Silap Inua facts for kids

Silap Inua, also called Silla, is a very important idea in Inuit religion. It's like a special life force or energy that is part of everything. It's also seen as the breath of life and what makes things move or change. People believed Silla controlled everything that happened in their lives.

What is Silap Inua?

Silla is known as the spirit of the sky, the wind, and the weather. Even though Silla is thought of as male, this spirit is never shown as a person or animal. Silla is believed to be formless, meaning it has no shape. There are not many myths where Silla is a main character. This is because Silla is not thought to have many human-like personality traits.

Silla also represents a big idea, like a universal soul or spirit. It is believed to be the very substance that souls are made of. While some people thought Nanook, the polar bear spirit, was the most powerful, Silla is actually seen as being closer to a supreme (most powerful) spirit in Inuit beliefs. However, some traditional stories mention that Silla could sometimes lead children away from their games into the vast, open land. This reminds people to be careful and respect the power of nature.

Different Names for Silla

Across the many different Inuit cultures, the name for this spirit changes a bit. You might hear silap inua or sila among some Inuit groups. Others use hillap inua or hilla. Among the Iñupiat, it's siḷam iñua, and for the Yup'ik people, it's ellam yua or ella.

These terms can mean different things depending on the group. They often refer to "outer space," "intellect," "weather," "sky," or "universe." This shows how big and important the idea of Silla is.

Shamans, who were spiritual leaders, were very important in Inuit cultures. Among the Copper Inuit, shamans were believed to get their special powers from this "Wind Indweller" (Silla). Even their helping spirits were sometimes called silap inue.

Among the Siberian Yupik people, Silla was sometimes seen as a strong hunter. This hunter could catch game just like people on Earth. But Silla was also able to control if people followed their customs and traditions. In the Sirenik language, the word sila means 'universe,' 'outer world,' 'space,' 'free space,' or 'weather.'

History of Silla's Belief

Experts who study cultures believe Silla is one of the oldest Inuit deities (gods or spirits). However, in the last thousand years, other deities became more important. For example, Sedna, the goddess of sea mammals, and the Caribou Mother, the goddess of caribou, became very important. This happened as sea mammals and caribou became the main food sources for the Inuit people. Anthropologists think the belief in Silla is extremely old because this deity is known across so many different Inuit groups.

See also

• Inua
• 79360 Sila, a Kuiper Belt object named after Sila