Najagneq

Another powerful shaman, whom Dr. Rasmussen met in Nome, Alaska, told him of a similar venture into the silence. But this old fellow, Najagneq by name, had fallen upon bad times in relation to the people of his village. For shamans, you must know, live in a rather perilous position. When things anywhere go wrong, people tend to blame the local shaman. They imagine he is working magic. And this old man, to protect himself, had invented a number of trick devices and mythological spooks to frighten his neighbors off and keep them safely at bay.

Dr. Rasmussen, recognizing that most of Najagneq's spirits were outright frauds of this kind, one day asked him if there were any in whom he himself believed: to which he replied, "Yes, a power that we call Sila, one that cannot be explained in so many words; a very strong spirit, the upholder of the universe, of the weather, in fact of all life on earth - so mighty that his speech to man comes not through ordinary words but through storms, snowfall, rain showers, the tempests of the sea, all the forces that man fears, through sunshine, calm seas, or small, innocent playing children who understand nothing. When times are good, Sila has nothing to say to mankind. He has disappeared into his infinite nothingness and remains away as long as people do not abuse life but have respect for their daily food. No one has ever seen Sila His place of sojourn is so mysterious that he is with us and infinitely far away at the same time.

And what does Sila say? "The inhabitant or soul of the universe” Najagneq said, "is never seen: its voice alone is heard. All we know is that it has a gentle voice, like a woman, a voice so fine and gentle that even children cannot become afraid. And what it says is Sila ersinarsinivdluge, “Be not afraid of the universe”

Now these were very simple men, at least in our terms of culture, learning, and civilization, Yet their wisdom, drawn from their most inward depths, corresponds in essence to what we have heard and learned from the most respected mystics There Is a deep and general human wisdom here, of which we do not often come to know in our usual ways of active rational thinking.

Myths to Live By Di Joseph Campbell

Some mighty words by Najagneq, the Yupik shaman.

* R=Rasmussen. N=Najagneq

R. What does man consist of?

N. Of the body; that which you see; the name, which is inherited from one dead; and then of something more, a mysterious power that we call yutir - to all that lives.

R. What do you think of the way men live?

N. They live brokenly, mingling all things together; weakly, because they cannot do one thing at a time. A great hunter must not be a great lover of women. But no one can help it. Animals are as unfathomable in their nature; and it behooves us who live on them to act with care. But men bolster themselves up with amulets and become solitary in their lack of power. In any village there must be as many different amulets as possible. Uniformity divides the forces; equality makes for worthlessness.

R. How did you learn all this?

N. I have searched in the darkness, being silent in the great lonely stillness of the dark. So I became an angakoq (shaman), through visions and dreams and encounters with flying spirits. In our forefathers' day, the angakoqs were solitary men; but now, they are all priests or doctors, weather prophets or conjurers producing game, or clever merchants, selling their skill for pay. The ancients devoted their lives to maintaining the balance of the universe; to great things, immense, unfathomable things

R. Do you believe in any of these powers yourself?

N. Yes; a power that we call Sila, which is not to be explained in simple words. A great spirit, supporting the world and the weather and all life on earth, a spirit so mighty that his utterance to mankind is not through common words, but by storm and snow and rain and the fury of the sea; all the forces of nature that men fear. But he has also another way of utterance, by sunlight, and calm of the sea, and little children innocently at play, themselves understanding nothing. Children hear a soft and gentle voice, almost like that of a woman. It comes to them in a mysterious way, but so gently that they are not afraid; they only hear that some danger threatens. And the children mention it as it were casually when they come home, and it is then the business of the angakoq to take such measures as shall guard against the peril. When all is well, Sila sends no message to mankind, but withdraws into his own endless nothingness, apart. So he remains as long as men do not abuse life, but act with reverence towards their daily food.

No one has seen Sila; his place of being is a mystery, in that he is at once among us and unspeakably far away.

Excerpts from Across Arctic America: Narrative of the Fifth Thule Expedition. Conversation between Knud Rasmussen and Najagneq, the Yupik shaman from Nunivak Island, in Nome Alaska in 1924.

The Initiation of Igjugarjuk as a Shaman

Inuit

The Inuit live in the Arctic region along the northern coast of North America, the north coast of Alaska, and the coast of Greenland. Their culture is quite diverse, with many subgroups and dialects, but they all share a common ancestry. The Inuit people developed different lifestyles according to the environments they faced. (At times this environment is so harsh that no white man has ever been able to live there without outside support.) Some bands were whale hunters, some hunted seals, and all hunted caribou. They traveled in skin kayaks on the sea and on dog sleds on the ice. While away hunting, they lived in igloos made of ice, but most of the time they lived in earth shelters with sod roofs.

In the early 1920s, the noted Danish Inuit scholar and explorer Knud Rasmussen led an expedition across Arctic America, from Greenland to Alaska. During this trek he met a number of Inuit shamans (Igjugarjuk, Najagneq, and Aggjartoq) and the woman named Kinalik, who told their amazing personal biographies and initiation stories. The passage that follows is my rendering of Rasmussen’s story.

The Initiation of Igjugarjuk as a Shaman

As a child, Igjugarjuk was disturbed by visions and dreams of strange beings. The dreams were quite vivid, and he could remember every aspect of them. His family was very concerned for him, and the shaman Perqanaoq was consulted. The shaman met with their son and determined that he was destined to become a shaman, and so the parents gave him over to Perqanaoq for training.

So began his initiation. In the depth of winter, when the temperature can drop to –40 degrees Fahrenheit, Perqanaoq put Igjugarjuk on a sled and took him far out into the Arctic wilderness. There he built a small igloo for the boy, just big enough for him to sit cross-legged in. He took Igjugarjuk off the sledge and deposited him in the hut on a small piece of animal skin. He was left there alone and told to think only of the Great Spirit.

After five days, Perqanaoq returned and gave the boy a drink of warm water and left. After fifteen more days, he returned and gave Igjugarjuk another drink of water and a small piece of meat. This was to last him another ten days. At the end of his ordeal, which lasted thirty days, he was brought back to the village, where he fasted and continued his training.

Igjugarjuk was a great shaman when Rasmussen met him. He told Rasmussen he thought he would die from the fasting and cold and said that at one point a young woman with a powerful presence appeared before him, hovering a few feet above the ground. He never “saw” her again, but from that time on she remained his helping spirit. Igjugarjuk was convinced that suffering and deprivation was the key to knowledge and power, for as he said, “The only true wisdom lives far from mankind, out in the great loneliness, and it can be reached only through suffering. Privations and suffering alone can open the mind of a man to all that is hidden to others.”