Introduction
Understanding Inuit Spiritualities
Inuit spirituality has developed in environments where material survival, cooperation and respect for animals are inseparable, they do not constitute a uniform system and many Inuit are today Christian while maintaining ancestral values and stories.
Animals and humans share forms of interiority and enter into reciprocal relationships.
To be retained
Four essential principles
- Inuit spirituality has developed in environments where material survival, cooperation and respect for animals are inseparable.
- Animals and humans share forms of interiority and enter into reciprocal relationships.
- balance depends on a respectful conduct towards beings, territory and community.
- This tradition is rooted in the history and cultures of Arctic Regions.
Small timeline
A tradition shaped by history
Origins and training
Animals and humans share forms of interiority and enter into reciprocal relationships.
Historical developments
Rules surrounded hunting, sharing, birth, death and treatment of animal remains.
Ritual life and teachings
Animals and humans share forms of interiority and enter into reciprocal relationships.
A living and plural tradition
Their non-compliance could affect the group's balance and the abundance of game.
History and development
Animals and humans share forms of interiority and enter into reciprocal relationships. Rules surrounded hunting, sharing, birth, death and treatment of animal remains.
Their non-compliance could affect the group balance and the abundance of game. The names passed on to children link generations and identities.
Worldview, beliefs and practices
Animals and humans share forms of interiority and enter into reciprocal relationships. Rules surrounded hunting, sharing, birth, death and treatment of animal remains.
Their non-compliance could affect the group balance and the abundance of game. The names passed on to children link generations and identities.
Texts, symbols and transmission
Oral tradition, sculptures, tattoos, amulet and songs. Inuksuit, bear, seal, crow and drum can carry particular meanings, but are not universal religious symbols.
What research can and cannot say
The first ethnographers have sometimes published knowledge without consent. Current research focuses on Inuit collaboration and knowledge. The term "animism" can be useful if it does not reduce these relationships to a primitive belief.
References