Dueling Shamans

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Notes from DaVic Gallery:  ‘Dueling Shamans’ – The Inuit believed in animism, that is all living and non-living things had a spirit including people, animals, inanimate objects, and forces of nature.  When a spirit died, it continued living in a different world- the spirit world.  The only people who had enough power to control the spirits were the powerful religious leaders called the Shamans or ‘Angakoks’.

Shamans used charms and dances as a means to communicate with the spirit world and wore carved masks-mostly representing animals- while performing their rituals. It was believed that masks had powers that enabled them to communicate with the spirits.   To appease the spirits the Shamans would make recommendations. They would suggest offering gifts to the spirits, moving away, and sometimes would fine the person for breaking the rules and angering the spirits.