In Inuit religion, Pinga ("the one who is [up on] high"[1]) is a goddess of the hunt[2] and medicine.[3] She is heavily associated with the sky.

Caribou Inuit tradition

In Caribou Inuit communities, Pinga had some authority over caribou herds.[3][4] She became angry if people killed more caribou than they could eat, so Caribou communities were careful not to over-hunt.[5] Pinga is also a psychopomp, receiving the souls of the newly deceased and preparing them for reincarnation.[6] Angakkuit (shamans) might see or communicate with Pinga or sometimes she'd send a spirit to speak with them.[7]

Some Caribou Inuit viewed Sila and Pinga as the same or similar while other communities differentiated between the two.[5]

References

  1. ^ Merkur, Daniel (Summer 1983). "Breath-Soul and Wind Owner: The Many and the One in Inuit Religion". American Indian Quarterly. 7 (3): 28. doi:10.2307/1184255. JSTOR 1184255.
  2. ^ Jarich Oosten; Frédéric Laugrand (2009). "Representing the "Sea Woman"". Religion and the Arts. 13: 486. The mistress of the animals of the hunt, Pinga, lives somewhere up in the air or in the sky
  3. ^ a b Emily Elisabeth Auger (2005). The Way of Inuit Art: Aesthetics and History in and Beyond the Arctic. McFarland. p. 50. ISBN 9780786418886.
  4. ^ Kees Bastmeijer; Willem Rasing (October 2014). "Voedsel en recht in de jagers- verzamelaarssamenleving van de Inuit" [Food and Law in Inuit Hunter-Gatherer Society]. Rode Draad (in Dutch): 766. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-08-21.
  5. ^ a b Kleivan, Inge (1985). Iconography of Religions: Arctic Peoples. Brill. p. 31. ISBN 9789004071605.
  6. ^ Emily Elisabeth Auger (2005). The Way of Inuit Art: Aesthetics and History in and Beyond the Arctic. McFarland. p. 44. ISBN 9780786418886.
  7. ^ Merkur, Daniel (Summer 1983). "Breath-Soul and Wind Owner: The Many and the One in Inuit Religion". American Indian Quarterly. 7 (3): 31. doi:10.2307/1184255. JSTOR 1184255.
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