Spirituality

The people of the north lived according to the weather, the seasons and the movement of wild animals. All around the people were strong forces which they could not explain-water, winds, snow and ice, the sun, moon and stars and the cycle of birth and death.

The Inuit believed that all people, animals, things, and forces of nature had spirits, who lived in another world after they died. One of the most important spirits to many groups was a goddess who governed the sea named Seda. She lived at the bottom of the ocean and controlled the seals, whales and other sea animals.

The Inuit followed special rules or taboos to please and respect these spirits. For example, women were forbidden to sew caribou skins in snowhouses out on the sea ice during the dark months. It was also taboo to eat the meat of land and sea animals at the same meal. A knife used for cutting up whales had to be bound with sealskin, not caribou sinew. Hunters trickle melted snow into a dead seal's mouth to assuage the spirits' thirst for fresh water. The same procedure is also made to freshly killed whales. In Alaska, the Inuit saved the bladders of the seals that they killed for they believed that the spirit of the seal rested therein. In a special ceremony each year, the community returned the bladders to the sea to ensure good hunting in the year to come.

Among the Inuit, there were men and women who possessed special religious powers obtained by long periods of living alone and fasting so that the secrets of the spirit world would be revealed. Troubles such as bad weather, sickness and poor hunting were blamed on the breaking of these taboos. The shaman, or angakok as referred to by the Inuit, would advise gifts to the offended spirits, movement to another place or some sort of fine or punishment. These were the taboos based on sound principles of health or conservation.

The Inuit also believed that the human spirit can live on in a new body if the old body dies. This view was made a part of their religious lifestyle. They believed that a person was made of three parts-body soul and name. They gave names of a dead relative to a newborn child so that the name and soul could continue as one. Such a child may often be called 'grandfather' or 'aunt' by its older relatives because it has the soul of the dead loved one. The name of the person who died could never be mentioned until the newborn took the name and made it come alive again.

People told stories for fun, to teach their children and to pass along the history of their group. Often stories showed the close bond between hunter and nature. They contained teachings for young people about the rules of behaviour and manners, that it is good to be patient, truthful, calm, quiet, unselfish and uninquisitive. These were admired traits and children learned what was considered to be acceptable behaviour from their elders. Because the world around them could not be changed, and had always been the same, old customs were followed and old people's wisdom were not challenged.