Eskimo shamanism
Erik Holtved
Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis August 1, 1967 DOI: 10.30674/scripta.67021 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Ethnography Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Eskimo (Inuit) peoples across the Arctic, from the Pacific Ocean and Bering Strait to East Greenland |
| Topics | Shamanism |
| Key findings | Argues that shamanism has been closely connected with Eskimo culture far back in time and that the shaman's position and traditional functions have had a rather uniform stamp across the vast Eskimo region, while characteristic differences in shamans' ways of practicing indicate that development did not proceed along the same line in all cases. The shaman's task is to take charge of relations to supernatural powers supposed to interfere with human life. |
Abstract
Shamans and shamanistic performances have been described from almost all parts of the Eskimo world, from the Pacific Ocean and Bering Strait to East Greenland, and to judge from the records it seems that the position and traditional functions of the shaman in general have had a rather uniform stamp all over this vast area. Apparently shamanism has been narrowly connected with Eskimo culture far back in time. Nevertheless certain characteristic differences found in the shamans' ways of exercising their practise indicate that the development has not proceeded along the same line in all cases. The task of the Eskimo shaman is to take charge of the relations to the supernatural powers that are supposed to interfere with human life.
Comparable studies
Other qualitative studies on shamanism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Plantas con madre": plants that teach and guide in the shamanic initiation process in the East-Central Peruvian Amazon. Curanderos, apprentices, and herbalists in East-Central Peru, including Mestizo,... | 2011 | Qualitative study | n = 36 |
| Purging and the body in the therapeutic use of ayahuasca Healers and participants in shamanic tourism contexts of the Peruvian Amazon and... | 2019 | Ethnography with literature review | n = 227 |
| The Globalization of Ayahuasca Shamanism and the Erasure of Indigenous Shamanism Western tourists and indigenous peoples in Iquitos, Peru | 2016 | Ethnography | |
| Shamanism and Rock Art in Far Western North America Historic hunter-gatherer cultures of California and the Great Basin | 1992 | Ethnographic review and analysis | |
| Working with “La Medicina”: Elements of Healing in Contemporary Ayahuasca Rituals Ayahuasqueros and Western participants in shamanic tourism in Iquitos, Peru | 2012 | Ethnography |