The word'shaman was oringinallt used by the Tungus,nomads of eastern Siberia.to designate a man whose association with the world of spirits enabled him to control the weather predict the future and especially .heal the sick or mentally deranged. It was subsequently applied elsewhere to men, rarely women,believed to have similar special gifts (18.30).the term Shamanism' derived from it is however,something of a misnomer in so far as it implies a consistent body of religious beliefs evolved at some very early period and diffused across the world. In some places shamans had the role of priests.but the creation myths and cosmologies of the cultures in which they functioned,including those of autonomous groups of the north American North West Coast,were of great diversity and sometime they had positions alongside those of the leaders of organized religions. Notably Buddhism and Daoism . The spirits with whom they associated were usually in an intermediate zone between mortals and the creator gods, a zone occupied by innumerable spirits.