The Netsilik shaman is a small but crucial character on AMC's The Terror. His death at the hands of the British serves as a catalyst for a series of events that lead to the eventual demise of the Franklin Expedition.
The shaman is first seen in the pilot episode as an apparition by a dying David Young. The shaman is standing in a dark corner of the sick bay and is briefly seen wearing a strange mask similar to a Tunghak mask of the Alaskan Inuit. Young becomes increasingly distressed by his presence but Doctor Henry Goodsir who is in the room with him is unable to see the man. Young screams the shaman wants them to run and the man stares at Young with intent and curiosity before Young dies suddenly.
The shaman appears in the next episode after he's accidentally shot by Sgt. David Bryant who mistook him for a polar bear. The shaman was accompanied by his daughter who tries to get Bryant and other members of his party away from him. She begins frantically searching for a creature called the Tuunbaq which kills the party's leader Lieutenant Graham Gore in retaliation.
Two days later the shaman is brought on board HMS Erebus where Doctor Henry Goodsir tries to save his life to no avail. Before he dies the shaman looks at his daughter and she begs him to not go as she claims the Tuunbaq will not obey her. He then begins singing which prompts her say he must die out on the ice. He dies regardless and Goodsir notices the man had his tongue cut out which he mentions to Captain Francis Crozier, Sir John Franklin, and Commander Fitzjames.
In episode 3, the Shaman's body is being prepared for burial by John Weekes and John Morfin and notice a large amount of charms in his clothing including one that looks like a bear and a man. They take the body to be dumped unceremoniously into a fire hole which Goodsir expresses concern to Charles Frederick Des Voeux it might be disrespectful. Later in the episode Sir John is ambushed by the Tuunbaq and after ripping off one of his legs, throws him into the same fire hole where he plunges into the icy waters to his death.