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Frédéric B. Laugrand and Jarich G. Oosten (eds.), Inuit Shamanism and Christianity: Transitions and Transformations in the Twentieth Century, Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2010, 467 pages.
The word shaman comes from the language of the Inuit groups Evenk and Eveny, Tungus-speaking reindeer herders and hunters in Siberia. Eveny pronounce it as haman, and this translates to "a person who knows." Laugrand and Oosten are seasoned anthropologists and have published recent books on Inuit shamanism, conversion, and Christianity including Representing Tuurgait, Mourir et Renaître and Keeping the Faith. In this new book they have produced a remarkable study of shamanism and the move to Christianity among Inuit in Nunavut. Their data are based on interviews with a great many elders recalling their chüdhoods going back to the 1930s and 1940s, and from a number of elders' workshops in several communities from 2000-2008. Elders were selected because they are the respected keepers of knowledge and wisdom and have had direct experience with shamanism and early Christianity. The information also comes from accounts of early ethnographers and explorers from Parry and Lyon in 1822 to Hall and Boas of the later 19th century, Rasmussen in the 1920s, and missionaries including Peck from the late 1800s and early 1900s. AU had observed and written about Inuit shamanism or the transition to Christianity. This book is the most thorough account of shamanism and early Christianity among Inuit to date.
The Inuit shaman's roles were primarily to help procure game, heal the sick, correct the weather and protect the community from evil spirits. The shaman or angakkuq worked with helping spirits or tuurngait, who were often animals but could be anything non-human. He or she would visit the great beings like Sedna, the sea mother who controUed sea animals (and according to some Inuit groups also land animals), Sua the spirit of the air who controlled the weather, or the siblings moon man and sun woman who could help with hunting. These great spirits would punish people for violating taboos causing poor hunting and bad weather. This is where the shaman intervened. When the shaman returned from these visits, or was healing someone, confession of transgressions concerning taboos was necessary. The taboos were many and covered numerous aspects of...