Editing Silap Inua (section)

==Description==

Silla is a spirit of the sky, the wind, and the weather. Though identified as male, he is never depicted, and thought to be formless. There are very few myths in which Silla is a character, because he is not thought to have many personality characteristics. He also represents a concept somewhat akin to the [[Hindu]] idea of [[Paramatman]], or [[Ralph Waldo Emerson|Emerson]]’s idea of the great [[Ralph Waldo Emerson#Literary career and transcendentalism|Over soul]]: Silla is also believed to be the substance which [[souls]] are made of. Contrary to the Christian missionaries who have identified [[Nanook]] the [[polar bear]] spirit as the supreme deity of the [[Inuit]], Silla is much closer to this role. However Silla also has a somewhat malevolent aspect: he is known to lure children away from their play off into the tundra, never to be seen again.

Among the many various  [[Inuit]] cultures, term ''silap inua'' / ''sila'', ''hillap inua'' / ''hilla'' (among [[Inuit]]), ''siḷam iñua'' (among [[Inupiaq]]), ''ellam yua'' / ''ella'' (among [[Yup'ik]]) is used with some diversity.<ref name="Kleivan">{{cite book|last1=Kleivan|first1=I.|last2=Sonne|first2=B.|title=Eskimos, Greenland and Canada|date=1985|publisher=E.J. Brill|location=Leiden|isbn=9004071601|page=31}}</ref> In many instances it refers “outer space”, “intellect”, “weather”, “sky”, “universe”:<ref name="Kleivan"/><ref name="Mousalimas">{{cite book|last1=Mousalimas|first1=S.A.|title=Arctic Ecology and Identity|date=1997|publisher=Akad. K.|location=Budapest|isbn=963056629X|pages=23–26, 87}}</ref><ref name="Merkur">{{cite book|last1=Merkur|first1=Daniel|title=Becoming Becoming Half Hidden: Shamanism and Initiation among the Inuit|date=1985|publisher=Almqvist & Wiksell International|location=Stockholm|isbn=9122007520|pages=235–240}}</ref><ref name="Gabus">{{cite book|last1=Gabus|first1=Jean|title=Vie et coutumes des Esquimaux Caribous|date=1970|publisher=Payot|pages=230–234|language=fr}}</ref> there may be some correspondence with the [[presocratic]] concept of [[logos]].<ref name="Mousalimas"/><ref name=ang-log>{{cite web|url=http://www.fss.ulaval.ca/etudes-inuit-studies/v14te04.HTML |title=14 SALADIN D'ANGLURE |date=2006-05-17 |accessdate=2016-04-17 |url-status=unfit |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060517162505/http://www.fss.ulaval.ca/etudes-inuit-studies/v14te04.HTML |archivedate=May 17, 2006 }}</ref>

[[Shamanism among Eskimo peoples|Shamanhood among Eskimo peoples]] was a diverse phenomenon, just like the various Inuit cultures themselves. Among [[Copper Inuit]], shamans were believed to obtain their power from this “Wind Indweller”, thus even their helping spirits were termed as ''silap inue''.<ref name="Merkur"/>{{rp|230}}

Among [[Siberian Yupik]], {{IPA|ess|sɬam juɣwa|}} was depicted as a mighty hunter, catching game just like earthly men, but being capable of controlling whether people paid attention to customs and traditions.<ref name="Diószegi">{{cite book|last1=Diószegi|first1=Vilmos|title=Popular Beliefs and Folklore Tradition in Siberia|date=1997|publisher=[[Routledge]]|location=London|isbn=0700703802|page=447|edition=Reprint}}</ref>

In [[Sireniki Eskimo language]], the word {{IPA|ysr|siˈlʲa|}} has meanings 'universe', 'outer world', 'space', 'free space', or 'weather'.<ref name="Menovshchikov">{{cite book |last=Menovshchikov |first=G.A. |title=Language of Sirenik Eskimos. Phonetics, morphology, texts and vocabulary |publisher=[[Russian Academy of Sciences|Academy of Sciences of the USSR]] |location=Moscow • Leningrad |year=1964}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=December 2016}}