... And religions
Today, the main religion is Protestant Christianity, with most believers belonging to the Lutheran Church in Denmark. There is no official census, but it is estimated that about 85 per cent of the population are Protestant. As in Denmark, there is no separation of church and state, so the government is directly involved in its financing and administration. Since the 1990s, Greenland has had its own diocese and the current bishop is a woman (Sofie Petersen). The capital city also has a Catholic church and a cathedral (Annaassisup Oqaluffia), probably one of the smallest in the world. You will find churches in all the cities of the country, sometimes confused with schools in the villages. Baptisms, communions and weddings are celebrated here, which are numerous in Greenland due to the strong attachment of the inhabitants to these practices since colonisation. The churches are often very typical and the mass is very different from the respectful and silent atmosphere of our churches. The service is a much awaited social moment where a lot of singing takes place. Greenlanders come to be together, to get news, to exchange, to show off their traditional festive outfits made of mini skin shorts, embroidered fur boots, sumptuous polar bear waders, capes and multicoloured pearl necklaces. Mass is usually followed by a snack with cupcakes. Even if you are not a believer, don't miss this typical event under any circumstances.
Greenland is also home to other religious communities, including the Catholic Church, Islam and Judaism. There are also sects, including Jehovah's Witnesses.Sedna, the goddess of the sea
The Inuit of the Arctic regions have always survived on natural resources and thus have always been aware that they are an integral part of nature. Greenland's most famous legend, Sassumap arnaa , is about the sea goddess who collects all sea animals in her tousled hair to punish people for their greed and breaking community rules and prohibitions. While there are many versions scattered across the country, and in every home, the goddess is consistently described as the matchmaker between the Inuit and Mother Nature. Legend has it that Sedna, when the sea rages, is angry and her hair gets tangled in waves... The natives are thus forced to always treat the ocean with immense respect. A shaman is then sent to appease her and promise her that the men will improve their behaviour. He is then allowed to comb his hair so that the animals can escape from his mane. The anthropologist Jean-Michel Huctin explains as follows: "Beyond the obvious understanding that their survival depended on this maternal and nurturing nature, this legend expressed their acute awareness of being part of it and their deep intuition of a complex ecological order. (...) This traditional personification of a nature that was both stingy and generous taught the Inuit to respect its hidden laws. They followed certain rites so as not to offend the seals, whales and bears that offered themselves to them. Nothing was wasted: meat was shared between humans and their dogs, the skin was used to make the warmest clothes, tendons were used as sewing thread; bones were used to make tools or toys; the oil extracted from their blubber provided fuel for lamps, and so on. And it was the role of theangakoq (shaman) to appease the tormented spirits in order to restore harmony to the world. At a time of global warming and the threat of pollution from industrialized countries, greatly threatening the Arctic fauna and flora, the sea goddess remains more than ever a strong symbol in the fight to preserve the environment. The popular group Nanook has made a video clip of her. If you wish to read this tale in full, please note that it has been translated into French from the writings of Knud Rasmussen.
First names
The ateq, literally "name" in kalaallisut, represented the soul or rather the personality of the deceased. In the past, this Inuit belief was an integral part of Greenlandic culture. A sort of spiritual double of each individual being transmitted from the deceased to the newborn, most often to a member of the same family, it was a continuity of survival of the name through character traits rather than total reincarnation. The deceased thus continued to live on through his descendants. To communicate with these spirits, the shaman (angakoq in Greenlandic) used sacred drums, dances or incantations. Nowadays, while this belief is no longer as strong, it is not uncommon for families to pass on the name of the deceased to the child and seek to identify the personality of the missing person in him or her.
