Editing Silap Inua

{{short description|Concept of inuit mythology}}
{{About|a (somewhat diverse) belief held among several Inuit|homonyms of word “sila” |Sila (disambiguation)}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2016}}
In [[Inuit religion]], '''Silap Inua''' ('possessor of spirit', ᓯᓚᑉ ᐃᓄᐊ) or '''Sila''' ('breath, spirit', ᓯᓪᓚ) ([[Iñupiaq language|Iñupiaq]]: ''siḷam iñua'') is similar to [[Mana (Oceanian mythology)|mana]] or [[Aether (classical element)|ether]], the primary component of everything that exists; it is also the breath of life and the method of locomotion for any movement or change. Silla was believed to control everything that goes on in one's life.

==Description==

Silla is a spirit of the sky, the wind, and the weather. Though identified as male, he is never depicted, and thought to be formless. There are very few myths in which Silla is a character, because he is not thought to have many personality characteristics. He also represents a concept somewhat akin to the [[Hindu]] idea of [[Paramatman]], or [[Ralph Waldo Emerson|Emerson]]’s idea of the great [[Ralph Waldo Emerson#Literary career and transcendentalism|Over soul]]: Silla is also believed to be the substance which [[souls]] are made of. Contrary to the Christian missionaries who have identified [[Nanook]] the [[polar bear]] spirit as the supreme deity of the [[Inuit]], Silla is much closer to this role. However Silla also has a somewhat malevolent aspect: he is known to lure children away from their play off into the tundra, never to be seen again.

Among the many various  [[Inuit]] cultures, term ''silap inua'' / ''sila'', ''hillap inua'' / ''hilla'' (among [[Inuit]]), ''siḷam iñua'' (among [[Inupiaq]]), ''ellam yua'' / ''ella'' (among [[Yup'ik]]) is used with some diversity.<ref name="Kleivan">{{cite book|last1=Kleivan|first1=I.|last2=Sonne|first2=B.|title=Eskimos, Greenland and Canada|date=1985|publisher=E.J. Brill|location=Leiden|isbn=9004071601|page=31}}</ref> In many instances it refers “outer space”, “intellect”, “weather”, “sky”, “universe”:<ref name="Kleivan"/><ref name="Mousalimas">{{cite book|last1=Mousalimas|first1=S.A.|title=Arctic Ecology and Identity|date=1997|publisher=Akad. K.|location=Budapest|isbn=963056629X|pages=23–26, 87}}</ref><ref name="Merkur">{{cite book|last1=Merkur|first1=Daniel|title=Becoming Becoming Half Hidden: Shamanism and Initiation among the Inuit|date=1985|publisher=Almqvist & Wiksell International|location=Stockholm|isbn=9122007520|pages=235–240}}</ref><ref name="Gabus">{{cite book|last1=Gabus|first1=Jean|title=Vie et coutumes des Esquimaux Caribous|date=1970|publisher=Payot|pages=230–234|language=fr}}</ref> there may be some correspondence with the [[presocratic]] concept of [[logos]].<ref name="Mousalimas"/><ref name=ang-log>{{cite web|url=http://www.fss.ulaval.ca/etudes-inuit-studies/v14te04.HTML |title=14 SALADIN D'ANGLURE |date=2006-05-17 |accessdate=2016-04-17 |url-status=unfit |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060517162505/http://www.fss.ulaval.ca/etudes-inuit-studies/v14te04.HTML |archivedate=May 17, 2006 }}</ref>

[[Shamanism among Eskimo peoples|Shamanhood among Eskimo peoples]] was a diverse phenomenon, just like the various Inuit cultures themselves. Among [[Copper Inuit]], shamans were believed to obtain their power from this “Wind Indweller”, thus even their helping spirits were termed as ''silap inue''.<ref name="Merkur"/>{{rp|230}}

Among [[Siberian Yupik]], {{IPA|ess|sɬam juɣwa|}} was depicted as a mighty hunter, catching game just like earthly men, but being capable of controlling whether people paid attention to customs and traditions.<ref name="Diószegi">{{cite book|last1=Diószegi|first1=Vilmos|title=Popular Beliefs and Folklore Tradition in Siberia|date=1997|publisher=[[Routledge]]|location=London|isbn=0700703802|page=447|edition=Reprint}}</ref>

In [[Sireniki Eskimo language]], the word {{IPA|ysr|siˈlʲa|}} has meanings 'universe', 'outer world', 'space', 'free space', or 'weather'.<ref name="Menovshchikov">{{cite book |last=Menovshchikov |first=G.A. |title=Language of Sirenik Eskimos. Phonetics, morphology, texts and vocabulary |publisher=[[Russian Academy of Sciences|Academy of Sciences of the USSR]] |location=Moscow • Leningrad |year=1964}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=December 2016}}

==History==
According to the interpretations of [[anthropologists]], Silla is one of the oldest Inuit deities, but was recently (in the last thousand years) supplanted by [[Sedna (mythology)|Sedna]], (the goddess of [[sea mammals]]) and the [[Caribou Mother]] (the goddess  of [[caribou]]) when these became the major food sources of the Inuit. Anthropologists believe that the belief is extremely old because of the widespread nature of this deity.

==See also==
* [[Inua]]
* [[79360 Sila]], a [[Kuiper Belt object]] named after Sila

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEl5bUgFgl0 Radio Interview with Dr. Timothy Leduc on Sila, the Inuit, and Climate Change], University of Toronto, 20 April 2007.

{{Inuit religion}}

[[Category:Energy (esotericism)]]
[[Category:Inuit mythology]]
[[Category:Sky and weather gods]]
[[Category:Indigenous spirituality]]
[[Category:Vitalism]]