Tupilaq facts for kids
A tupilaq is a creature from the traditional stories of the Inuit people in Greenland. People believed it was a monster made by someone with special powers, like a shaman. They would use parts from animals, such as bones, skin, or hair. The creature was brought to life with special songs and words. Then, it was put into the sea to find and harm a specific enemy.
Using a tupilaq was thought to be risky. If it was sent to attack someone with stronger magic, it could turn back and harm its creator instead. However, the person who made the tupilaq could escape this danger by telling everyone what they had done.
Because tupilaq were made in secret from things that would decay, none of the original ones still exist. Early visitors from Europe were very interested in these stories. They wanted to see what a tupilaq looked like. So, the Inuit people started carving models of them, often from sperm whale teeth.
Today, tupilaq carvings come in many shapes and sizes. They are made from materials like narwhal and walrus tusk, wood, and caribou antler. These carvings are an important part of Greenlandic Inuit art. They are also popular items for people to collect.
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Secret Magic and Public Confession
Making a tupilaq usually began at night, in secret. The shaman, called an angakkuq, would wear their anorak backwards, with the hood covering their face. They would sing and chant for days while making the creature. Old stories say that making a tupilaq was dangerous for the maker if the target person sent it back. In such cases, telling everyone about the deed was the only way to be safe. This idea of secrets and public confession was important in many other parts of Inuit life too.
Why Secrets Were Important
In Inuit beliefs, keeping things secret could lead to special magic effects:
- If someone secretly broke a taboo (a rule that should not be broken), it was believed to bring harm to the whole community.
- Secrets were also needed for "formulae." These were special words or songs used like a charm or spell to help in times of danger, need, hunting, or daily life.
How Public Confession Helped
Secrets were seen as necessary for many magical effects. If a secret was revealed, even by accident, the magic could lose its power.
- Some Angakkuit (shamans) could fix the problems caused by breaking a taboo. They did this by getting the person who broke the rule to tell everyone what they had done.
- Animals killed during hunting were believed to have souls, just like humans. People tried to please the hunted animals and avoid their anger. When a young boy made his first kill, it was "neutralized" by a public ritual. Every adult in the community had to make a small cut on the animal's head or eat a piece of it. This showed that sharing a dangerous act with the community could reduce or remove the danger.
Tupilaq Meanings in Different Inuit Cultures
Many Inuit groups had, and still have, ideas similar to the tupilaq. These ideas varied. Some tupilaq were objects made by people. Others were ghost-like beings or spirits that bothered the living. In some Inuit cultures, only the shaman could deal with these creatures.
Even distant groups like the Caribou Inuit, Greenlandic Inuit, Iglulingmiut Inuit, and Copper Inuit knew about the tupilaq. However, the details of what it was like were different for each group.
Igloolik Inuit
For the Igloolik people, the tupilaq was an invisible ghost. Only the shaman could see it. It was the spirit of a dead person that became restless because someone broke a rule about death. This ghost would scare away animals from the area. So, the shaman had to help by scaring it away with a knife.
Caribou Inuit
The tupilaq for the Caribou Inuit was also an invisible being. Like the Igloolik tupilaq, only the shaman could see it. It was a creature that looked like a mix of different animals, with a human head. It was dangerous and could attack a village. The shaman then had to fight it and "eat" it with the help of their spirit helpers.
Greenlandic Inuit
In Greenland, the tupilaq was a real object made by people. It was created to harm enemies. It was like a puppet but was believed to have magic power over its victim.
Copper Inuit
To the Copper Inuit, the tupilaq was similar to the idea of the Devil in Christianity.
See also
In Spanish: Tupilaq para niños
