Nunavut is the newest inuit territory, the government has now recognised as a new territory of Canada. Now growing in a manner that does not deprive the cultures shamanism nor it's way of life theyve been following in the north of Canada's Territory for thousands of years. But in one sense this is but of course a way the the government uses to attach itself in the most humane of their capacities to the northern people and earth. Never forget the imense loss of land and eco-systems due to the ressource exploitations of the northern regions of Canada.
Inuit occupied one of the most hostile environments on the planet for thousands of years.They developed ways through patience and surviving which were unique to their surroundings. There is no building more effective against the cold, more ingenious in design and concept than the IGLU. This new developement of their ideals is strickly from the pushing of the canadian government, but in this case they are to keep their culture as long as they keep living by it. Shamanism is not disapearing but due to past opression it was almost disapearing.
photos taken from articphoto.com
At the bottom of page I have linked a page that speaks of the problems the, "trauma", the co-existance of white and inuit peoples have brought to their people.
photos taken from articphoto.com
The scarce environment and strong elements of nature formed their understandings in a manner nature intends anyone to survive by in this area. These people of Nunavut's area: The term Eskimo comes from a Native American word that may have meant 'eater of raw meat'. They prefer the name Inuit, which means 'the people' or 'real people' and comes from a language called Inuit-Inupiaq. The singular of Inuit is Inuk, which means 'person'. I dont know exactly what tribes lived in that region but most northern people are mostly from an extended region were even their forfathers would have been from Siberia. Their homeland stretches from the northeastern tip of Russia across Alaska and northern Canada to parts of Greenland .
The environnement which they live in does not leave them much entheogens to heal or practice with but the amanita muscaria mushroom, is quite the popular one in the northern siberian continent
from errowid
tribes and the lower quebec areas of canada, like where i am, well alot more south!!!
Most Inuit camps had at least one shaman. Sometimes they had more than one shaman, and they, the shaman, could be either man or women. But that doesn’t mean anyone could be an angatkuq. No, the angatkuq had to have the ability to vision, to see spirits. An existing angatkuq chose and trained a younger person to pass knowledge to.
Today, the practice of shamanism in Nunavut still exists. Shamanism is practiced privately and ‘outsiders’ are not invited into the world, as they do not readily understand. The traditional practice of Shamanism is maintained by persons who are now in their 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. There are, however, many curious young Inuit who have heard shamanism was a good way to heal. Young people are curious about their past and seek to find solutions in their history, and in Shamanism. The fellow Inuit in the far eastern Russia openly practice shamanism. They see it as a positive thing. Also, in the State of Alaska, Tribal Doctors exist and use their skills.
As with Christianity and other religions, shamanism was never meant as an instant answer for all problems. Inuit didn’t use shamanism every time they got sick or needed help. Shamanism was respected and used only as a last resort. It was the custom of the Inuit to pay a small item to a shaman, if they wanted their sick relative to be cured or healed. An item could have been a snowknife for building iglu or a caribou skin parka.
Inuit shamans had spirits known as tuunngait. Individual shamans have their own selected spirits.Shamans had their own language. Communication with the spirits is an important part of shaman’s role. When looking for ways to heal the sick or better weather to permit a hunt, shamans used their own language to communicate with their spirits.
The main structure of the spirit world consisted of naturally, the bond of the hunter and the hunted and the wide sky the stars. A main spirit guide which many other areas of the world did not experience are the aurora borealis " Northern Lights" now theres the spirit world:)
For more information on the siberian shamanism and the amanitas usages see my post in the forest floor.
photos taken from articphoto.com
Nunavut homepage:
http://www.gov.nu.ca/
Go here to read of negative effects of colonisation and social problems of the inuit world
www.cwis.org/fwj/51/trauma5112021-9.html
SitemapIndex
RSS Feed
