Hands Feel It

This is the account of one person's experience among the Inupiat, who live in a treeless land far north of the Arctic Circle. It records occurrences of healing, spirit manifestation, and premonition in her narrative in a year in the life of an Eskimo community.

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In a treeless land far north of the Arctic Circle, the I/u00f1upiat live immensely practical lives, yet they have a profound belief in the spirit world. For them, everything—whether living being or inanimate object—has a spirit. This outlook reflects their sense of the connectedness of all life.



The Hands Feel It is the account of one person's experience among the I/u00f1upiat. Anthropologist Edith Turner records occurrences of healing, spirit manifestation, and premonition in her narrative of a year in the life of an Eskimo community. Her diary captures for the reader sea ice, tundra, gravel beaches, and a determined and cheerful population. Sights, sounds, and even smells that Turner encounters provide context for a study in tune with the spiritual.



Accounts that ethnographers have often termed "myth" and "legend" Turner sees from a different point of view—not as mere stories but as real events the I/u00f1upiat sincerely report to her. The value of Turner's work originates in her own connection to spirituality and in the growing receptiveness of the I/u00f1upiat to her.