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Shamanism - The Powers of the Angakkuq

Uploaded by Nathalie Kalina

Shaminism - The Powers of the Angakkuq

Grade level           

This lesson plan is designed to be used with students aged 12
and up.

Objective           

Students will continue working on their Inuktitut/English
dictionary started in Lesson 1 on Shamanism. In groups of three, students will
read an excerpt from "Angakkuuniq: The Powers of the Angakkuq," Interviewing
Inuit Elders Series, with each student taking the role of interviewer or one of
the elders. As students encounter unfamiliar Inuktitut words, they will write
them and their English counterparts in their dictionaries.

Time required           

1-1/2 to 2 class periods (estimated)

Materials                       

Activity           

1       Write "shaman" on
the board. Ask volunteers what they remember about shamans and shamanism.

2       Remind students
that a shaman is a mediator between the human world and the spirit world. Before
the 1900s, when many Inuit converted to Christianity, shamans were doctors,
healers and advisors to the Inuit.

3       Give students the
Inuktitut/English dictionaries started in Lesson 1 on Shamanism. Ask volunteers
for the Inuktitut word for "shaman" (angakkuit) and "helping spirit"
(tuurngait). Write on the board.

4       Ask if anyone
remembers the role of a helping spirit? (would provide the future shaman with
assistance and guarantee him success in his practice) What spirits were
especially sought after? (walrus and polar bear)

      Why? (size and
ability to move in water and on land)

5       Break students
into groups of three and explain that they are going to read a second selection
from Interviewing Inuit Elders Series.
One student is to take on the role of the interviewer, the second student is to
be Nutaraaluk and the third student is to be Aupilaarjuk (the two Inuit elders
interviewed). As students read, they are to add unfamiliar Inuktitut words and
their English equivalents to their dictionaries.

 

6       As a class, read
the Introduction to the selection, stopping to add the following words to the
dictionaries:

      • "qaumaniq"       aura visible to
animals, spirits, shamans

      • "taarniq"             dark aura

      • "sakaniq"            shaman's séance

      • "irinaliutiit"       incantations

      • "qinngarniq"       shouted prayers.

7       Review with
students how most shamans began their vocations. Apprenticeship under the
supervision of a recognized shaman lasted several winters and involved:

      • Initiation into
the language of the spirits

      • Acquisition of
"qaumaniq" (clairvoyance/aura)

      • Acquisition of
"tuurngait" (helping spirits)

8       Have students
continue reading the selection, adding words to their dictionary as they go
along.

Evaluation           

Once students have finished reading, ask for volunteers to
share the words they included in their dictionaries.Write words on the board,
instructing students to add any Inuktitut words they missed and correct any
errors.

Ask the students if they noticed whether the elders referred to
Christianity in the text. Discuss what Aupilaarjuk means when he says, "Now I am just an ordinary person. I am
following Christianity. I am just an ordinary person now." (p.39) Explain
that once the missionaries came, the shamans were told to get rid of their
"tuurngait" and accept God as the Creator.

Instruct students to save their English/Inuktitut dictionaries
or collect them for future use.

References           

Isuma Publishing - a division of Igloolik Isuma Productions: http://isuma.ca/buy

Kessler, Deirdre, Isuma
Teacher's Resource Guide, Montreal: Isuma Publishing, 2004

Robinson, Gillian, Isuma
Inuit Studies Reader, Montreal: Isuma Publishing, 2004