The Inuit cosmos is ruled by no one. There are no divine creator figures, no creation-from-nothing narrative. The world simply exists, populated by beings (human, animal, spirit) who all possess inua (soul/spirit). Raven appears in some regional creation narratives but is a trickster-transformer, not a deity. Sedna (Sea Woman) became mistress of sea animals through a traumatic origin story, not through divine creation. The cosmos has multiple layers: sky, earth, sea-floor, and underworld.

Taboo system (not moral code) governs behavior. Breaking taboos causes communal suffering, especially the withholding of game animals. The angakkuq (shaman) mediates between human and spirit worlds. No formal scripture; knowledge transmitted through oral stories (unipkaaqtuat) and songs.

To survive and thrive in the harshest sustained environment of any tradition in this taxonomy. To maintain proper relationships with animal spirits so they continue to give themselves to hunters. To observe taboos that keep the balance between human and animal worlds. Life has no transcendent purpose — it is valued for its own sake.

Suffering (especially starvation) results from broken taboos — particularly offenses against Sedna (Sea Woman), who withholds sea animals when angered. The angakkuq must journey to the sea floor to appease Sedna by combing her hair (she has no fingers). Suffering is also caused by malevolent spirits, broken social bonds, and failure to share food. Crucially, animals CHOOSE to give themselves to hunters — suffering comes when this reciprocal relationship breaks down.

No cosmic eschatology. After death, the free soul travels to one of several afterlife realms: the sky (happy existence), the deep underworld (also happy — seasons are reversed), or the shallow underworld (reserved for taboo-breakers and poor hunters — famine reigns). The name-soul (atiq) can be reborn in children named after the deceased. No final judgment, no end of the world.