User:Physis/Certain relatedness of Eskimo cultures, far from homogeneity

NOTE! This section was removed from the article. It seems to be original research. Substantial cleanup is required if it is to be included in the article.Labongo 15:47, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Eskimo groups comprise a huge area stretching from Eastern Siberia through Alaska and Northern Canada (including Labrador Peninsula) to Greenland.

Another possible concern: do the belief systems of various Eskimo groups have such common features at all, that would justify any mentioning them together? There was no political structure above the groups, their languages were relative, but differed more or less, often forming language continuums (online ).

There is a certain relatedness in the cultures of the Eskimo groups   together with diversity, far from homogeneity.

Let us see some examples from shamanism among Eskimo peoples. The Russian linguist Меновщиков, an expert of Siberian Yupik and Sireniki languages (while admitting that he is not a specialist in ethnology ) witnesses, that the shamanistic seances of those Siberian Yupik and Sireniki groups he has seen have many similarities to those of Greenland Inuit groups described by Nansen, although a large distance separates Siberia and Greenland. Similar remarks apply for comparisons of Asiatic with North American Eskimo shamanisms. Also the usage of a specific shaman's language is documented among several Eskimo groups, used mostly for talking to spirits. Also the Ungazigmit (belonging to Siberian Yupiks) had a special allegoric usage of some expressions.

Similar remarks apply for aspects of the belief system not directly linked to shamanism:
 * Rasmussen mentions that he compared 52 Padlermiut myths to Greenland ones, and he observed relatedness in 30 of them.
 * tattooing
 * accepting the killed game as a dear guest visiting the hunter
 * usage of amulets
 * lack of totem animals

Now let us see some examples illustrating the diversity:

Tupilak
Such distant groups like Caribou Eskimos, Greenland Eskimos, Igluliks knew the concept of tupilak. But the details differed:
 * Iglulik
 * The tupilak was an invisible ghost. Only the shaman could notice it. It was the soul of a dead, which became restless because the breach of some death taboo. It scared game away from the vicinity. Thus, the shaman had to help by scaring it away with a knife.


 * Caribou Eskimo
 * The tupilak was also an invisible being. Like at Iglulik, also the shaman was the only one who could see it. It was a chimera-like creature, with human head and parts from different species of animals. It was dangerous, it might attack the settlement. Then, the shaman had to combat it and devour it with his/her helping spirits.


 * Greenland
 * The tupilak was manifested in real, human-made object. It was made by people to the detriment of their enemies. It was a puppet-like thing, but was thought of have magical power onto the victim. It might be made e.g. of mixtured parts of dead animals, dead child.

Name-soul
E.g. at Caribou Eskimos (but similar things were much more widespread), the "own" soul, "personal" soul of the newborn child was so weak, that it needed a guardianship of a more experienced soul. A naming ritual associated the "name" of a recently dead relative to the child. This name-soul took the guardianship over the child. This lead to a gentle behavior towards the child: if the child spoke, he/she spoke with the wisdom of the dead relative. Pryde also adds that the associating the name of the dead to a child was a necessity, so that the ghost of the dead do not turn into a restless being. At Perry Island, at least a newborn dog had to bear the name of the dead! If they forgot complely about this, it could result later in heavy illness.

Now the main point comes: this notion of name-soul can amount to a reincarnation-like thought. The dead comes alive in the body of the soul at Caribou Eskimos. At other groups, it is only a guardianship. (But in both cases, the parents treat the child in a gentle way.)

The child in the air
Naarsuk is often thought to be associated to weather (storms). Beyond this generality, also he shows several local variations :
 * Copper Eskimo and Netsilik
 * He was a giant baby, his parents were giants. They had died in a battle between giants. In this battle also people were involved. Naarsuk felt avenge towards people, went to heavens. It is his loosened diaper that makes rain and wind. And the shaman has to tie it tight again.


 * Iglulik
 * He decided not by himself to plague people. It was Sea Woman and Moon Man who let him loose if they wanted to punish people for transgression of taboo.


 * East Greenland
 * Also here, people imagined spirits in the air and tried to scare them away by stabbing with knife in the snowy or stormy air. They also imagined the child in the air. The child was married to another mythological being, Asiaq, who had stolen this baby intentionally to marry him. Asiaq lived in the heaven. She could make rain. If people wanted rain, the shaman travelled to Asiaq and asked her for rain.