Eskimo mythology

The Eskimos believe that all things have a spirit or a soul (on the inuktitute : “anirnik” - breathing ; plural “anirniitis”), just like people. These spirits remain after death - the universal belief that is present in almost all human societies. However, belief in the permeability of the spirit - the basis of the Eskimo mythological structure - has some consequences. According to the Eskimo saying “The great danger of our existence is that our food consists entirely of souls.” / From the belief that all things - including animals - have souls like human, it follows that killing an animal is not very different from killing a human. Therefore, hunting is not considered murder. The beast itself comes to a man to visit, only it is necessary to bring it with the help of a harpoon or spear. After eating a certain part of the animal is thrown back into the sea or into the tundra, so that it recovers. The motif of the resurrection of an eaten animal is used in numerous tales.

As soon as the aniarnik of the dead — animal or human — is released, he is free to take revenge. The spirit of a dead man can only be pacified by observing customs, taboos, and performing correct rituals.

The severity and irregularity of life in the Arctic provides the Eskimos with a constant fear of invisible forces. An unfortunate period of life can kill a person, and the request for items necessary for daily existence of potentially angry and vengeful, but invisible forces is a common consequence of the unstable existence even in modern society. To insult an anirnik for the Eskimos meant risking becoming extinct. The main role of the shaman in Eskimo society was to see the spirits and communicate with them, and then advise and remind people of the rituals and taboos with which to pacify them.

Examples of manifestations of anirniitis are the northern lights - the souls of dead children playing the ball in the sky, rain - the tears of the souls of the dead who moved to the upper world.

Anirnite is considered as part of the sills - the sky or the air around it - and only for a while comes from there. Although each person’s aniarnik is formed by life and the body in which he lives, he is also part of a larger whole. This makes it possible to occupy the energy or properties of anirnica, taking its name. Moreover, the spirits of one class of objects - whether they are sea animals, polar bears, plants - are in some way the same thing, and can be invoked by means of some keeper or master, which in some form is associated with this class of objects. In some cases, it is the anirnik of a person or animal that becomes a figure of worshiping or influencing an animal through certain actions described in fairy tales. In other cases, such a figure turinkak , as described below.

With the advent of Christianity, anirnik began to denote the soul in a Christian sense. This is the basic word for a large number of other Christian terms: “anirnisiak” means an angel , and God is expressed as “anirnialuk” - a great spirit.

Some spirits are naturally not attached to physical bodies. They are called “turngayit” (singular “turngak”; “tungak”, “tugyngak” - dialect variants) and are considered malicious and monstrous, responsible for unsuccessful hunting and broken tools. They can also take possession of man, as in the legend Atanariyuat . Shamans can fight them and cast them out, or not let them in with the help of rituals; they can also be caught by the shamans or enslaved by them, in order to be used against free turngainites.

With the Christianization of the Thurngak, the added value of the demon in the Christian system of faith.

The shaman ( Inuktitut : Angakuk is sometimes pronounced Angakok '; many angukuit, also Chaplinsky yupik : alignals) of the Eskimo community was not a leader, but rather a healer and psychotherapist, with the help of a double or helper in the form of a good spirit healing wounds and giving advice returning lost hunters home, causing good weather, etc., as well as calling spirits to help people, or driving them away. His or her role was to see, interpret and conjure the elusive and invisible. Nobody taught the shamans - it was believed that they were born with this ability and show it when the time comes. In the process of performing their duties, shamans often used drumming, songs and dances.

The function of the shaman almost died in a Christian Eskimo society.

Eskimos do not have gods, although some names from the Eskimo mythological tradition are often called gods in non-Eskimo literature. What is meant are characters from horror literature - vile, invisible, vengeful, despotic, powerful beings, either extremely powerful turngait , either human or animate animal, turned into some kind of story into terrible creatures due to insult or fear .

The following are examples of Eskimo mythological characters who hold power over any part of the Eskimo world:

• Sedna is the mistress of marine animals. In the modern Iniktikutsky pronunciation - Sanna. Known by many names, including Nerrivik, Arnarkagssak and Nuliyuyuk, etc.
• Nanook is the host of polar bears
• Tekkeitsertok - the owner of the caribou

The Eskimo mythological tradition was recorded only in recent years, and often several different stories are associated with one mythological character, or, conversely, the same story uses different names in different ranges. Europeans have even more confused the corpus of texts, distorting the Eskimo names during transcription. Thus, the creatures in this list may appear under different names, or the stories associated with them may differ from different storytellers.

• A'akuluyuyusi - the great creator mother;
• Aglulik - a spirit that lives under the ice and helps hunters and fishermen;
• Adlet
• Adlivun
• Aipaluvik is a water deity associated with death and destruction;
• Akna
• Achycha is a solar deity revered in Alaska ;
• Alignak - the lunar deity and the spirit of weather , water , tides , eclipses and earthquakes ;
• Amaguk - the trickster and the ghost- wolf ;
• Amarok - the spirit of a giant wolf . He stalks and devours anyone who has the stupidity alone to hunt at night, but he can also help people in keeping caribou herds healthy by killing weak and sick animals. Unlike real wolves that go hunting in packs, Amarok hunts alone. Sometimes it is considered equivalent to a cryptozoological .
• Anguta '- a guide carrying souls to the realm of the dead , where they sleep one year. Also, according to some myths, he is the father of Sedna .
• Apanuugak is a cultural hero , sometimes portrayed as a war-prone warrior, who nevertheless lived to old age, and sometimes as a cowardly villain .
• Arnacuagsack
• Arnapkapfaaluk
• Asiak — the feminine (or, less commonly, masculine) spirit of the weather , often caused by Angakok for good weather;
• Ataksak
• Atschen
• Aulanerk is a friendly female water deity who controls the tides , waves and joy.
• Aumanil is a kind and beneficent spirit. It is also said that this deity lives on dry land and controls the movement of the wheels.
• Ahlut - a spirit that takes the form of a wolf and killer whale . This is an evil and dangerous creature. It can be identified by wolf tracks leading to the ocean and back.
• Wentshukumishiteu
• Igaluk
• Ignirtok - deity of light and truth ;
• Idraligienget '- the spirit of the ocean .
• “Tied” (“house of the spirits”) is a talisman of luck and protection, made from a blubber encased in the skin of sea ​​animals .
• Inua or Inuat is a kind of soul that exists in all people, animals, lakes, mountains, plants. Sometimes personalized. The concept is close to the concept of mana .
• Issitok (also Isitok ) is a deity who punishes those who break the taboo . Usually takes the form of a giant flying eye.
• Ishigak is a little folk girl similar to fairies . They are about 30 cm (1 foot) tall and do not leave marks: either because they are light or because they float above the ground.
• Kadlu — one or three sisters leading the thunder ;
• Ka-Ha-Si - a lazy Eskimo boy, expelled from his tribe for constantly sleeping. In a dream, the loon spoke to him and told him to save his tribe from starvation , because the hunters could not find the prey. Ka-Ha-Xi deceived a group of walruses to kill each other, but his fame as a savior of the tribe quickly evaporated. Again they began to tease him for his laziness. The same dream came back, and the next day, Ka-Ha-Xi defeated the giant who beat all the men of the tribe in wrestling competitions. As a result, Ka-Ha-Si became a wise and highly respected shaman .
• Keelut is a chthonic spirit that resembles a non- haired dog ;
• Kigatilik is a vicious and cruel demon , known mainly for the murder of shamans ;
• Kikirn - the spirit in the form of a big bald dog. It is a frightening, but fearful and stupid creature. Dogs and people run away from him, and he runs away from dogs and people. Only his feet , ears , mouth and tip of the tail are covered with hair.
• Raspberries
• Matshishkapeu ( Innu mythology)
• Mother Caribou - the deity that generates caribou , the most important source of food for the Eskimos . This is a huge creature, lice on which - people and caribou.
• Nanuk
• Negafuk '- the spirit of weather systems, especially winter and cold.
• Nerrivik
• Nutayokok - deity, managing icebergs and glaciers .
• Nuyalik is a female deity of hunting on land.
• Pan
• Pinga (“the one who is above in height”) is the deity of hunting , fertility and medicine . She is also the conductor of the new souls in Adlivun .
• Pucqueenegak is the female deity of children , pregnancy , childbirth and clothing .
• Sedna - the deity of the sea hunt ( whaling , fishing , etc.)
• Silap Inua
• Tarkuiup Inua - moon deity
• Thekkheitsertok is the spirit of hunting and the host of deer , one of the most important hunting spirits in the pantheon.
• Thornasoak (or Thornasak ') is a very powerful celestial spirit, one of the most important deities in the Eskimo pantheon.
• Thornarsuk - the spirit of the kingdom of the dead and the head of the spirit guards, known as tornat.
• Tulugaak is the creator of light .
• Tupilak is a vengeful spirit sharpened in an amulet.
• Nutega '- a wise old spirit who lives in a stone dugout and can walk on water;
• Tygisa
• Pumpkin
• Caribou Master ( Innu mythology)
• Eyekalduk (Eeyeekalduk) - the deity of medicine and good health

• Bestla.dk - Mythology and Folklore of Greenland (inaccessible link) ( (Danish) , (English) , the initial text of Knud Rasmussen )
• Interviewing Inuit Elders / Perspectives on Traditional Law (inaccessible link) ( (English) , online dictionary of terms of Eskimo culture)
• [1] (ethnographic information about Chukotka)