Lakota Sioux Creation Mythology::

When the People Laughed at Hanwi (George Sword)

Wazi (Wizard) was leader of the people who lived under the earth. He was married to Kanka, a wise woman who possessed the gift of prophecy. They had a child, Ite, who was the most beautiful of women and was married to Tate (Wind). Ite and Tate had four sons at one birth. These sons were spirits. Nevertheless, Wazi was dissatisfied with life and yearned to possess the powers of the spirits so that he could do mysterious things that other people could not do.

Iktomi (Trickster or Spider) was willing to help Wazi on condition that Wazi help Iktomi "to cause others to be laughed at" (Walker 1983: 52).¹ Wazi was hesitant to help the scheming Iktomi but he was urged on by his wife, Kanka, to agree to do as Iktomi said. So Wazi said to Iktomi, "First give us the power and if we can do as the Gods do, then we will help you as you wish" (Walker 1983: 53). But, whilst hiding near to their lodge, Iktomi heard Kanka say to Wazi, "If we get these powers, they can not be taken from us except by Skan (Sky) and then we will help Iktomi only when we wish to do so" (Walker 1983: 53).

Iktomi smiled to have found out their deception and began to think of what he could do to get back at them. He prepared and gave them two bags filled with different roots and herbs and gave them to Wazi and Kanka saying that if they breathed upon them they would gain all the power of spirits and be able to do mysterious things.

Iktomi often visited the couple and praised the beauty of their daughter Ite. He told them that with the aid of the bags he had given them they could produce a charm that would make the wearer of it more beautiful each night. He praised Ite by saying that she was almost as beautiful as Hanwi (Moon), the wife of the chief of the spirits, Wi (Sun). Then he said to her, "You are the wife of a God and the mother of Gods and you ought to have a seat with the Gods" (Walker 1983: 53).

Ite's parents gave her the charm, after having told them of what Iktomi had said, and she grew more beautiful each night.

Then Iktomi told Ite that Wi was growing weary of Hanwi and that if a woman as beautiful would appear before him, he would also take her to be his companion. Iktomi told her that she, Ite, was growing more and more beautiful and soon she would be even more beautiful than Hanwi. Kanka was overjoyed at this news and said, "When you have sat beside the chief of the Gods, you and your mother and your father will be spoken of after all of mankind who now live have been long forgotten" (Walker 1983: 54).

Iktomi spoke favourably of Ite to Wi, the chief of the spirits, and Wi agreed that as the wife of a spirit and the mother of spirits, Ite should be honoured above other women. He saw how beautiful she was and smiled and spoke to her. Then all the spirits became friendly with her.

Soon Wi asked Ite to attend the feast of the spirits and Iktomi said to her, "If you sit beside Wi, he will take you for his companion. Go early to the feast and sit on the seat of Hanwi" (Walker 1983: 54). So Ite went and sat on Hanwi's seat and Wi, seeing her beauty, did not reprove her. Hanwi saw her and covered her face with shame because everyone was laughing at her because Ite was sitting on her seat and Wi was not reproving her.

So Hanwi went to Skan ('who gives movement to all things') and told him she had been shamed before the people. Skan summoned Wi, Ite, Kanka, Wazi and Iktomi before him and demanded to know why all this had happened, that had led Hanwi to be shamed. On hearing their stories he was very angry with all of them and described to them their punishments. These punishments would create a completely new order, both in the circle of the spirits and on earth.

Skan tells Wi that because of his forgetfulness of Hanwi he must forever be separated from her. Hanwi will now have her own time and make her own journey through the heavens. Her time will be called a moon. "When she is nearest to you, she shall hide her face from you and only uncover it when she is farthest from you" (Walker 1983: 56).

Ite was banished to earth. Though she kept her beauty, she was also given another, horrifying face and became known as Anog Ite (Two Face or the Double Woman). Kanka was also banished to the world "where she must continue to mediate between present and future, abiding alone until the fourth time is established" (Walker 1983: 45). She forever became known as the Witch. Wazi was banished to the edge of the world where he was to wait until Skan sent a messenger to him. Then Wazi could use his mysterious powers to create the fourth time. He was forever known as the Wizard. Iktomi was not stripped of his power by Skan because Iktomi was the son of Inyan (Rock). However Iktomi could no longer be associated with the spirits or use his power against the spirits. He was banished to the world where he would live alone, ostracized from human society. Upon hearing his fate, Iktomi laughed saying that he would live among the birds and the animals and continue to make fools of mankind.

Because Tate (Wind) could not bear to be separated from his wife Ite, Skan told him that he and his four sons (the Four Winds) could go to the world and reside there. There he would wait until a messenger sent him a token. "You will command your sons to establish four directions on the edge of the world and when this is done, there will be the fourth time" (Walker 1983: 57). This fourth time was the calendar year.

Notes::

• 1 - James R. Walker. 1983. Lakota Myth. Edited by Elaine A. Jahner. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.