THE INUIT PEOPLE

The Inuit who make their homes across the vastness of Canada's Arctic belong to a much larger family that extends from the Bearing Sea through Alaska and Northern Canada to Greenland.
These imaginative, hardy and resourceful peoples are linked not only linguistically, but by a distinctly similar culture and way of life, as seen through Inuit art, song, dance, myth and legend. Their songs and story forms of myths and legends, linguistically as well as stylistically, relate most closely to Siberian. Thus, language and legend can give clues to ancient routes of migration.
The Inuit myths and legends designated the powers of good and evil to deities living in the spirit world closely entwined with the beautiful Northern landscape. Ancient oral traditions were employed as the most important method of conveying and preserving ideas, augmented by a small carvings that served as illustrations for events. Song and dances also enhanced the meaning of myths and legends. These tales were intrinsically linked to Inuit shamanism.
An Inuit shaman is a religious and mystical expert who functions as a healer, prophet and custodian of cultural tradition.
Inuit myths abound with behavioral codes that may only be fully understood by those living within that society. The stories reinforce a close relationship with all of nature, as well as the belief that animals have a way to hear and understand human words. For this reason, hunters in their camps, when singing or speaking of walrus or seal, may carefully refer to them as maggots or lice, or call caribou lemmings, thus confusing the animals that are necessary for their survival.
A fundamental tenet of Inuit mythology is the belief in other Worlds beneath the Sea, inside the Earth and in the sky where some gifted shamans (angakoks) have the power to journey in trances and in dreams, visiting places that ordinary mortals would only experience in the afterlife.
Dreams have always played an important part in their lives, serving as the basis for some myth forms, and are interpreted with care.
Among the most famous Inuit myths is the legend of the Sea goddess, known by various names: Sedna, Nuliayuk, Taluliyuk, Taleelayuk. In the myth, a young girl is cast into the ocean, where she becomes the keeper of all the Sea mammals.
The legend of Lumiuk (Lumak, Lumaag) tells of an abused blind boy who finds refuge in the Sea, where he recovers his sight and ends his abuse.
The legend of Kiviuk (Kiviok, Kiviuq), a major mythological figure in the same sphere as Sedna, explains the abundance of fish and the absence of trees in the Artic tundra; while the legend of Tikta'Liktak tells the story of a young hunter's journey home after becoming lost on an ice floe.
Supernatural beings accompany many Inuit myths, including: Mahaha, a demon that terrorizes the Artic and tickles its victims to death; Ijiraat, shapeshifter that may change into any artic animal but may not disguise their red eyes; Taqriaqsuit, shadow people who are rarely seen but often heard; Qallupilluk, scaly, human-like creatures that snatch children into the sea; Inupasugjuk, giants who capture humans; and Tuniit, who are seen as simple-minded but extremely strong ancestors of the Inuit.
The Inuit mythology is a repository of Inuit culture, passed down by elders through generations to enrich and enlighten.