Cetulutiuns of the Sea of Moving Ice

Ulutiuns are divided into four sub-groupings. The Angulutiuns, Iulutiuns, and Nakulutiuns resided in the Great Glacier. The Cetulutiuns live primarily on the coastal northwest of Icewind Dale, in the regions of the the Cold Run, the Ice Peak, and the Sea of Moving Ice. All Ulutiuns speak mutually understandable dialects of Uliuk.

The Cetulutians (known colloquially as "Ice Hunters" and pejoratively as "Whale Eaters") are a people who splintered off from Nakulutians of the Great Glacier over a millennia ago. Rather than worshiping Ulutiu directly, they primarily revere the great animal spirits that served him: Clever Oomio the Gray Seal, Asveq the Grandfather Walrus, Nanuaq the Great White Bear, and Pindalpau-Pau the Reindeer Mother.

There are four main tribes, each associated with one of the four spirit animals.  Each tribe consists of many villages which may fracture, reform, or reorganize at the behest of the Chieftain.  Each tribe consists of several clans. A clan might have an additional animal they are associated with, or they may find association with something else (e.g. “Storm”, “Lichen”, “Lemming”).  Clans form permanent or ephemeral villages, usually along the coast for fishing season but may move slightly inland for caribou hunting.  Clans share bounty and resources with their tribe and intermingle quite freely.  

The spirit animal moiety is matrilineal. For example, the son of a mother from the Gray Seal Tribe follows the Gray Seal moiety.  If he marries a woman of the Walrus moiety, he maintains his Grey Seal moiety but may join the Walrus Tribe. (Whether males or females leave their own village and/or tribe to join the other following marriage, is a matter for shamans to debate and decide.)  It is taboo for Ulutians to marry within their own moiety.  In this way, a villager's moiety is not necessarily the same as their tribe.  Each Tribe has a chieftain, and each Village has a shaman and at least one Ice Priest. The spirit animal of a Shaman or Ice Priest can follow the individual's tribe or moiety. 

Shamans (Qulirak) are not unilaterally powerful among Ice Hunter clans, instead ruling through consensus rather than by command. They also serve as keepers and teachers of history, regularly interacting with the clans children and youth to pass on both traditional and practical knowledge.

Shamans are able to channel the power of their chosen animal spirit, allowing them to temporarily take on physical characteristics of the spirit, summon groups of the chosen animals, and eventually shapeshift fully into their form. They are forbidden from hunting or eating their chosen animal, and could not use materials that came from those animals.

Priests (Agayularta), also known as Iceguardians, can also channel these spirits for similar effects, but are not bound by the same taboos. Instead, they are forbidden from ever lighting a fire and in return are given powerful spells. Priests are the spiritual warriors of a clan and are charged with its security from outside threats.  

Shamans are exclusively male, and only Shamans are able to rise to a tribe's chieftain.  Traditionally, women were allowed to become Iceguardians but that has changed in recent decades due to an edict by the chieftains, leaving no spiritual leadership outlet for females.