In the most complex translations, ilira has been described as fear of authority or ill will. Differing cultural lenses are at work here. In truth, ilira owns elements of all such translations, yet its nature is characterized by a depth impossible to comprehend unless absorbed through actual life within Inuit culture. In order to understand it, you have to be able to feel it. One human is the same as the next.
All human beings experience the same thoughts, emotions, and experiences.
While many thoughts and feelings overlap to an extent that they can be commonly recognized, I submit that every human experience is unique. Each thinking creature is a separate Universe unto itself, unable to be perfectly understood by any other. There was no variety of experiences in the Inuit world to compare to the intricacies of fellow human minds. Consequently, the Inuit identification of the range of human feelings exceeds even that of modern psychology, so that Inuktitut today contains dozens of unique terms for emotions not immediately recognized by other cultures. One such emotion is that of ilira, a feeling that is not quite fear, and yet may cause traditional Inuit to seem as though they are yielding to authority.