In Inuit folklore, a tupilaq (tupilak) is either a magically-made monster or a haunting soul.
Description
The tupilak was a monster fabricated by a practitioner of witchcraft or shamanism by using various objects such as animal parts (bone, hair, etc...) and even parts taken from the corpses of children. The creature was given life by being allowed to suck the vital essence or life force from its creator's sexual organs. It was then placed into the sea to seek and destroy a specific enemy.
Types
Such distant groups like the Caribou Inuit, Greenland Inuit, Iglulingmiut (Iglulik, Nunavut Inuit) and Copper Inuit know the tupilaq but give different meanings to it.
Iglulik
The tupilaq was an invisible ghost. Only the shaman could notice it. It was the soul of a dead person, which became restless because the breach of some death taboo. It scared game away from the vicinity. Thus, the shaman had to help by scaring it away with a knife.
Caribou Inuit
The tupilaq was also an invisible being. Like at Iglulik, also the shaman was the only one who could see it. It was a chimera-like creature, with human head and parts from different species of animals. It was dangerous, it might attack the settlement. Then, the shaman had to combat it and devour it with his/her helping spirits.
Greenland
The tupilaq was manifested in real, human-made object. It was made by people to the detriment of their enemies. It was a puppet-like thing, but was thought of have magical power onto the victim. It might be made e.g. of mixtured parts of dead animals, dead child.
Copper Inuit
To the Copper Inuit the tupilaq was similar to the Christian Devil.
Religions/Beliefs
The use of a tupilaq was risky, however, because if it was sent to destroy someone who had greater magical powers than the one who had formed it, it could be sent back to kill its maker instead, although the maker of tupilaq could escape by public confession of his/her own deed.
Because tupilaqs were made in secret, in isolated places and from perishable materials, none have been preserved. Early European visitors to Greenland, fascinated by the native legend, were eager to see what tupilaqs looked like so the Inuit began to carve representations of them out of Sperm Whale. Making a tupilaq was risky to its own maker if the attacked person made it rebound: in this case, public confession was the only rescue.
Concealment or secrecy could raise magic consequences in several areas of life:
- Concealed miscarriage or infanticide could give birth to a monster called anngiaq.
- It could make harm for the community if somebody concealed his/her taboo breach.
- Secrecy was also preliminary for the functioning of so-called formulae (texts or songs used like charm or spell in danger, need, hunt, practical everyday situations).
Thus, concealment was a preliminary for several magical effects. If this was broken, unintentionally or intentionally, the effect could lose its power.
- The shamans in some Eskimo groups resolved the consequence of taboo breach by achieving public confession of the breacher.
- Hunting means killing, and animals were believed to have souls as well. Efforts were made to avoid the revenge taken by the game and to please the game symbolically.[9] Such would be the danger inherent in the first kill of a boy and it was "neutralized" by a public ritual, in which the each adult member of the community had to make an incision into the head of the game, or ate a piece from it. Thus, the belief was, that public partaking in a dangerous thing reduces the danger, that is it has a neutralizing effect.
Art/Fiction
Today, tupilaqs of many different shapes and sizes are carved from various materials such as narwhal and walrus tusk, wood and caribou antler. They are an important part of Greenlandic Inuit art and are highly prized as collectibles.
References
- Burch, Ernest S. (junior); Forman, Werner (1988). The Eskimos. Norman, Oklahoma 73018, USA: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-2126-2.
- Kleivan, Inge; B. Sonne (1985). Eskimos: Greenland and Canada. Iconography of religions, section VIII, "Arctic Peoples", fascicle 2. Leiden, The Netherlands: Institute of Religious Iconography • State University Groningen. E.J. Brill. ISBN 90-04-07160-1.
- Rasmussen, Knud (1927). Across Arctic America. New York • London: G.P. Putnams sons. http://www.archive.org/details/acrossarcticamer006641mbp.