The word "Eskimo" is not the original name of the Inuit people and is never used by them. The correct address is therefore Inuit. Their traditional culture and religion is grown out of their life surroundings. Cold climate and scarsity of food had made existence full of challenges. These conditions they share with other areas like Northern Scandinavia and Russia and similarites can therefore be found between them. According to their belief, all people and all animals have a soul, anua. Therefore, when hunting for food, there are many rituals and ceremonies which must be done to make sure that animals will remain to be hunted or starvation would be a fact. Everyone, from the whole tribe to families and individuals have to follow several taboos if existence is to last. The taboos and rituals are addressed to the deities who keep the animals and bring them about. The Keepers/Masters cae for the land animals. There is also Sedna an underwater deity, also called Takanaluk who is master of the sea animals. These deities watch people and note that the taboos and regulations are follwed. If these are performed well, the animals on land and sea are released for hunting, if not, there will be no prey and hard times will follow. The Inuit Shamans are called Angakut. They are the spiritual leaders of each tribe. In cases of sickness or lack of hunting success the Shaman can find out which taboos has been broken or inadequately filled. Just like many other tribes he goes into a trance by means of chanting and drumbeating to make his soul leave his body to go great distances to find out the causes of unhealth and oher problems in the tribe. He can then see which individual or family is responsible and decide what has to be done to appease the deities.