View source for Nanook

{{Short description|Bear in Inuit religion}}
{{other uses|Nanook (disambiguation)}}
{{Contains special characters|Canadian}}

In [[Inuit religion]], '''Nanook''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|n|æ|n|uː|k}}; {{langx|iu|ᓇᓄᖅ}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Flaherty |first=William |url=https://nbes.ca/project/2548/ |title=ᓂᕐᔪᑏᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ: ᓇᓄᖅ |publisher=Inhabit Media Inc. |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-77227-368-7 |language=iu |translator-last=Flaherty |translator-first=Louise |trans-title=Animals Illustrated: Polar Bear}}</ref> {{IPA|iu|naˈnuq|}},<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://nbes.ca/project/inuinnaqtun-english-dictionary/ |title=Inuinnaqtun English Dictionary |date=2014-03-27 |publisher=Nunavut Bilingual Education Society |editor-last=Angulalik |editor-first=Gwen |pages=60}}</ref> {{lit|polar bear}}) was the master of bears, meaning he decided if hunters deserved success in finding and hunting bears and punished violations of [[taboo]]s.<ref>{{cite web|title=Nanook Definition on Living Dictionary|url=http://www.livingdictionary.com/search/viewResults.jsp?language=en&searchString=%26%235319%3B%26%235316%3B%26%235509%3B&languageSet=language_si&dialectSet=all&typeSet=all&subjectCategorySet=all&sourceSet=all|access-date=5 January 2012}}</ref> The word was popularized by ''[[Nanook of the North]]'', the first feature-length documentary.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barnouw |first=Erik |title=Documentary: a history of the non-fiction film |date=1993 |publisher=Oxford university press |isbn=978-0-19-507898-5 |edition=2nd Revised |location=New York Oxford |pages=43}}</ref>

The [[Inuit]] believed that Nanook, the [[polar bear]], was powerful and mighty, and they thought that he was "almost man." The Inuit hunters would worship this great bear because they believed that he decided if the hunters would be successful. “In the past, the Inuit ate polar bear meat and used the fur to make warm trousers for men and kamiks (soft boots) for women”.<ref name="Inuit">[https://web.archive.org/web/20121105100345/http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/about-polar-bears/essentials/inuits-and-polar-bears "The Inuit and Polar Bears."] Polar Bears International. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.</ref> Respect was given to Nanook by the hunter hanging the bear's hide in a special section of his [[igloo]], where it would stay for several days. They would also offer the bear's spirit weapons and other hunting tools if it was a male, and [[needlecase|needle cases]], scrapers (used to scrape the fat off hides) and knives if it was female. “Native people believed that polar bears allowed themselves to be killed in order to obtain the souls of the tools (tatkoit), which they would take with them into the hereafter.”<ref name="Inuit"/> “Legend says that if a dead polar bear was treated properly by the hunter, it would share the good news with other bears so they would be eager to be killed by him. Bears would stay away from hunters who failed to pay respect.”<ref name="Inuit"/>

==See also==
* [[Animism]]
* [[Bear worship]]
* [[List of hunting deities]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*[http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/native_american-mythology.php?deity=NANOOK "NANOOK: The Deity from Native American Mythology."] Godchecker.com  Web. 23 Feb. 2010.
*Paisley, Susanna, and Nicholas J. Saunders. Taylor & Francis Online. N.p., 23 Apr. 2010. Web. 11 Oct. 2012.

{{Inuit religion}}

[[Category:Animal worship]]
[[Category:Bears in religion]]
[[Category:Polar bears]]