World Views Information
Inuit Spirituality
For at least 5,000 years, the people and culture known throughout the world as Inuit have occupied a vast territory, one-third of Canada’sland mass, in the Arctic. This region continues to be shaped by natural forces into seemingly endless
tundra, magnificent mountains and countless islands.
Traditionally, the land and the sea have provided everything the Inuit need. Their history is about people and their relationship to the environment and to each other; about dealing with change as well as the causes and consequences of change forced on them by colonialism; and about how they have re-established control over their cultural, economic and political destiny through land claims and self-government. Above all, it is about how the people are able to live in balance with the natural world.
The ancestors depended on their ability to maintain good relations with the spirits of both the animate and inanimate worlds. They recognized that they had to be careful, by respecting the animals and the spirit world.
Shamanism was common to most hunting cultures around the world. It embodies the people’s attachment to the land and environment. In traditional Inuit society, the Shaman was seen as a doctoradvisor- healer. The Shaman was not seen as camp leader; that role was given to the oldest person with experience hunting and trapping.
Inuit camps could have more than one Shaman, and the Shaman could be either a woman or a man. Shamans were born, not made. They had to have the ability to vision, to see spirits.As with Christianity and other religions, Shamanism was never meant as an instant remedy for problems. Shamanism was respected and used only as a last resort.
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In my family, according to my mother, her family relations were known to practise Shamanism. One in particular named Tagonagag, who died an old elder, was the last person my mother had known to be a Shaman. He was considered to be a strong person, tall and muscular, and had the ability to work and play with even the biggest animals, including a polar bear. It was even said that he had the polar bear as a pet and protector.
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Today in Nunavut, Shamanism is still practised secretly, not openly practised as in other places like Russia. Interestingly, it is discussed by curious young Inuit who have heard that Shamanism is a good way to heal. They see it as a positive tool.
Shamanism is the original religion of the Inuit. It was a way of life for many years before Roman Catholic and Anglican missionaries arrived on the heels of European traders to forcibly replace Shamanism with Christianity. Some Europeans even considered Shamanism an “act of the devil.”
The Inuit believe in the spirits who help them whether on the land or in seeking and finding animals. According to Nattilikmiut, they believe in the existence of Naarjuk. This supreme being, equivalent to the Christian God, made the earth and water. It is believed that he exists somewhere in the universe. He is the boss of sila, the sky, looking after all our relations who have passed away.
Nuliajuk, the spirit of the sea, is the boss of all sea animals. Europeans refer to her as the “Sea Goddess.”
Many Inuit traditional names are spiritual.