Lakota Sioux Creation Mythology::

Introduction

The Lakota believe that the natural environment is imbued with spiritual power and they anchor such power through their myths and rituals. This article attempts to describe how Lakota mythology provides a rich and complex account of the creation and development of the universe, and a description of human and natural relationships. It shows how myths express the dynamism of relationships as well as the mythic significance of various features and conditions of the natural world. Through such analyses, we shall see how traditionally a Lakota individual has had "a sense of cosmo-biological participation in the life around him. […] This kind of cosmo-biological experience rooted [him] in a mythical solidarity with […] place" (Eliade 1957: 166).¹

Lakota Oral Tradition

Lakota oral narratives are divided into those which are considered to have actually occurred (ehanni woyaka or wowicake wicooyake), and those which are products of the imagination (ohunkanka). The ehanni woyaka are those narratives that deal with the creation of the world and the conditions therein. Another category of 'true' narratives is the ehanni wicooyake, which relate historical stories of recent memory, such as the origin of place names and the deeds of leaders and bands. The ohunkanka tend to be morality tales such as those narrating the mischievous exploits of Iktomi, the trickster-spider, and do not try to locate the narrative in any particular time or place. Except for the ehanni wicooyake, all other Lakota oral narratives tend to be told in the evenings. This article, and the next on myths of place, focus on origin myths of the ehanni woyaka category.

Notes::

• 1 - Mircea Eliade. 1957. Myths, Dreams and Mysteries. New York: Harper and Row.