James Mooney - Native Americans - 22 Books on History, Mythology, Culture & Linguistic Studies

Another tradition places the good land in heaven. The souls travel on the rainbow to the moon, near which they find a large lake abounding with fowls and fish. Rink gives the following statement on this subject (p. 37):

After death, human souls either go to the upper or to the under world. The latter is decidedly to be preferred, as being warm and rich in food. There are the dwellings of the happy dead called arsissut,—viz, those who live in abundance. On the contrary, those who go to the upper world will suffer from cold and famine; and these are called the arssartut, or ball players, on account of their playing at ball with a walrus head, which gives rise to the aurora borealis.

While the Iglulirmiut believe that the soul leaves the body immediately after death and descends to Adli, the tribes of Davis Strait suppose that it lingers three days around the body, unable to leave it. Then it descends to Sedna’s house. During its stay in Adlivun the soul is called tupilaq, which is represented by the figure of a man with wide, loose, shabby clothing. It is looked upon as a malevolent spirit, frequently roaming around the villages. The tupilaq is not allowed to enter the houses, and if the angakoq perceives and announces his presence no one would dare to leave the houses. His touch kills men at once, the sight of him causes sickness and mischief. As soon as the soul has become an adliparmio, it is at rest and ceases to be feared as a tupilaq.

It is worth remarking that the Greenlanders designate with the name of tupilaq a supernatural being made by men for the purpose of destroying their enemies (Rink, p. 53). It is composed of various parts of different animals and is enabled to act in the shape of any of them at will. I have not found any trace of this idea among the Central Eskimo.

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A consideration of the religious ideas of the Eskimo shows that the tornait, the invisible rulers of every object, are the most remarkable beings next to Sedna. Everything has its inua (owner), which may become the genius of man who thus obtains the qualities of angakunirn. I am not quite sure that every inua can become the tornaq of a man, though with the Greenlanders this was possible. I learned of three kinds of spirits only, who are protectors of angakut: those in the shape of men, of stones, and of bears. These spirits enable the angakut to have intercourse with the others who are considered malevolent to mankind, and though those three species are kind to their angakut they would hurt strangers who might happen to see them. The bear seems to be the most powerful among these spirits. The tornait of the stones live in the large bowlders scattered over the country. The Eskimo believe that these rocks are hollow and form a nice house, the entrance of which is only visible to the angakoq whose genius lives in the stone. The tornaq is a woman with only one eye, in the middle of the brow. Another kind of tornaq lives in the stones that roll down the hills in spring when the snow begins to melt. If a native happens to meet such a stone, which is about to become his tornaq, the latter addresses him: “I jumped down in long leaps from my place on the cliff. As the snow melts, as water is formed on the hills, I jump down.” Then it asks the native whether he is willing to have it for his tornaq, and if he answers in the affirmative it accompanies him, wabbling along, as it has no legs.

The bear tornaq is represented as a huge animal without any hair except on the points of the ears and of the tail and at the mouth. If a man wishes to obtain a bear for his tornaq he must travel all alone to the edge of the land floe and summon the bears. Then a large herd will approach and frighten him almost to death. He falls down at once. Should he fall backward he would die at once. If he falls upon his face, however, one bear out of the herd steps forward and asks him if he wishes him to become his tornaq. He then recovers and takes the bear for his spirit and is accompanied by him on the return journey. On the way home, they pass a seal hole and the bear captures the animal for his master. The Eskimo is now a great angakoq, and whenever he wants help he is sure to get it from his bear.

The Eskimo do not make images of the tornait or other supernatural beings in whom they believe, but use to a great extent amulets (arngoaq), some of which are given by the tornait, while others are inherited. The most common varieties of amulets are the feather of an owl, a bear’s tooth, and the like, which are always worn on the middle of the back of the inner jacket. Rare minerals (e.g., iron) sewed up in a piece of skin are sometimes used for the same purpose. A small part of the first gown worn by a child is considered a powerful amulet and is preserved for this reason. It is worn at the point of the hood at a great feast celebrated every fall (see pp. 604, 611) and is called koukparmiutang.

Lyon (p. 367) gives the following account of the use of amulets in Iglulik:

Bones and teeth of animals, hanging as solitary pendants, or strung in great numbers, have peculiar virtues, and the bones of the feet of the kabliaqdjuq, which I imagine to be the wolverine, are the most in request. The front teeth of musk oxen are considered as jewels, while the grinders, one or two together, are much esteemed as tassels for the strings used to tie up the breeches of the women. Eye teeth of foxes are sometimes seen to the number of hundreds, neatly perforated and arranged as a kind of fringe round caps or dresses, and even the bones and teeth of fish have their value.

Leather cases of the size of a quill, and containing small pieces of deer’s or other flesh, are frequently attached to the caps or hoods of children, but whether to render them expert hunters, or to preserve their health, I could not discover. I was assured that broken spear heads, and other equally cumbrous pendants, worn round the necks of young girls, were spells for the preservation of their chastity, while the same ornaments caused the women to be prolific.

The principal office of the angakut is to find out the reason of sickness and death or of any other misfortune visiting the natives.

The Eskimo believes that he is obliged to answer the angakoq’s questions truthfully. The lamps being lowered, the angakoq strips off his outer jacket, pulls the hood over his head, and sits down in the back part of the hut facing the wall. He claps his hands, which are covered with mittens, and, shaking his whole body, utters sounds which one would hardly recognize as human.

Thus he invokes his tornaq, singing and shouting alternately, the listeners, who sit on the edge of the bed, joining the chorus and answering his questions. Then he asks the sick person: “Did you work when it was forbidden?” “Did you eat when you were not allowed to eat?” And if the poor fellow happens to remember any transgression of such laws, he cries: “Yes, I have worked.” “Yes, I have eaten.” And the angakoq rejoins “I thought so” and issues his commands as to the manner of atonement.

These are manifold. Exchange of wives between two men or adoption of a sick child by another family in order to save its life are frequently demanded. The inhabitants of a village are forbidden to wash themselves for a number of days, to scrape the ice from the windows, and to clean their urine pots before sunrise. Sometimes the angakoq commands that the clothing be thrown away or gives regulations for diet, particularly forbidding the eating of venison, working on deerskins, filing iron, &c.

Disorders of women are considered as a punishment for the neglect to observe the regulations referring to their behavior at certain periods, which regulations were established by Sedna. The same is stated by Lyon (p. 363).

A method of finding out the reason of a disease is by “head lifting.” A thong is tied round the head of the sick person or of a relative, who must lie down on the bed, the angakoq holding the thong. Then he asks his tornaq the reason of the sickness and the remedy. If the tornaq answers a question of the angakoq in the affirmative the head is easily lifted. In the other case it feels so heavy that he is unable to move it. Another method is by lifting a boot or a stone, which has been placed under the pillow of the patient. The angakut believe that the boot or stone becomes heavy and cannot be lifted when the tornaq answers their incantations.