Alaska Native religion facts for kids
Traditional Alaskan Native religion focuses on how people connect with spirits, souls, and other powerful beings. These beliefs and practices were once very common among groups like the Inuit (including Iñupiat), Yupik, Aleut, and Northwest Coastal Indian cultures. Today, these traditions are less widespread. Many of these practices were already becoming less common when researchers first started studying them. For example, in the late 1800s, Sagdloq, the last spiritual healer among the "Polar Eskimos," passed away. People believed he could travel to the sky and under the sea. He was also known for using ventriloquism (making his voice seem to come from somewhere else) and sleight-of-hand (clever hand tricks).
The word "Eskimo" is not used much in Canada and Greenland anymore because some people find it offensive. There, "Inuit" is preferred. However, some Alaska Natives of Yupik and Inupiaq heritage still use "Eskimo." They sometimes prefer it as a general term for their groups.
The Inuit languages and Yupik languages are part of the larger Eskimo–Aleut language family. The Aleut language is another branch of this family.
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Spiritual Leaders and Healers
Most Alaskan Native cultures traditionally had special people who connected with spirits. These spiritual leaders or ceremonial people helped bridge the gap between the spirit world and humans. They were believed to be able to command helping spirits. They could ask powerful beings, like Nuliayuk among the Netsilik Inuit, to "release" the souls of animals. This helped with successful hunts. They also healed sick people by bringing back their "stolen" souls.
Among the Inuit, this person is called an angakkuq. The alignalghi of the Siberian Yupiks is similar to what others call a "shaman." The word "shaman" comes from the Tungusic language. However, many traditional people prefer to use the names from their own Native languages.
Traditional spiritual beliefs among Alaskan Native peoples have some unique features. For example, some groups believe in soul dualism, meaning people have more than one soul. There are also special connections between living people, the souls of hunted animals, and people who have died.
When a person or a hunted animal dies, certain activities like cutting and sewing are avoided. This is to prevent harming their souls. In Greenland, breaking this "death taboo" could turn a dead person's soul into a tupilaq. This was a restless ghost that scared animals away. Animals were thought to avoid hunters who broke these rules.
Some spiritual healers, like those among the Chugach, might start their work after an out-of-body experience. This could be seeing themselves as a skeleton.
Special Ways of Speaking
In some Alaskan Native communities, spiritual leaders used a special, older version of their language. This language included unique metaphors and ways of speaking. For example, "the shadow is ripening" might mean the healer is returning from a spiritual journey. Expert healers were said to speak whole sentences that were different from everyday talk.
The spiritual leaders among the Siberian Yupik people had a special language. They used different words for objects and events when talking to spirits. These spirits were also believed to have their own special language. For example, they might say "the one with a drum" instead of "shaman."
Peter Freuchen observed an angakkuq named Sorqaq during a spiritual session. He explained why special language was used:
During their seances angakoks are not allowed to mention any objects or beings by their regular names, since it could bring disaster upon the ones mentioned.
In this case, everyone in the community understood the special language. It was not just for the spiritual leaders.
Sometimes, these special language styles were used when speaking with spirits. They were also used with babies who were not yet fully part of human society. This was done through a special ceremony performed by the mother. Some people thought of both spirits and newborns as "alien" beings.
An interesting example of this special language is how old terms changed. For instance, in West Greenlandic, an old spiritual term agiaq meant 'rubbing stone'. Now, it means 'violin'.
Techniques Used by Healers
The techniques and ceremonies used by spiritual healers varied among different cultures. They might use sleight-of-hand or ventriloquism to impress the people watching. In some cultures, the angakkuq was tied up before the session. Or, they might hide behind a curtain. Holding the session in the dark was common, but not always required.
Some experts believe that an angakkuq could be honest in their tricks. They might truly believe in the spiritual events they were acting out. They could even consciously trick people and honestly believe at the same time. Knud Rasmussen wrote about Arnaqaoq, a young Netsilik Inuit man. He would smear himself with animal blood and say he had fought with spirits. Rasmussen thought Arnaqaoq might truly believe in these spirit battles, even though he acted them out. Rasmussen felt that Arnaqaoq believed in the spirits. When asked to draw his visions, Arnaqaoq was first scared. But he later agreed. He spent hours reliving his visions, sometimes shaking from the experience.
Role in the Community
The line between a spiritual leader and an ordinary person was not always clear. People who were not spiritual leaders could still have visions. Almost everyone in Alaskan Native communities could tell stories about ghosts, animals in human form, or little people. Experiences like hearing voices from ice or stones were discussed like everyday hunting stories.
Spiritual experiences were not just for the angakkuit. Ordinary people also had daydreams or even trances. They were encouraged to share their experiences and what they thought they meant. The main difference was that angakkuit could command helping spirits. However, ordinary people could also benefit from spirit powers by using amulets. One Netsilingmiut child had 80 amulets for protection! Some ordinary people had a stronger connection to spiritual beings. These were often apprentices who did not finish their training to become full angakkuit.
Community Functions
In some cultures, angakkuit had many roles. These included healing, helping women who couldn't have children, and ensuring successful hunts. These different roles are all connected by the idea of the soul.
- Healing
- People believed that sickness was caused by "soul theft." This meant someone, perhaps an enemy or a spirit, had stolen a sick person's soul. A spiritual healer would then try to get the soul back. People didn't die immediately because they were thought to have multiple souls. So, losing one soul caused illness, not instant death. Among the Ammassalik in East Greenland, people believed that the joints of the body had their own small souls. Losing one of these caused pain.
- Fertility
- The angakkuq helped the soul of an unborn child. This allowed the future mother to become pregnant.
- Success of Hunts
- When animals were scarce, the angakkuq would travel in spirit form. They would visit a powerful being who protected all sea creatures, often the Sea Woman. She kept the souls of sea animals in her home. If the angakkuq pleased her, she would release the animal souls. This would end the scarcity of game.
Many cultures, including Eskimo, Uralic, and Turkic peoples, believe in soul dualism. This means humans have more than one soul. Often, a "free" soul and a "body" soul are distinguished. The free soul can leave the body during life. The body soul manages body functions. In several Alaskan Native cultures, the angakkuq's "free soul" takes these spirit journeys. They travel to places like the land of the dead or the home of the Sea Woman. Meanwhile, their body stays alive. It was believed that a helping spirit guarded the healer's body during these journeys.
When a new angakkuq was initiated, their free soul was introduced to helping spirits. This made sure the spirits would listen when the new angakkuq called them. Another belief was that the souls of the apprentice's vital organs had to move into the helping spirits. This meant the new angakkuq should not be afraid of their new helping spirits.
Animals and Humans
Traditionally, humans and animals were not seen as exactly the same. However, there were old ideas about a connection between them. People imagined a time when animals could become human whenever they wanted. They would simply lift their forearm or wing to their face, like taking off a mask. Ceremonies helped keep this old connection alive. A masked person might represent an animal. When they lifted the mask, the human side of that animal would appear. Masks among Alaskan Natives had many uses. Some were "transformation masks" that showed this unity between human and animal.
Some Inuit groups believed that animals had souls that were shared among all animals of their species.
Naming Traditions
In some groups, babies were named after relatives who had passed away. This was supported by the belief that a child's developing soul needed support from a "name-soul." Calling upon the departed name-soul would help guide the child until they became a teenager. This idea of inheriting name-souls was a form of reincarnation for some groups, like the Caribou Alaskan Natives.
In a story from the Ungazighmiit, an old woman wished to get sick, die, and then "come back" as a boy who would be a hunter. After special preparations following her death, a newborn baby would be named after her. Like in other Eskimo cultures, naming a newborn baby among Siberian Yupik people was seen as a kind of rebirth for a deceased person. Before the baby was born, people would carefully look for signs, like dreams. After birth, the baby's features were compared to the deceased person's. The name was very important. If the baby died, people thought they had not been given the "right" name. If a baby was sick, giving them more names was hoped to help them heal.
Secrets and Public Knowledge
It was believed that certain actions or objects, whether good or bad, needed to be kept secret to work. If they became public, their power might be lost.
- Magic spells usually needed to be secret. They could lose their power if anyone other than their owner learned them. For example, a Chugach man saw a sea otter singing a magic song. He knew it would help him hunt, but only if no one else learned it.
Some of the spiritual leader's functions relate to this idea of secrecy versus public knowledge. The cause of illness was often thought to be soul theft or breaking a taboo (like a miscarriage). A public confession, led by the spiritual leader during a public session, could help the sick person. Similar public rituals were used when breaking taboos endangered the whole community. This might bring anger from mythical beings, causing disasters.
Sometimes, the power of magic spells depended on how new they were. A creation myth says that newly created words became true instantly just by being spoken. In practice, using the same spells too much could make them lose their power. One story tells of a man who had to use all his magic spells in a very dangerous situation. After that, he lost all his magical abilities. From Little Diomede Island, it was reported that new songs were needed regularly for ceremonies to please the whale's soul. This was because "the spirits were to be summoned with fresh words, worn-out songs could never be used..."
Cultural Differences Among Alaskan Natives
Inuit
Among the Inuit, a spiritual healer is called an Inuktitut: angakkuq (plural: angakkuit).
Yupik and Yup'ik
Like the Netsilik Inuit, the Yupik traditionally practiced tattooing. They are also one of the cultures that had a special language for talking to spirits. This language was called [tuʁnɨʁaq].
Ungazighmiit
The Siberian Yupiks had spiritual leaders called shamans. The term "shaman" is traditionally found only in Siberia. Compared to other Eskimo groups in America, Siberian Yupik spiritual practices focused more on having a good relationship with sea animals. The Ungazighmiit, who speak the largest of the Siberian Yupik language variations, called a spiritual leader alignalghi.
The alignalghi received gifts for their spiritual work. The Ungazighmiit language had many words for "presents," depending on the situation. These included specific terms like "thing, given to someone who has none" or "thing, given for exchange." The gift given to the spiritual leader was called IPA: [aˈkiliːɕaq].
The Ungazighmiit also used special, symbolic language when working with spirits.
Chugach
The Chugach people live on the southern coasts of Alaska. In the 1950s, when researchers studied them, many traditional ceremonies were no longer practiced. Chugach apprentices who wanted to become spiritual healers were not forced by spirits. Instead, they would deliberately visit lonely places and walk for many days until a spirit appeared to them. The apprentice would then pass out, and the spirit would take them to another place, like the mountains or the deep sea. There, the spirit would teach the apprentice about their role, including their personal song.
See also
- Inuit religion
- Masks among Eskimo peoples
- Messenger Feast
- Bladder Festival
- Native American religion
- Noaidi
- Shamanism among Alaska Natives
- Shamanism in Siberia
- Traditional Alaska Native medicine
