Pinga (goddess) - Misplaced Pages

Inuit goddess of the hunt and medicine

In the Inuit religion, Pinga ("the one who is high") is a goddess of the hunt and medicine. She is heavily associated with the sky.

Caribou Inuit tradition

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

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

Notes

Merkur 1983, p. 28.
Oosten & Laugrand 2009, p. 486.
^ Auger 2005, p. 50.
Bastmeijer & Rasing 2014, p. 766.
^ Kleivan 1985, p. 31.
Auger 2005, p. 44.
Merkur 1983, p. 31.

References

Merkur, Daniel (Summer 1983). "Breath-Soul and Wind Owner: The Many and the One in Inuit Religion". American Indian Quarterly. 7 (3): 23–39. doi:10.2307/1184255. JSTOR 1184255.
Oosten, Jarich; Laugrand, Frédéric (2009). "Representing the "Sea Woman"". Religion and the Arts. 13. The mistress of the animals of the hunt, Pinga, lives somewhere up in the air or in the sky
Auger, Emily Elisabeth (2005). The Way of Inuit Art: Aesthetics and History in and Beyond the Arctic. McFarland. p. 50. ISBN 9780786418886.
Bastmeijer, Kees; Rasing, Willem (October 2014). "Voedsel en recht in de jagers- verzamelaarssamenleving van de Inuit" [Food and Law in Inuit Hunter-Gatherer Society]. Rode Draad (in Dutch). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-08-21.
Kleivan, Inge (1985). Iconography of Religions: Arctic Peoples. Brill. ISBN 9789004071605.

v t e Inuit religion
Goddesses	A'akuluujjusi Akna Akycha Arnakuagsak Arnapkapfaaluk Asiaq Ataksak Caribou mother Idliragijenget Kadlu Nerrivik Nujalik Nuliajuk Pinga Pukkeenegak Qailertetang Sedna Tootega
Gods	Aipaloovik Alignak Amaguq Anguta Aulanerk Aumanil Eeyeekalduk Ignirtoq Issitoq Negafook Nootaikok Pana Silap Inua Tarqiup Inua Tekkeitsertok Tornat Torngarsuk Tulugaak Tuluŋigraq
Creatures and spirits	Adlet Adlivun Agloolik Ahkiyyini Akhlut Amarok Atshen Idlirvirissong Ijirait Ishigaq Keelut Kigatilik Nanook Qiqirn Qallupilluit Saumen Kar Tariaksuq The Goose Wife Tizheruk Tupilaq
People	Angakkuq Apanuugak Atanarjuat Kiviuq
Objects and terms	i'noGo tied Inua Kikituk Silap Inua Nuna
Tales	Sun and Moon (Inuit myth)

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