The supplied sources do not record a discrete cosmogonic origin story for inua. Instead, inua is described conceptually: it is the vital force representing 'a chain or continuum of all the individual spirits of that genus which had lived, were living, or were to live.' This positions inua within Inuit cosmology as a standing, relational quality rather than as an entity produced at a single point of creation; it functions across temporal depths to connect members of a kind (humans, particular animal species, lakes, mountains, plants) through shared spirit-vitality (Source 1).
The provided material does not offer a consistent physical or anthropomorphic depiction of inua. Rather than an embodied being with set visual traits, inua is treated as an impersonal or supra-individual vital force that inheres in classes of beings and places. The sources emphasize its ontological status as a shared spirit-quality across a genus rather than a describable visible form (Source 1).
Sources characterize inua primarily in ontological terms: as the sustaining or animating continuity binding members of a genus across time (those that have lived, those living now, and those yet to live). The supplied material does not attribute specific agentive powers (such as speaking, cursing, or healing) to inua; its role is conceptual—grounding personhood and spiritual continuity in humans, animals, and landscape features—rather than describing discrete active behaviors (Source 1).
A'akuluujjusi
A'akuluujjusi is an Inuit primordial creator mother who fashioned the non-human animals and adjusted their physical traits so they could be hunted by people.
Adlet
A category of non-human peoples in Inuit narrative tradition (also rendered Erqigdlet/Irqigdlit) that functions both as a mythic ancestor-race and as dog‑legged antagonists; the term can denote inland native American peoples or half‑canine humanoids depending on regional usage.
Agloolik
Agloolik (Inuktitut: ᐊᒡᓗᓕᒃ) is an Inuit spirit that dwells beneath Arctic sea ice and functions as a tutelary guardian of seals. Hunters and fishermen petition Agloolik for success; prayers before fishing are said to bring blessings of prey.
Ahkiyyini
Ahkiyyini is described in available sources as a skeleton spirit in Inuit folklore, called "the ghost of Alaska" in one account. Accounts report that his movements and the music made with his bones cause tidal waves, earthquakes, and could overturn boats.
Aipaloovik
Aipaloovik is an Inuit sea-associated supernatural being described in available sources as an evil or dangerous water deity linked to death and hazard for fishermen. The figure is described as the opposite of the being Anguta; beyond this brief characterization the cited sources provide no detailed myths, appearance, or ritual corpus.
Akhlut
An Inuit composite, shape‑changing animal‑spirit described in early ethnographic accounts as an orca that can become a wolf on land (and sometimes depicted in later popular media as a wolf‑orca hybrid). Associated with the seashore and ice edge along the Bering Sea, it is portrayed as powerful and dangerous in the cited sources.
Akna
Akna is a female figure named in modern secondary sources as associated with childbirth and motherhood. The provided materials conflate brief mentions linking the name to both Maya and Inuit maternal goddesses; primary Maya iconographic or epigraphic evidence for a distinct Maya Akna is not supplied in the sources.
Akycha
Akycha is identified in the supplied sources as a solar goddess in Inuit mythology. The available materials attest the name and classification but provide no further narrative, iconographic, or ritual detail.
Alignak
Alignak is named in modern reference works as an Inuit deity associated with the moon and with dynamic natural phenomena such as weather, water, tides, eclipses, and earthquakes. The available sources provide only terse domain associations and do not supply narrative, iconographic, or ritual detail.
Amaguq
Amaguq is an Iñupiaq term for 'wolf' that in modern summaries and secondary sources is presented as a wolf spirit or trickster capable of shapeshifting between wolf and humanlike modes. Available sources are brief popular or tertiary accounts; detailed traditional narratives and rituals are not documented in the provided material.
Amarok
In Greenlandic Inuit tradition the Amarok (also Amaroq) is a singular, gigantic wolf-like spirit said to hunt alone and to interact powerfully with humans: stalking and devouring lone nocturnal hunters, wresting with humans to bestow strength in Rink's tales, and — in another tale — dragging a humanoid from the water and taking a mourner's soul. The term in some dialects is reserved for this legendary wolf, while other Arctic peoples may use the word for ordinary wolves.
Amautalik
Amautalik is a child‑stealing ogress from Inuit folktale collections and modern retellings. Presented in story collections, illustrated books, graphic novels, and short films, she functions as a monstrous threat who carries away children and haunts communities, and whom protagonists overcome through luck, courage, and ancestral knowledge.
Community Record
- [1]Inua. Wikipedia contributors, 'Inua', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopediawiki
- [2]Inua Ellams. Wikipedia contributors, 'Inua Ellams', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (name noted as modern use of term)wiki
- [3]Inua (Inuit/Eskimo) Gods. Marvunapp.com appendix page referencing 'Inua' (modern/compilatory secondary source)other
- [4]Nelvanna (Inua goddess). Marvunapp.com page listing 'Nelvanna' under a modern compilation referencing 'Inua' (secondary/non-ethnographic)other
- [5]Inua — appearances in modern culture and archives (items referencing the word). Archive.org item containing the string 'InuitInua' (contextual/archival)other
- [6]Inua — Diversifying and Decolonising the University (archive mention). Archive.org item containing the string 'InuitInua' (contextual/archival)other
- [7]INUA Health (modern project name). Project page using 'INUA' in a modern organizational name (contemporary use)other
- [8]Last Inua (video game). Steam store page for 'Last Inua' (modern cultural use of the word)other
- [9]Inua — A Story in Ice and Time (game). Steam store page for 'Inua — A Story in Ice and Time' (modern cultural use of the word)other