Maniilaq
Encyclopedia
Maniiḷaq is a figure of Inupiat legend and history. He is said to have lived in the 19th Century before European colonialists arrived in his area of Northwest Alaska. He lived as a hunter and a healer in Northwest Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

 . Various stories about him include that he heard voices predicting that white people would come to Alaska, that he had prophetic visions of boats that were propelled by fire or that flew in the air, and that he heard voices from a higher power whom he described with an Inupiat word meaning both "father" and "son." Some also say that Maniiḷaq rested every seventh day. Other prophecies attributed to Maniiḷaq include the prophecy that the village of Ambler, Alaska
Ambler, Alaska
Ambler is a city in Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 309. The city is located in the large Inupiaq language speaking region of Alaska, and the local dialect is known as the Ambler dialect...

 would one day become a large metropolis, and that a whale
Whale
Whale is the common name for various marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale sometimes refers to all cetaceans, but more often it excludes dolphins and porpoises, which belong to suborder Odontoceti . This suborder also includes the sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and beluga...

 would swim up river and appear at Ambler. It is said that Maniiḷaq practiced traditional healing, and also that he resisted the dominant cultural order of shamanism
Shamanism
Shamanism is an anthropological term referencing a range of beliefs and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world. To quote Eliade: "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = technique of ecstasy." Shamanism encompasses the...

. He is an important figure in Northwest Alaska Christian communities.

Maniiḷaq is also used as the symbol for a health services organization based in Kotzebue
Kotzebue, Alaska
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,082 people, 889 households, and 656 families residing in the city. The population density was 114.1 people per square mile . There were 1,007 housing units at an average density of 37.3 per square mile...

, which runs the Maniiḷaq Health Center and has clinics in 11 outlying arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...

 villages, including Ambler
Ambler, Alaska
Ambler is a city in Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 309. The city is located in the large Inupiaq language speaking region of Alaska, and the local dialect is known as the Ambler dialect...

, Deering
Deering, Alaska
Deering is a city in the Northwest Arctic Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is located on a sandy spit on the Seward Peninsula where the Inmachuk River flows into Kotzebue Sound, southwest of Kotzebue....

, Selawik
Selawik, Alaska
Selawik is a city in Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 772.Selawik comes from "siilvik" which means "place of sheefish" in Inupiaq.-Geography:Selawik is located at ....

, and Pt. Hope
Point Hope, Alaska
Point Hope is a city in North Slope Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 757.-Geography:...

.

Citations

  • Steven B Terry and Jill K. Anderson, Maniilaq: Prophet from the Edge of Nowhere
  • Sarah V. Haile, Maniilaq: Eskimo Prophet
  • LLT Productions VHS, Maniilaq—The Eskimo Prophet
  • Maniiḷaq Association website, http://www.maniilaq.org/home.html

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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