Inuit TraditionBreath of the World
Sila
ᓯᓚ(Sila; Silap inua ('the indweller of Sila'); Hila (Kivalliq))
Also known as Silap inua, Hila (Caribou Inuit dialects), Sillap inua (Greenland)
- air and weather
- the order of the world
- wisdom and awareness
The air, weather, and surrounding world, and the power that dwells in them; a word that also means intelligence or good sense, and that Inuit speakers described to Rasmussen as a great power that speaks through storms and calm.
About Sila
A word with many meanings
In Inuktitut and related languages, sila means the air, the weather, the outdoors, the world around us, and also a person's intelligence or good judgement: someone with sila is sensible. Silap inua, "the indweller of sila", names the power that lives in all of these. Because the word covers so much, Sila is poorly described as a "sky god"; it is closer to the living order of the world that surrounds people and can respond to how they behave.
What speakers told Rasmussen
The best-known description comes from Rasmussen's conversation with Najagneq, a Yup'ik (not Inuit) angalkuq he met at Nome, Alaska, recorded in Across Arctic America (1927). Najagneq described Sila as a power not easily explained in words, a great spirit that upholds the world, the weather, and all life, and that speaks not in words but through storm, snow, rain, and the fury of the sea, and through sunshine and calm and small children at play; when all is well it keeps silent (paraphrase). Rasmussen's Iglulik and Caribou Inuit reports record related ideas, and among the Caribou Inuit the power is called Hila. The Yup'ik and Inuit are related but distinct peoples, and this site notes where a description comes from.
Sila today
In recent decades Inuit leaders have spoken of sila in discussions of Arctic climate change, where the old word for weather and the world's order carries new weight. The concept remains part of everyday language, not only of the old religion.
Worship and cult
Temples, festivals, and practices recorded for Sila
This is part of a living tradition. Inuit relationships with these figures today range from continued respect and storytelling to Christian faith that sets older practice aside, and they vary by family and community; this site does not describe angakkuq (shamanic) practice beyond what elders and Inuit-led publishers have chosen to make public.
Sources and further reading
Source notes
These references are recorded in the catalog. Their passage wording and translation have not been checked, so quotations are not displayed here.
- Knud Rasmussen, Across Arctic America: Narrative of the Fifth Thule Expedition
- Knud Rasmussen, Intellectual Culture of the Iglulik Eskimos (Report of the Fifth Thule Expedition 1921-24, vol. 7, no. 1)
Appears in
Ancient and classical works featuring this figure.
Report of the Fifth Thule Expedition 1921-24
Sila, the power of air and weather (Iglulik and Caribou Inuit volumes)
Interviewing Inuit Elders, Volume 4: Cosmology and Shamanism
Sila, weather and the world's order (chapters on cosmology)
Further reading
Report of the Fifth Thule Expedition 1921-24
Sila in the Iglulik and Caribou Inuit volumes
Interviewing Inuit Elders, Volume 4: Cosmology and Shamanism
Elders on sila and the order of the world
About this entry
By Elizabeth Stein for Mythos Atlas. About the author. Editorial notes are grounded in the site's cited sources and can be challenged through the contact page.
Parallels are editorial comparisons across traditions: a shared role does not, by itself, establish a shared origin.