Inuit astronomy is centered around the Qilak, the Inuit name for the celestial sphere and the home for souls of departed people. Inuit beliefs about astronomy are shaped by the harsh climate in the Arctic and the resulting difficulties of surviving and hunting in the region. The stars were an important tool to track time, seasons, and location, particularly during winter.[1]
The Inuit are a group of circumpolar peoples who inhabit the Arctic and subarctic regions of Canada and Alaska (North America), Greenland/ KalaallitNunaat (Denmark) and parts of northern Siberia (Russia). There are many similarities between the traditions and beliefs among the indigenous peoples in Arctic regions. For example, the Inuit, Chukchi and Evenks all have a worldview based on their religious beliefs and have related traditions about astronomy.[2] While differing traditions exist among groups, they overlap in the way the stars, weather, and folk tales assist in hunting, navigation and teaching their young about the world.[1]
Their astronomy and relationship to the sky is heavily influenced by their spiritual and pragmatic needs, as well as the high northerly latitudes where they reside. For those living above the Arctic Circle, the latitude affects the view of the night sky, especially the fact that during winter polar night may occur for multiple months and the midnight sun during summer.[2]
- ^ a b Penprase, Bryan E. (2011). "Northern Circumpolar Sky from Around the World: The Arctic Inuit Sky". The Power of Stars. New York, NY: Springer. pp. 42–46. ISBN 978-1-4419-6802-9.
- ^ a b MacDonald, John (2015), Ruggles, Clive L.N. (ed.), "Inuit Astronomy", Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy, New York, NY: Springer, pp. 533–539, doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-6141-8_40, ISBN 978-1-4614-6141-8, retrieved 2021-09-17