User:Physis/Eskimo shamanism4



Shamanism among Eskimos exists in several variations. It refers to the those aspects of the various Eskimo cultures, which are related to a certain mediator role between people and spirits, souls, mythological beings. Such shamanistic beliefs and practices were once widespread among Eskimo groups, but today are rarely practiced.

Although the term “Eskimo” is regarded as offensive in certain areas, it is still used sometimes as a collective name for Inuit and Yup'ik peoples, because they have a certain cultural unity and speak relative languages. Linguistically, the Eskimo branch is the major branch of the Eskimo-Aleut language family, while Aleut language is the minor branch.

Relatedness to other cultures termed “shamanistic”
Can Eskimo cultures labelled as “shamanistic”? When speaking of “shamanism” in various Eskimo groups, it is important to note that the term “shamanism” has been used for various distinct cultures. Classically, some indigenous cultures of Siberia were described as having “shamans”, but the term is now used for other cultures as well. In general, the belief systems termed “shamanistic” accept that certain people (the shamans) can act the part of a mediator with the spirit world, contacting the various beings that populate the belief system (spirits, souls, mythological beings).

The word “shaman” comes from a Tungusic language and means “he/she who knows”. The shaman is really an expert in their own culture, thus the audience trusts them, and they can act with the safety of knowledge (using various means including musical, epical, choreographic, or manifested in objects). The shamans may use the knowledge for the benefit of the community, or for doing harm. They may have helping spirits, travel to other words.

Most Eskimo groups knew such role of mediator: the person filling it in was actually believed to be able to command helping spirits, ask mythological beings (e.g. Nuliayuk at Netsiliks, Takanaluk-arnaluk in Aua's narration) to “release” the souls of animals to enable the success of the hunt, heal sick people by bringing back their “stolen” souls. Term “shaman” is used in several English-language publications also in relation to Eskimos (academic and popular ), mostly for angakkuq. The of the Siberian Yupiks is also translated as “shaman” in the Russian and English literature.

Eskimo shamanism also exhibits some unique features, or features not shared with all shamanistic religions. The soul concepts of several groups are specific examples of soul dualism, and the belief system assumes specific links between the living, the souls of hunted animals, and those of dead people. Unlike in many Siberian cultures, the careers of most Eskimo shamans lack the motivaton of force: becoming a shaman is usually a result of human decision, not a necessity forced by the spirits.

Motivation
In the case of many Siberian peoples, the shaman may be forced by the spirits to accept their profession. This forced motivation is generally lacking in Eskimo cultures; even if the apprentice gets a “calling”, they can refuse it. E.g. also the Chugach vision quest followed a deliberate choice.

Initiation
The career of the apprentice Eskimo shaman usually includes a difficult learning and initiation process, sometimes including a vision quest. Like the shamans of some other cultures, the Eskimo shaman may be believed to have a special career: they may have been an animal at a period of their life, and thus be able to use the valuable experiences learned for the benefit of the community.

The initiation process can vary from culture to culture. It may include
 * a specific kind of vision quest, see e.g. Chugach initiation.
 * various kinds of disembodied experiences, e.g. seeing oneself as skeleton, exemplified by Aua's narration and a Baker Lake artwork

Special language
In several groups, there was a special distinct language inside the community which consisted of an archaic version of the normal language, interlaced with special metaphors and speech styles. In some groups, such variants were used when speaking with spirits invoked by the shaman and with unsocialised babies who grew into the human society through a special ritual performed by its mother. Some writers have treated it as a language for communication with “alien” beings. Expert shamans could speak whole sentences differing from vernacular speech. .

The role of the shaman's language, contacting “alien” beings, can be seen from the fact that a similar language is used for an analogous goal. A mother may talk to her baby in a non-vernacular language during a socialization ritual — the newborn is regarded as a little “alien” (just like spirits or animal souls).

Examples of using shaman language:
 * Aua's narration about a disembodied expeience

Position
Border between shaman and laic was not entirely sharp. Also laic people could experience visions. Expreinces like hering voices from ice, stones were spoken about just like normal hunting experiences. Having and commanding helping spirits were characteristic to shamans, but alsoalso laic could profit fom powers by use of amulets. Let us mention as extreme a Netsilingmiut example, where a child had 80 amulets for pritecton.

Soul dualism
The Eskimo shaman may fulfill multiple functions, including healing, curing infertile women, and securing the success of hunts (in the case of a scarcity of game or a long meteorological calamity hindering hunting, such as a blizzard).

This plethora of (seemingly unassociated) functions can be grasped better by understanding the soul concept which underlies them. Variations occur among Eskimos, but in general they are a special variant of soul dualism.


 * Healing
 * It is held that the cause of sickness is soul theft: somebody (an enemy shaman, a spirit, etc.) has stolen the soul of the sick person. The reason the person would remain alive is explained by the belief that people had multiple souls. Stealing the appropriate soul of the victim does not cause immediate death, only illness or prolonged death. It takes a shaman to bring back the stolen soul. The soul-thief can be an enemy shaman. According to another variant observed among Ammassalik Eskimos in East Greenland, even the joints of the body have their own small souls. If such a small soul escapes, that is the explanation of pain.


 * Fertity
 * The shaman avails the soul of the future child to be born by the woman.


 * Success of hunts
 * The shaman visits a mythological being who protects all sea animals (usually, the Sea Woman). The Sea Woman keeps the souls of sea animals (in her house, or in a pot). If the shaman pleases her, she releases the animal souls, ending the scarcity of game.

It is the shaman's free soul that can take part in a spirit journey to far and dangerous places (land of dead, Sea Woman, Moon etc) while his body is still alive. At the initiation of the apprentice shaman, the initiator extracts the shaman's free soul and makes it familiar to the helping spirits so that they shall listen when the new shaman invokes them.

Animals may have shared souls (shared across their species). The baby's developing own soul was usually “supported” by a name-soul: the baby was given the name of a dead relative, whose name-soul has accompanied and helped the child till adolescence. This concept of inheriting name-souls could amount to a kind of reincarnation among some groups (Caribou Eskimos).

Publicity versus secrecy
It was believed in several contexts, that secrecy (privacy) may be needed to the effectivenes of an act or an object (either beneficial or harmful, intended or incidental), and publicity may cause its neutralisation.
 * Magic formulae usually required secrecy, they could lose their power if they became known by other people than their owners.
 * Also the deliberate harmful magical act (ilisiinneq) had to be done in secrecy.
 * If the victim of another detrimental magical act (tupilak-making) had enough magical power (e.g. by amulets} to notice the enemic act and “rebound” it back to the person who executed it, then the thus endangered person could escape only by public confession of his planned (and failed) sorcery.
 * a rite of passage celebrating the first major hunting succes of a boy often contained a “partaking” element: the whole community incised the already killed game or took part in its consumption. Because the function of this rite of passage was to establish a positive relationship between the young man and game, and the killed animal could bring dangers to the hunter. The partaking ritual of the community lessened this danger by sharing the responsibility.

Some of the shaman's functions can be understood in the light of this notion of secrecy/publicity. The cause of illness was usually believed to be (besides soul theft) a breach of some taboo (e.g. the conceiving of an abortion). The public confession (lead by the shaman during a public seance) could bring relief the patient. Similar remarks apply for taboo breaches endangering the whole community (wrath of mythical beings causing calamities).

Certain unity of Eskimo cultures
Eskimo groups comprise a huge area stretching from Eastern Siberia through Alaska and Northern Canada (including Labrador Peninsula) to Greenland. Important examples of shamanistic practice and beliefs have been recorded at several parts of this vast area crosscutting continental borders.

Do the belief systems of various Eskimo groups have such common features that justifies speaking about “Eskimo” belief systems? There is a certain unity in the cultures of the Eskimo groups. Although a large distance separated the Asiatic Eskimos and Greenland Eskimos, their shamanistic seances showed many similarities. 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, including Asian ones.

Similar remarks apply for aspects of the belief system not directly linked to shamanism:
 * tattooing
 * accepting the killed game as a dear guest visiting the hunter
 * usage of amulets
 * lack of totem animals

Iglulik
Aua, a shaman, was one of Rasmussen's informant and friends.

Functions of the shaman

Also in Aua's beliefs, one of the shaman's task is to help the community in danger of scarcity of marine animals. It is the Sea Woman who keeps them in her house in a pit, and sends them up to the surface of the sea. Taboo breaches may displease her, which causes failure on sea hunts. Then the shaman must visit her. Several barriers must be surmounted (wall, dog), even the Sea Woman herself must be combatted. If the shaman succeeds in appease her, then the animals are released again as regularly.

According to his narrations, the Sea Woman's local name was Takanaluk-arnaluk. The myth explaining her origin has a local variant talking about a girl and her father. The girl did not want to marry. Later, a bird managed to marry her by cheating, and took her to an island. The father tried to escape her daughter, but the bird made storm, which threatened them with sinking. The father, for fear, threw her daughter into the sea, and cut the fingers of the girl climbing to the rim of the boat. The cut joints became various sea mammals. The girl became a master of marine animals, living under the sea. Later his remorseful father joined her.

This local variant differs from several others, e.g. that of the Netsiliks, which is abount an orphan girl mishandled by her community.

Initiation

Aua also informs us about the rather incomparable experience of the apprentice shaman to see oneself like a skeleton, and nameing its each part by its specific name, while using the specific shaman language.

Kugaaruk (Pelly Bay)
Arviligyarmiut people make marital contacts with Netsiliks, but live apart.

Amitsoq Lake
This rich fishing resource is regarded as a sacred place. Seasonally, sewing of many things was prohibited.Boot soles could be sewn far away from settlement in a special place. Children had a game tunangusartut, during which they imitated behavior of adults towards spirits, shamanizing in a perfect way, recitated the same magical formulae etc. The game. The game was not regarded as obscene, “spirit can understand the joke”

Netsilingmiut
The Netsilingmiut live among very hard conditons, the winter is extremely long, the spring is stormy, starvation is not unknown at all. Tattooing provided magical power, and it could affect which world a woman gets to after her death.

Although the belief sytems many other Eskimo cultures knows protective, guardian powers, but here, the hardship of life resulted in an excessive use of some such measures. Also dogs can get amulets. Unlike Igluliks, Netsiliks may use a large number of amulets. A young boy was given that many of them that he could hardly play. He had 80 amulets! Also, a man had 17 names, these were names of his ancestor, and he believed that they protect him.

Other solution for problems: settling the consequences of taboo breaches. The widespread cosmic deity (named as Sea Woman in the literature), was known also at Netsiliks, named as Nuliayuk “the lubricous one”. If people breach certain taboos, she gets angry and closes the marine animals into her lamp tank. Then the shaman has to visit her to beg for game. The myth explaning her origin had several variations at Eskimos, the Netsilik imagined that she had been originally an orphan girl mishandled by her community.

Another cosmic being, Moon Man is believes to be friendly towards people and their souls getting to a celestial place (unlike in Greenland where Moon's anger can be feared at some taboo breaches ).

Sila was a sophisticated concept of various forms in several Eskimo cultures, often associated with weather, but imagined at the same time also as a power that can move in people. At Netsiliks, Sila was imagined as male. Netsiliks (and Copper Eskimos) had a tale that Sila's origin can be attributed to a baby of a giant, whose parents were killed in a combat between giants, helped by people.

Caribou Eskimos
The term “Caribou Eskimos” is a collective noun for inland Eskimos living in an area bordered by the tree line and the west shore of Hudson Bay. They include several groups, namely Krenermiut, Aonarktormiut, Harvaktormiut, Padlermiut, Ahearmiut. Caribou Eskimos do not form a political unit, contacts between the groups are loose, but they have inland lifestyle and some cultural unity. In the near past, Padlermiuts established contacts with the sea, they take part in seal hunt.

Also their soul concept included soul dualism. The soul associated with respiration was called umaffia (place of life). Another source mentions the personal soul of the child, tarneq, it corresponds to the nappan of Copper Eskimos. The personal soul of the child was believed so weak that it needed the guardianship of a name-soul of a dead relative. Such presence of the ancestor in the body of the child lead to a gentle behavior especially toward boys. The belief amounted to a special form of reincarnation of the dead in the child.

Because of their inland lifestyle, they have no belief about a Sea Woman. Other cosmic beings filled in her role (regarding caribous instead of marine animals): Sila, Pinga. Some groups made a distinction between the two, others mixed them up. Sacrificial gifts could promote luck in hunting.

The shaman could fill in also a fortune-telling function by a special style of qilaneq. It was a technique of asking a so-called qila-spirit. The shaman raised his shaman staff and shaman belt over his glove lying on the ground. The qila was believed to enter the glove and draw the staff to itself. In genarally, qilaneq, practiced at several other Eskimo groups, consisted of fortune-telling techniques to achieve yes/no answer.

Yupik
Also Yupik knew tattooing.

Chugach
Chugach live on the most southern coasts of Alaska. Birket-Smith made fieldwork among them in the 1950s. Shamanism was already extinct that time. The general observation about motvation of becoming a shaman among Eskimos applies also here: Chugach appentice was not forced by spirits, but visited lonely places deliberately and walked for many days. This vision quest was believed to result in apparition of a spirit. The apprentice fainted, and the spirit took him/her to a place apart (mountains or depth of the sea). The spirit taught the apprentice deep (esoteric) knowledge, e.g. a shaman song.