In Lakota spirituality, ''Wakan Tanka'' ( Standard Lakota Orthography: ''Wakȟáŋ Tȟáŋka'') is the term for the

sacred Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

or the

divine Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine< ...

. This is usually translated as the "

Great Spirit The Great Spirit is the concept of a life force, a Supreme Being or god known more specifically as Wakan Tanka in Lakota,Ostler, Jeffry. ''The Plains Sioux and U.S. Colonialism from Lewis and Clark to Wounded Knee''. Cambridge University Pres ...

" and occasionally as "Great Mystery". ''Wakȟáŋ Tȟáŋka'' can be interpreted as the power or the sacredness that resides in everything, resembling some

animistic Animism (from Latin: ' meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, h ...

and

pantheistic Pantheism is the belief that reality, the universe and the cosmos are identical with divinity and a supreme supernatural being or entity, pointing to the universe as being an immanent creator deity still expanding and creating, which has ...

beliefs. This term describes every creature and object as ''wakȟáŋ'' ("holy") or having aspects that are ''wakȟáŋ''. The element ''Tanka'' or ''Tȟáŋka'' corresponds to "Great" or "large". Before contact with European Christian missionaries, the Lakota used ''Wakȟáŋ Tȟáŋka'' to refer to an

organization An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived f ...

or group of sacred entities whose ways were mysterious: thus, "The Great Mystery".Helen Wheeler Bassett, Frederick Starr. The International Folk-lore Congress of the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...

, Chicago, July, 1893. Charles H. Sergel Company, 1898
p221
226 Activist Russell Means also promoted the translation "Great Mystery" and the view that Lakota spirituality is not

monotheistic Monotheism is the belief that there is only one deity, an all-supreme being that is universally referred to as God. Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxfor ...

Cognate terms in other languages

Siouan Siouan or Siouan–Catawban is a language family of North America that is located primarily in the Great Plains, Ohio and Mississippi valleys and southeastern North America with a few other languages in the east. Name Authors who call the ent ...

: ''Wakan Tanka'' or ''Wakan'' is also known as ''Wakanda'' in the Omaha-Ponca, Ioway-Otoe-Missouri, Kansa and

Osage language Osage (; Osage: ''Wažáže ie'') is a Siouan language that is spoken by the Osage people of Oklahoma. Their original territory was in present-day Missouri and Kansas but they were gradually pushed west by European-American pressure and treati ...

s; and ''Wakatakeh'' in

Quapaw The Quapaw ( ; or Arkansas and Ugahxpa) people are a tribe of Native Americans that coalesced in what is known as the Midwest and Ohio Valley of the present-day United States. The Dhegiha Siouan-speaking tribe historically migrated from the Oh ...

References

Gods of the indigenous peoples of North America Lakota culture Lakota words and phrases Native American religion Sioux mythology {{NorthAm-myth-stub

Cognate terms in other languages

See also

References