура (Spiritual culture)]
, subsection o
Support for Siberian Indigenous Peoples Rights (Поддержка прав коренных народов Сибири)
Compared to the variants found among Eskimo groups of America, shamanism among Siberian Yupiks stressed more the importance of maintaining good relationship with sea animals. The Ungazighmiit ( ), speaking the most populous of the Siberian Yupik language
Central Siberian Yupik (also known as Siberian Yupik, Bering Strait Yupik, Yuit, Yoit, "St. Lawrence Island Yupik", and in Russia "Chaplinski Yupik" or Yuk) is an endangered Yupik language spoken by the Indigenous Siberian Yupik people along the ...
s, called a shaman ''alignalghi'' ( ).
The ''alignalghi'' received presents for the shamanizing. There were many words for "presents" in the language spoken by Ungazighmiit, depending on the nature and occasion (such as a marriage).[ Рубцова 1954:173] These included such fine distinctions as "thing, given to someone who has none", "thing, given, not begged for", "thing, given to someone as to anybody else" and "thing, given for exchange". Among these many kinds of presents, the one given to the shaman was called .
The Ungazighmiit have also traditionally had a special allegoric usage of some expressions for working with the spirits.
Chugach
The Chugach
Chugach , Chugach Sugpiaq or Chugachigmiut is the name of an Alaska Native people in the region of the Kenai Peninsula and Prince William Sound on the southern coast of Alaska. The Chugach people are an Alutiiq ( Pacific Native) people who speak ...
people live on the south central coasts of Alaska. Birket-Smith conducted fieldwork among them in the 1950s, when traditionally ceremonial ways had already ceased practice. Chugach apprentice ''angakkuit'' were not forced to become spiritual healers by the spirits. They instead deliberately visited lonely places and walked for many days until they received a visitation of a spirit. The apprentice then passed out, and the spirit took him or her to another place (like the mountains or the depths of the sea). Whilst there, the spirit instructed the apprentice in their calling, such as teaching them their personal song.[ Merkur 1985:125]
See also
* Inuit religion
Inuit religion is the shared spiritual beliefs and practices of the Inuit, an indigenous people from Alaska, northern Canada, Greenland, and parts of Siberia. Their religion shares many similarities with some Alaska Native religions. Traditional ...
* Masks among Eskimo peoples
Masks among Eskimo peoples served a variety of functions. Masks were made out of driftwood, animal skins, bones and feathers. They were often painted using bright colors. There are archeological miniature maskettes made of walrus ivory, dating fr ...
* Messenger Feast The Messenger Feast or Kivgiq, Kevgiq (''Kivgiġñiq'' in Iñupiaq dialect of North Slope Borough, ''Kivgiqsuat'' in King Island Iñupiaq, ''Kevgiq'' in Yup'ik), is a celebratory mid-winter festival in Alaska traditionally held by Iñupiaq ( Tiki ...
* Bladder Festival The Bladder Festival or Bladder Feast (''Nakaciuq'' "something done with bladders" or ''Nakaciuryaraq'' "the process of doing something with bladders" in Yup'ik), is an important annual seal hunting harvest renewal ceremony and celebration held each ...
* Native American religion
Native American religions, Native American faith or American Indian religions are the indigenous spiritual practices of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Ceremonial ways can vary widely and are based on the differing histories and belie ...
* Noaidi
A noaidi (, , , , , , ) is a shaman of the Sami people in the Nordic countries, playing a role in Sámi religious practices. Most ''noaidi'' practices died out during the 17th century, most likely because they resisted Christianization of the S� ...
* Shamanism among Alaska Natives
* Shamanism in Siberia
A large minority of people in North Asia, particularly in Siberia, follow the religio-cultural practices of shamanism. Some researchers regard Siberia as the heartland of shamanism.
The people of Siberia comprise a variety of ethnic groups, m ...
* Traditional Alaska Native medicine
Alaska Native religion, Traditional Alaska Native medicine is a Traditional medicine, cultural style of healing that has been passed down from one generation of Alaska Natives, Alaska Native peoples to the next and is based on success over time and ...
Notes
References
Latin
* The tale title means: "The soul who wandered through all animals"; the book title means: "Eskimo tales"; the series means: "The tales of world literature".
* The tale title means: "The land of the dead in the sky"; the book title means: "Eskimo tales"; the series means: "The tales of world literature".
* The tale title means: " Asiaq, the mistress over wind and weather"; the book title means: "Eskimo tales"; the series means: "The tales of world literature".
*
*
*
*
*
* The title means "Shamanism".
*
*
*
* Translation of Gabus 1944.
* The title means: "Uralic peoples. Culture and traditions of our linguistic relatives"; the chapter means "The belief system of Uralic peoples and the shamanism".
* (The title means "Shamans in Eurasia." The book is written in Hungarian, and it is also published in German, Estonian and Finnish)
Site of publisher with short description on the book (in Hungarian)
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* Hungarian translation of Rasmussen 1926.
*
*
*
* Translation of Vitebsky 1995
*
* In it, on pp 41–45: ''Sámán — a szó és értelme'' (The etymology and meaning of word shaman).
* Note that term "Inuit" is used here in an extended sense.
Cyrillic
* The transliteration of author's name, and the rendering of title in English:
* Rendering in English:
Further reading
* Unabridged original. Tales rendered in English; the song texts both in English and in original. Large PDF file requiring considerable computation resources.
* HTML format, the original language versions of the song texts are omitted.
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* Reduced to HTML by Christopher M. Weimer, April 2003.
* Collection of 27 texts collected by Rubtsova in 1940–1941. Translated into English and edited by Vakhtin. (The English version is the last file at the bottom of the page.) Downloadable from UAF's site licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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Old photos
* Rendering in English: ''Ungaziq settlement'', Kunstkamera
The Kunstkamera (, derived from German ''Kunstkammer'' lit. "art chamber") formally organized as the Russian Academy of Science's Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (, ''Muzey antropologii i etnografii imeni Petra Velikogo R ...
, Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...
. Old photos about former life of a Siberian Yupik
Siberian Yupiks, or Yuits (), are a Yupik peoples, Yupik people who reside along the coast of the Chukchi Peninsula in the far Russian Far East, northeast of the Russia, Russian Federation and on St. Lawrence Island in Alaska. They speak Si ...
settlement, including those of a shaman, performing his séance. Larger images about it:
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Interviews
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* A radio interview with Russian scientists about man and animal, examples taken especially from Asian Eskimos.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shamanism Among Eskimo Peoples
Alaska Native culture
Eskimos
Inuit shamanism
Shamanism of the Americas