Edmund Searlesamusement, as adults tease and teach children about the various per-
sonalities behind the names. Levi’s father’s cousin, Elijah, would try
to trick Levi into thinking that he had had the tip of his index finger
removed. Levi’s namesake was nicknamed Tiggittuk (he “killed” his
index finger), because he had lost the top half of his index finger in a
hunting accident long before Levi was born. Naming combines the
playful and the serious; it is a vital, vibrant source of enchantment
and spirituality in the everyday life of Inuit and non-Inuit alike in the
Canadian Arctic.
Levi’s and his family’s active participation in the Anglican Church
has neither trivialized nor eliminated their belief in reincarnation but
rather has supplemented them, providing a means to infuse their lives
with multiple perspectives on the nature of souls, salvation, and sin.
Furthermore, both Anglican and pre-Christian systems of belief ac-
cept that Levi’s destiny is not entirely a matter of his own will, his own
choosing. Both admit that his life path is influenced (but not deter-
mined) by an interconnectedness to the sacred that long preceded his
birth and that will outlive his death. This is not to deny that Levi has
a will of his own, or that he might reject these doctrines altogether.
He would not be alone in making such a choice. Given the abuse that
occurred at residential schools throughout Canada, it is not surpris-
ing that many indigenous Canadians are rejecting the Roman Cath-
olic and Anglican Churches as sources of authority and support. He
may not develop an interest in mystic presence or a desire to deepen
his faith in Christ; I have not had the opportunity to converse with
Levi regarding these matters. But I look forward to such an oppor-
tunity. The fact that this tradition remains strong and active, that In-
uit are even incorporating biblical names (like Levi, which is an Old
Testament name) into the available pool of soul-names, attests to the
strength and vitality of this system of beliefs—a topic ripe for more
exploration.
ProphecyWhen I first met Meeka Mike, I was impressed by her knowledge of
hunting and outpost camps. She immediately became interested in my
project, a study of an outpost-camp family living some 250 miles from