The Great Spirit is an omnipresent supreme
life force, generally conceptualized as a supreme being or
god
In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...
, in the traditional religious beliefs of many, but not all,
indigenous cultures in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
and the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. Interpretations of it vary between cultures.
In the
Lakota
Lakota may refer to:
*Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes
*Lakota language
Lakota ( ), also referred to as Lakhota, Teton or Teton Sioux, is a Siouan languages, Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of ...
tradition, the Great Spirit is known as ''
Wakan Tanka''.
[Ostler, Jeffry. ''The Plains Sioux and U.S. Colonialism from Lewis and Clark to Wounded Knee''. ]Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...
, July 5, 2004. , pg 26. According to
Lakota
Lakota may refer to:
*Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes
*Lakota language
Lakota ( ), also referred to as Lakhota, Teton or Teton Sioux, is a Siouan languages, Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of ...
activist
Russell Means, a more semantically accurate translation of ''Wakan Tanka'' is the Great Mystery.
[Means, Robert. ''Where White Men Fear to Tread: The Autobiography of Russell Means''. Macmillan, 1995. pg 241.] Often,
Lakota language
Lakota ( ), also referred to as Lakhota, Teton or Teton Sioux, is a Siouan languages, Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of the Sioux tribes. Lakota is mutually intelligible with the two dialects of the Dakota language, especially Dakot ...
prayers begin with the phrase "Tunkasila", which translates to "grandfather, Great Spirit." In the
Haudenosaunee
The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...
tradition, the Great Spirit is known as "the Creator".
Haudenosaunee men's lacrosse team captain
Lyle Thompson, characterized it as "the Creator that lives in all of us. It's in the sun. It's in the moon. It's in the stars and the water. It's in the earth." In the
Algonquian tradition, the Great Spirit is known as
Gitche Manitou.
[Thomas, Robert Murray. Manitou and God: North-American Indian Religions and Christian Culture. ]Greenwood Publishing Group
Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. (GPG) was an educational and academic publisher (middle school through university level) which was part of ABC-Clio. Since 2021, ABC-Clio and its suite of imprints, including GPG, are collectively imprints of ...
, 2007. pg 35.
Due to perceived similarities between the Great Spirit and the Christian deity, European colonial missionaries drew comparison between the two deities as a
Christianization conversion technique.
Conceptualization
The Great Spirit has at times been conceptualized as an "
anthropomorphic celestial deity,"
[Cave, Alfred A. ''Prophets of the Great Spirit: Native American Revitalization Movements in Eastern North America''. Lincoln: U of Nebraska, 2006. Google Books. 2006. p. 3.] a
god of creation, history and eternity,
[Cave, Alfred A. ''Prophets of the Great Spirit: Native American Revitalization Movements in Eastern North America''. Lincoln: ]University of Nebraska
A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
, 2006. Google Books. 2006. Web. who also takes a personal interest in world affairs and might regularly intervene in the lives of human beings.
[
Numerous individuals are held to have been "]speakers
Speaker most commonly refers to:
* Speaker, a person who produces speech
* Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound
** Computer speakers
Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Speaker (song), "Speaker" ( ...
" for the Great Spirit; persons believed to serve as an earthly mediator responsible for facilitating communication between humans and the supernatural
Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...
more generally. Such a speaker is generally considered to have an obligation to preserve the spiritual traditions of their respective lineage. The Great Spirit is looked to by spiritual leaders for guidance by individuals as well as communities at large.
While belief in an entity or entities known as the Great Spirit exists across numerous indigenous American peoples, individual tribes often demonstrate varying degrees of cultural divergence. As such, a variety of stories, parables, fables, and messages exhibiting different, sometimes contradictory themes and plot elements have been attributed to the same figure by otherwise disparate cultures.
''Wakan Tanka''
'' Wakan Tanka'' () can be interpreted as the power or the sacredness that resides in everything, resembling some animistic
Animism (from meaning 'breath, Soul, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct Spirituality, spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things—animals, plants, Rock (geology), rocks, rivers, Weather, ...
and pantheistic
Pantheism can refer to a number of Philosophy, philosophical and Religion, religious beliefs, such as the belief that the universe is God, or panentheism, the belief in a non-corporeal divine intelligence or God out of which the universe arise ...
beliefs. This term describes every creature and object as ''wakan'' ("holy") or having aspects that are ''wakan''; ''tanka'' corresponds to "great" or "large".
Prior to the Christianization
Christianization (or Christianisation) is a term for the specific type of change that occurs when someone or something has been or is being converted to Christianity. Christianization has, for the most part, spread through missions by individu ...
of indigenous Americans by European settlers and missionaries, the Lakota used ''Wakan Tanka'' to refer to an organization
An organization or organisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences) is an legal entity, entity—such as ...
or group of sacred entities whose ways were considered mysterious and beyond human understanding. It was the elaboration on these beliefs that prompted scholarly debate suggesting that the term "Great Mystery" could be a more accurate translation of such a concept than "Great Spirit". Activist Russell Means also promoted the translation "Great Mystery" and the view that Lakota spirituality is not originally monotheistic
Monotheism is the belief that one God is the only, or at least the dominant deity.F. L. Cross, Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. A ...
.
Chief Luther Standing Bear (1868–1939) of the Lakota Nation put it thus:
:From Wakan Tanka, the Great Spirit, there came a great unifying life force that flowed in and through all things – the flowers of the plains, blowing winds, rocks, trees, birds, animals – and was the same force that had been breathed into the first man. Thus all things were kindred, and were brought together by the same Great Mystery.[Nerburn, Kent ''The Wisdom of the Native Americans''. MJF Books, 1999. pg 15.]
''Manitou''
'' Manitou'', akin to the Haudenosaunee
The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...
concept of '' orenda'', is perceived as the spiritual and fundamental life force by Algonquian peoples. It is believed by practitioners to be omnipresent; manifesting in all things, including organism
An organism is any life, living thing that functions as an individual. Such a definition raises more problems than it solves, not least because the concept of an individual is also difficult. Many criteria, few of them widely accepted, have be ...
s, the environment, and events both human-induced and otherwise. Manifestations of Manitou are also believed to be dualistic, and such contrasting instances are known as ''aashaa monetoo'' ("good spirit") and ''otshee monetoo'' ("bad spirit") respectively. According to legend, when the world was created, the Great Spirit, ''Aasha Monetoo'', gave the land to the indigenous peoples
There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...
, the Shawnee
The Shawnee ( ) are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language.
Their precontact homeland was likely centered in southern Ohio. In the 17th century, they dispersed through Ohi ...
in particular.
''Gitche Manitou''
The Anishinaabe
The Anishinaabe (alternatively spelled Anishinabe, Anicinape, Nishnaabe, Neshnabé, Anishinaabeg, Anishinabek, Aanishnaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples in the Great Lakes region of C ...
culture, descended from the Algonquian-speaking Abenaki
The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pred ...
and Cree
The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...
, inherited the Great Spirit tradition of their predecessors. '' Gitche Manitou'' (also transliterated as ''Gichi-manidoo'') is an Anishinaabe language
Ojibwe ( ), also known as Ojibwa ( ), Ojibway, Otchipwe,R. R. Bishop Baraga, 1878''A Theoretical and Practical Grammar of the Otchipwe Language''/ref> Ojibwemowin, or Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of North America of the Algon ...
word typically interpreted as Great Spirit, the Creator of all things and the Giver of Life, and is sometimes translated as the "Great Mystery". Historically, Anishinaabe people believed in a variety of spirits, whose images were placed near doorways for protection.
According to Anishinaabe
The Anishinaabe (alternatively spelled Anishinabe, Anicinape, Nishnaabe, Neshnabé, Anishinaabeg, Anishinabek, Aanishnaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples in the Great Lakes region of C ...
tradition, ''Michilimackinac'', later named by European settlers as Mackinac Island
Mackinac Island ( , ; ; ; ) is an island and resort area, covering in land area, in the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the island in Odawa is Michilimackinac and "Mitchimakinak" in Ojibwemowin, meaning "Great Turtle". It is located in ...
, in Michigan, was the home of Gitche Manitou, and some Anishinaabeg tribes would make pilgrimages there for rituals devoted to the spirit.
Other Anishinaabe names for such a figure, incorporated through the process of syncretism
Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various school of thought, schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or religious assimilation, assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the ...
, are ''Gizhe-manidoo'' ("venerable ''Manidoo''"), ''Wenizhishid-manidoo'' ("Fair ''Manidoo''") and ''Gichi-ojichaag'' ("Great Spirit"). While ''Gichi-manidoo'' and ''Gichi-ojichaag'' both mean "Great Spirit", ''Gichi-manidoo'' carried the idea of the greater spiritual connectivity while ''Gichi-ojichaag'' carried the idea of individual soul's connection to the ''Gichi-manidoo''. Consequently, Christian missionaries often used the term ''Gichi-ojichaag'' to refer to the Christian idea of a Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Ghost, is a concept within the Abrahamic religions. In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is understood as the divine quality or force of God manifesting in the world, particularly in acts of prophecy, creati ...
.
Native American Church
The contemporary belief in the great spirit is generally associated with the Native American Church. The doctrine regarding the great spirit within this modern tradition is quite varied and generally takes on Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
ideas of a monotheistic God alongside animistic conceptions. The number of adherents to these contemporary beliefs in the great spirit are unknown, but it is likely they number over a quarter million people.
See also
*''Appeal to the Great Spirit
''Appeal to the Great Spirit'' is a 1908 equestrian statue by Cyrus Edwin Dallin, Cyrus Dallin, located in front of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. It portrays a Native Americans in the United States, Native American on horseback facing skyward ...
'', a 1908 statue
*'' Hail to the Sunrise'', a 1932 statue
*Native American religions
Native American religions, Native American faith or American Indian religions are the indigenous religion, indigenous spiritual practices of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Ceremonial ways can vary widely and are based on the differing ...
References
{{Theology
Conceptions of God
First Nations culture in Canada
Gods of the indigenous peoples of North America
Creator gods