The Inuit angakkuq (plural: angakkuit, Inuktitut syllabics ᐊᖓᑦᑯᖅ or ᐊᖓᒃᑯᖅ) Inuvialuktun: ; ,Often previously transliterated angekok. pl. angákutEncyclopædia Britannica) is the intellectual and spiritual figure in Inuit culture who corresponds to a medicine man. Other cultures, including Alaska Natives, have traditionally had similar spiritual mediators, although the Alaska Native religion has many forms and variants. Role in Inuit society Both women, such as Uvavnuk, and men could become an angakkuq, although it was rarer for women to do so. The process for becoming an angakkuq varied widely. The son of a current angakkuq might be trained by his father to become one as well.  Alternatively, a young man or woman who exhibited a predilection or power that made them stand out might be trained by an experienced mentor. There are also instances of angakkuit claiming to have been called to the role through dreams or visions. Mistreated orphans or people who had survived hard times might also become angakkuit with the help of the spirits of their dead loved ones. The angakkuit of the central Inuit participate in an annual ceremony to appease the mythological figure Sedna, the Sea Woman. The Inuit believed that Sedna became angry when her taboos were broken, and the only way to appease her was for an angakkuq to travel in spirit to the underworld where she lived, Adlivun, and smooth out her hair. According to myth, this was of great assistance to Sedna because she lacks fingers. The angakkuq would then beg or fight with Sedna to ensure that his people would not starve, and the Inuit believed that his pleading and apologies on behalf of his people would allow the animals to return and hunters to be successful. After returning from this spirit journey, communities in which the rite was practiced would have communal confessions, and then celebration    .
The Inuit angakkuq (plural: angakkuit, Inuktitut syllabics ᐊᖓᑦᑯᖅ or ᐊᖓᒃᑯᖅ) Inuvialuktun: ; ,Often previously transliterated angekok. pl. angákutEncyclopædia Britannica) is an intellectual and spiritual figure in Inuit culture who corresponds to a medicine man. Other cultures, including Alaska Natives, have traditionally had similar spiritual mediators, although the Alaska Native religion has many forms and variants. Role in Inuit society Both women, such as Uvavnuk, and men could become an angakkuq, although it was rarer for women to do so. The process for becoming an angakkuq varied widely. The son of a current angakkuq might be trained by his father to become one as well. A shaman might make a prophecy that a particular infant would become a prophet in adulthood. Alternatively, a young man or woman who exhibited a predilection or power that made them stand out might be trained by an experienced mentor. There are also instances of angakkuit claiming to have been called to the role through dreams or visions. Mistreated orphans or people who had survived hard times might also become angakkuit with the help of the spirits of their dead loved ones. The angakkuit of the central Inuit participated in an annual ceremony to appease the mythological figure Sedna, the Sea Woman. The Inuit believed that Sedna became angry when her taboos were broken, and the only way to appease her was for an angakkuq to travel in spirit to the underworld where she lived, Adlivun, and smooth out her hair. According to myth, this was of great assistance to Sedna because she lacks fingers. The angakkuq would then beg or fight with Sedna to ensure that his people would not starve, and the Inuit believed that his pleading and apologies on behalf of his people would allow the animals to return and hunters to be successful. After returning from this spirit journey, communities in which the rite was practiced would have communal confessions, and then celebration . Auxiliary spirits and personal names Angakkuit often had associations with entities that Canadian anthropologist and ethnographer Bernard Saladin d'Anglure referred to as "auxiliary spirits". These spirits could be the souls of the deceased or non-human entities, and each had an individual name, which could be used to invoke that spirit. When a birth was particularly dangerous, or an infant could not be quieted down, it was believed that a dead family member was trying to live again through the infant, and that the infant should be named for that person. In cases where the family was not able to determine the name of the deceased person, perhaps because the infant's condition was too grave to provide enough time, the angakkuq could name the infant for one of their auxiliary spirits, providing the child with life-saving vigor. Saladin d'Anglure reported that such children would be more likely to become shamans, connected by name to that auxiliary spirit. Sometimes the name given would be that of a non-human spirit; the individual might then identify with that spirit later in life. Name and identity could be more fluid in adulthood, and at times of crisis a shaman might ritually rename a person; going forward, their old name would be considered an auxiliary spirit. This sometimes served as an initiation into shamanism for the renamed person. Saladin d'Anglure describes one such situation: a man called Nanuq ("polar bear") had been named for an older cousin. When the cousin died, the younger man was distraught and felt that he, too, had suffered a death. A shaman brought a new name for him from the dream world, which he adopted. Going forward, he was called Qimuksiraaq, and his old name and identity, Nanuq, was considered to be an auxiliary spirit associated with polar bears. Following this, Qimuksiraaq took on the identity of an angakkuq .
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Auxiliary spirits and personal names Angakkuit often had associations with entities that Canadian anthropologist and ethnographer Bernard Saladin d'Anglure referred to as "auxiliary spirits". These spirits could be the souls of the deceased or non-human entities, and each had an individual name, which could be used to invoke that spirit. When a birth was particularly dangerous, or an infant could not be quieted down, it was believed that a dead family member was trying to live again through the infant, and that the infant should be named for that person. In cases where the family was not able to determine the name of the deceased person, perhaps because the infant's condition was too grave to provide enough time, the angakkuq could name the infant for one of their auxiliary spirits, providing the child with life-saving vigor. Saladin d'Anglure reported that such children would be more likely to become shamans, connected by name to that auxiliary spirit. Sometimes the name given would be that of a non-human spirit; the individual might then identify with that spirit later in life.
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Name and identity could be more fluid in adulthood, and at times of crisis a shaman might ritually rename a person; going forward, their old name would be considered an auxiliary spirit. This sometimes served as an initiation into shamanism for the renamed person. Saladin d'Anglure describes one such situation: a man called Nanuq ("polar bear") had been named for an older cousin. When the cousin died, the younger man was distraught and felt that he, too, had suffered a death. A shaman brought a new name for him from the dream world, which he adopted. Going forward, he was called Qimuksiraaq, and his old name and identity, Nanuq, was considered to be an auxiliary spirit associated with polar bears. Following this, Qimuksiraaq took on the identity of an angakkuq