Qukoku

Qukoku was the guiding philosophy of the Iulutiun and Angulutiun peoples of the Great Glacier. Its teachings centered on equality, both among people and animals, and provided a set of moral guidelines and a sense of social ethos.

"What is not good for all is not good for the one."

- Inum, Iulutiun philosopher

Foundational Principles
The Iulutiuns were a pragmatic people who had a hard time believing anything they could not see or hear for themselves; they consequently had no belief in gods. Qukoku was a more pragmatic alternative rooted in the everyday lives of the Iulutiun people.

The root principle of qukoku was that all living creatures possessed eaas, an unknowable essence of life that disappeared in death. An individual's eaas compelled them to act a certain way; for example, a seal's eaas was expressed differently to that of a human. At the same time, all living creatures had the same capacity for thought, emotion, and morals&mdash;eaas simply caused these to be expressed differently. Since eaas was unknowable, qukoku dictated that all individuals were equal and deserved respect, including animals.

Eaas also dictated an individual's place in the natural order. It was therefore morally right for humans to eat animals, and for animals to eat other animals, and so on. At the same time, disrespectful and needless killing disrupted the natural balance. In such cases, nature rebalanced itself by visiting disease and disaster on humans to reduce their eaas.

Rituals
Although qukoku was not a religion, the philosophy had many associated rituals intended to celebrate the unity of nature and respect for life. Iulutiuns observed most of these rituals, while Angulutiuns placed less emphasis on the liqukoku and utqukoku rituals.

Utqukoku
Iulutiun children were presented with a bone or wood carving of an animal, such as a caribou or a seal. These carvings were given by a friend of the child's parents with the intent of passing on some of the animal's traits onto the child. This family friend would then, throughout the child's upbringing, sing special songs associated with the utqukoku animal and offer guidance on how to embody the animal's desired traits. For example, a family friend might take a child with a fox charm into the wilderness to demonstrate how foxes patiently hunt for hours.

Liqukoku
The qukoku new year began on the first day of spring. This was observed through liqukoku, a ritual celebrating the killing of the year's first caribou, seal, and polar bear. The skin of each animal was hung on a liqukoku pole for an entire week; all adult villagers paid their respects to the animal by bowing before the pole. For the duration of the week, the hunter of each animal wore a hide mask representing the animal they had killed. The hunters were also disallowed from eating the meat of the animal they had killed. This lasted for a month if the animal was male, and two months if it was female.

Opoqukoku
According to qukoku, an individual's eaas resided in their skull. The opoqukoku ritual concerned the respectful disposal of skulls, especially those that could not be repurposed for practical use, such as bowls or cups. Opoqukoku involved burying skulls in a deep pit or throwing them into the sea. This applied not only to domestic or butchered animals, but also corpses found in the wilderness. Opoqukoku was a matter of grave importance to the Iulutiuns and Angulutiuns; transgressions were sometimes punished by execution.

Equkoku
Equkoku was the qukoku ritual honoring the dead&mdash;this was primarily intended for humans, but was also sometimes staged to honor a beloved pet or a wild animal worthy of respect. Equkoku was a feast intended only for the immediate family of the deceased (or, in the case of hunted animals, a few friends of the hunter). The deceased was placed at the table on top of a slab ice blocks and covered with furs for warmth. A lamp was placed near their head so they could see, and a bowl and cup was placed at their side so they could eat. These were symbolic gestures intended mainly to comfort the grieving family&mdash;Iulutiuns and Angulutiuns did not believe the deceased needed any of these things.

The customs following the feast varied from village to village. Some buried their dead, others burned them, while others sunk them to the bottom of the sea. All villages maintained cemeteries where equkoku totems were placed. These were approximately tall, cylindrical in shape, and made from tree and bone, with their heads carved to resemble the deceased. These cemeteries never contained any actual bodies.

Taatquoko
This ritual celebrating the bond between humans and caribou was unique to the Angulutiun people. Taatquoko was observed at the beginning of each ikili&mdash;the yearly migration of a village's caribou herd. All adults would gather with the herd outside the village, singing and dancing while the caribou herders would don two-faced taatquoko masks (displaying caribou and human faces, symbolizing their unity) while they performed a special dance.

Notable Practitioners

 * Inum, renowned Iulutiun philosopher