Inuit religion Inuit religion is the shared spiritual beliefs and practices of the Inuit, an Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous people from Alaska, northern Canada, parts of Siberia and Greenland. Their religion shares many similarities with some Al ...

, Silap Inua ('possessor of spirit', ᓯᓚᑉ ᐃᓄᐊ) or Silla ('breath, spirit', ᓯᓪᓚ) is similar to

mana According to Melanesian and Polynesian mythology, ''mana'' is a supernatural force that permeates the universe. Anyone or anything can have ''mana''. They believed it to be a cultivation or possession of energy and power, rather than being a ...

ether In organic chemistry, ethers are a class of compounds that contain an ether group—an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl or aryl groups. They have the general formula , where R and R′ represent the alkyl or aryl groups. Ethers can again be c ...

, the primary component of everything that exists; it is also the breath of life and the method of locomotion for any movement or change. Silla was believed to control everything that goes on in one's life.

Description

Silla is a spirit of the sky, the wind, and the weather. Though identified as male, he is never depicted, and thought to be formless. There are very few myths in which Silla is a character, because he is not thought to have many personality characteristics. He also represents a concept somewhat akin to the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

idea of

Paramatman ''Paramatman'' (Sanskrit: परमात्मन्, IAST: Paramātman) or ''Paramātmā'' is the Absolute ''Atman'', or supreme Self, in various philosophies such as the Vedanta and Yoga schools in Hindu theology, as well as other Indian re ...

, or Emerson’s idea of the great Over soul: Silla is also believed to be the substance which

souls In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

are made of. Contrary to the Christian missionaries who have identified

Nanook In Inuit religion, Nanook (; iu, ᓇᓄᖅ , lit. "polar bear") was the master of bears, meaning he decided if hunters deserved success in finding and hunting bears and punished violations of taboos. The word was popularized by '' Nanook of th ...

the

polar bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear specie ...

spirit as the supreme deity of the

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

, Silla is much closer to this role. However Silla also has a somewhat malevolent aspect: he is known to lure children away from their play off into the tundra, never to be seen again. Among the many various

cultures, term ''silap inua'' / ''sila'', ''hillap inua'' / ''hilla'' (among

), ''siḷam iñua'' (among Inupiaq), ''ellam yua'' / ''ella'' (among

Yup'ik The Yup'ik or Yupiaq (sg & pl) and Yupiit or Yupiat (pl), also Central Alaskan Yup'ik, Central Yup'ik, Alaskan Yup'ik ( own name ''Yup'ik'' sg ''Yupiik'' dual ''Yupiit'' pl; russian: Юпики центральной Аляски), are an I ...

) is used with some diversity. In many instances it refers “outer space”, “intellect”, “weather”, “sky”, “universe”: there may be some correspondence with the

presocratic Pre-Socratic philosophy, also known as early Greek philosophy, is ancient Greek philosophy before Socrates. Pre-Socratic philosophers were mostly interested in cosmology, the beginning and the substance of the universe, but the inquiries of thes ...

concept of

logos ''Logos'' (, ; grc, wikt:λόγος, λόγος, lógos, lit=word, discourse, or reason) is a term used in Western philosophy, psychology and rhetoric and refers to the appeal to reason that relies on logic or reason, inductive and deductive ...

. Shamanhood among Eskimo peoples was a diverse phenomenon, just like the various Inuit cultures themselves. Among

Copper Inuit Copper Inuit, also known as Kitlinermiut and Inuinnait, are a Canadian Inuit group who live north of the tree line, in what is now the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut and in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Ter ...

, shamans were believed to obtain their power from this “Wind Indweller”, thus even their helping spirits were termed as ''silap inue''. Among

Siberian Yupik Siberian Yupiks, or Yuits (russian: Юиты), are a Yupik peoples, Yupik people who reside along the coast of the Chukchi Peninsula in the far Russian Far East, northeast of the Russia, Russian Federation and on St. Lawrence Island in Alask ...

, was depicted as a mighty hunter, catching game just like earthly men, but being capable of controlling whether people paid attention to customs and traditions. In

Sireniki Eskimo language Sirenik Yupik, Sireniki Yupik (also Old Sirenik or Vuteen), Sirenik, or Sirenikskiy is an extinct Eskimo–Aleut language. It was spoken in and around the village of Sireniki (Сиреники) in Chukotka Peninsula, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, ...

, the word has meanings 'universe', 'outer world', 'space', 'free space', or 'weather'.

History

According to the interpretations of

anthropologists An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and v ...

, Silla is one of the oldest Inuit deities, but was recently (in the last thousand years) supplanted by Sedna, (the goddess of

sea mammals Marine mammals are aquatic mammals that rely on the ocean and other marine ecosystems for their existence. They include animals such as seals, whales, manatees, sea otters and polar bears. They are an informal group, unified only by their re ...

) and the Caribou Mother (the goddess of

caribou Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

) when these became the major food sources of the Inuit. Anthropologists believe that the belief is extremely old because of the widespread nature of this deity.

References

External links

Radio Interview with Dr. Timothy Leduc on Sila, the Inuit, and Climate Change
University of Toronto, 20 April 2007. {{Inuit religion Energy (esotericism) Esotericism Inuit mythology Sky and weather gods Spirituality Vitalism

Description

History

See also

References

External links