The shamans and the spirits they worshipped enslaved the people in fear- often they had to burn what little food they had to the spirits; Maniilaq said this would change. An interesting story comes to us from the native peoples of Alaska- about a man named Maniilaq or Maniilauraq. His story has been well authenticated and thoroughly documented in the 60s and 70s by people doing cultural research in northwest arctic . He was born prior to 1830 in the Upper Kobuk River area close to Qala. As a boy he was a very good listener and helpful to his mother and first came in contact with what he called his "source of Knowledge" when out hunting food for her as a teen. He spent a lot of time listening to his source of knowledge and learning from it. The first message he received was- "Father and Son, Father and Son--the source of intelligence--the source of thought" Later he learned many things and made many prophecies--most of which have been fulfilled and a few have yet to be. As a man he took very good care of his family. He was fearless of the shamans’ power and often rebuked them. He purposefully broke their taboos which governed and enslaved the lives of the people. He set aside the seventh day to rest and to talk about things that were of great importance to him. It has been confirmed that this was indeed Saturday that he rested and not Sunday that came in later among the people with the coming of the white missionaries who found people keeping the true Sabbath when they entered the area. He spoke of future events that would change the life style of the Eskimo people forever. The shamans felt threatened by him--He was regarded as very powerful but his power was from a different source that theirs. He was very clean and would bath and wash. He was often ridiculed but he had great patience. The shamans tried to use their powers to kill him but they said he and his family were protected by light and the evil spirits could not harm them. Prophecies Fulfilled: 1. Fire powered boats that would travel on both water and sky- referring to aircraft and motorized boats. 2. Fire will be contained in the houses- Stoves 3. Thin birch bark on which to write- Paper 4. the coming of a different people with light skin and hair. 5. The Taboos imposed by the shamans will no longer be kept. 6. The lifestyle of the Inuit would be dramatically changed. 7. The shamans would loose their power over the people. 8. The light will come in the form of the word- (The Bible) Yet to be Fulfilled: 1. Two consecutive seasons--winters the people believe. 2. A day that would appear to be split in half. 3. A severe famine. 4. the discovery of a precious metal in the area and a city because of it. |
