article

Shared experience and magical death: Chipewyan explanations of a prophet's decline

Ethnology25Published In 1986 • Pages: 257-270

By: Sharp, Henry S..

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This source examines the pan-Chipewyan system of supernatural knowledge, power, and thought encompassed by the concept of INKOZE; a system, in the minds of the Chipewyan, closely allied to insanity. Here, the analysis of INKOZE is extended to a prophet figure known as Magic Boy, the supposed reincarnation of the mythical being Lived-with-the-wolves. This individual was active in the northern parts of several Canadian provinces toward the end of the 1960s. A major portion of this paper discusses various Chipewyan explanations for his decline and subsequent loss of INKOZE in the early 1970s (e.g., alcoholism, ghostly vengeance and misfortune in previous reincarnations, and a medicine fight between the prophet and a local man who claimed him to be a fraud).
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Personality disorders
Life history materials
Sorcery
Sacred objects and places
Prophets and ascetics
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Chipewyans
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2000
RegionThe area the document pertains to
North America
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Arctic and Subarctic
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
article
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Ethnologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
John Beierle ; 1989-1991
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1970-1973
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1969-1970
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Black Lake, northwestern Saskatchewan, Canada
NotesAdditional notes
[by] Henry Stephen Sharp
Includes bibliographical references (p. 270)
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
64005713
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Chipewyan Indians