L’hétéronomie chez les Inuit du Nord canadien. « Des pouvoirs qu’on ne connaît pas » 1

• Published in: Social Compass
• Main Author: Laugrand, Frédéric
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publications 2017
• Subjects: inuit
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0037768617713653; http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0037768617713653; http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/0037768617713653

From oral sources collected in the contemporary period, this article re-examines several major categories of Inuit thought, taking into account their transformation following Christianization. In the 20th century, the Inuit have changed many of their practices, whereas at another level – that of schemes – the idea of a heteronomous order has remained more stable. In both contexts of shamanism and Christianity, powers circulate through mediators. The modern idea of being able to produce its own laws, to base society on the full autonomy of actors without ever taking into account the great spiritual forces of the universe, has never been accepted. The Inuit still consider that they belong to a world that is both unstable and relational, where other beings, such as animals, deceased and spirits or non-human beings, interact, so that humans cannot change the course of events alone. Two questions arise: to what extent has Christianity affected heteronomy and increased the mysterious part of Inuit animism? Can Sila, an encompassing spiritual force, be conceived as an ‘Inuit mana’?