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tupilaq
EntityQ656509· pop 18· linked from 81 articles

Also known as tupilait, tupilak

thumb|A carved representation of a tupilak, Greenland A ' ( or in Inuktitut syllabics, plural ') is a monster or carving of a monster.

~5 min read

Encyclopedic overview

12 sections
Contents
  • Publicity versus secrecy
  • Concealment
  • Neutralizing effect of public confession
  • Meanings of the same term in various Inuit cultures
  • Igloolik
  • Kivallirmiut
  • Greenland
  • Inuinnait
  • See also
  • References
  • Bibliography
  • Further reading

thumb|A carved representation of a tupilak, Greenland A ' ( or in Inuktitut syllabics, plural ') is a monster or carving of a monster.

In Inuit religion, especially in Greenland, a tupilaq was an avenging monster fabricated by an angakkuq (a practitioner of witchcraft or shamanism) by using various objects such as animal parts (bone, skin, hair, sinew, etc.) and even parts taken from the corpses of children. The creature was given life by ritualistic chants. It was then placed into the sea to seek and destroy a specific enemy.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “tupilaq” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.