4 sections of this entry are open to everyone: the summary, the people, the symbols, the lineage and the sources. The other 9 (Name and epithets, In the ancient sources, The myths, Worship and archaeology, How the god was depicted, What scholars debate, After antiquity, Did you know?, Codex relic) are part of the full Codex: PRO opens the whole study of all 500 deities, and without a subscription you can read one full entry a day, just like in the app.
These spirits and deities were worshipped by the many Native peoples of North America, from the Lakota to the Navajo and Iroquois. Their beliefs bind humans to the Great Spirit, to totem animals, and to balance with the land. Passed down orally, they survive in the Indigenous nations that endured colonization.
The Sun Dance gathered the Plains nations in fasting and sacrifice around the sacred tree. The Hopi dance with the kachinas, masked spirits of the rains, and the sacred pipe seals prayers and treaties — ceremonies still alive in today's nations.
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At a glance
Wakan Tanka (standardized Lakota orthography Wakȟáŋ Tȟáŋka, frequently translated as 'The Great Mystery', 'The Great Sacred', or popularly 'The Great Spirit') is the supreme sacred reality, cosmic totality, and underlying animative force in the traditional theology and spirituality of the Siouan peoples of the North American Great Plains, with particular prominence among the Oglala, Sicangu, Hunkpapa, Miniconjou, and other divisions of the Lakota and Dakota nations. Far from representing an anthropomorphic, singular monarchic deity along Western monotheistic lines, Wakan Tanka is conceived by traditional holy men (wičháša wakȟáŋ) as a complex, non-dual plural unity comprising all living energies, incomprehensible mysteries, and sacred potencies (wakȟáŋ) that animate the universe. As systematically documented by physician and ethnographer James R. Walker from teachings conferred between 1896 and 1914 by respected traditional Oglala spiritual leaders including Little Wound, American Horse, George Sword, and Bad Wound at Pine Ridge Reservation, Wakan Tanka articulates into sixteen sacred beings arranged into four quadruplicate ranks: The Superior Four (Wi, the Sun; Škaŋ, Sky and Motion; Makȟá, the Earth; and Íŋyaŋ, the Primordial Rock), The Associate Four (Haŋwí, the Moon; Taté, the Wind; Wohpe, the Celestial Daughter and Herald of Peace; and Wakíŋyaŋ, the Thunderbird), The Subordinate Four (Tatȟáŋka, the Buffalo; Huŋnóŋpa, the Bear; Tatéyob, the Four Winds; and Yumní, the Whirlwind), and The Four God-like Spirits (the immaterial components of human existence: Naǧí, the shade or soul; Ní, the vital life breath; Naǧíla, the little spirit; and Šičúŋ, imparted spiritual potency). In the canonical teachings of holy man Heȟáka Sápa (Black Elk), preserved by John G. Neihardt and Joseph Epes Brown, Wakan Tanka is invoked directly through the Sacred Pipe (Čhaŋnúŋpa), gifted to humanity by White Buffalo Calf Woman (Ptesáŋwiŋ). Through communal rituals such as the Sun Dance (Wiwáŋyaŋg Wačhípi), the Sweat Lodge (Inípi), and Vision Crying (Hanbléčheyapi), the Lakota cultivate reciprocal kinship with the cosmos under the guiding principle Mitákuye Oyásʼiŋ ('All My Relations').
9 min read · Reviewed on September 29, 2026 · How we research
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Sacred symbols
The sacred pipe, the circle, the four directions and the eagle feather
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Sources and further reading
Primary sources
Walker, James R., The Sun Dance and Other Ceremonies of the Oglala Division of the Teton Dakota (Anthropological Papers of the AMNH, Vol. XVI, Part II, pp. 51–221). translation: New York: Published by order of the Trustees of the American Museum of Natural History, 1917. read
Walker, James R. (ed. Raymond J. DeMallie & Elaine A. Jahner), Lakota Belief and Ritual. translation: Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1980. read
Black Elk (Heȟáka Sápa) & Brown, Joseph Epes, The Sacred Pipe: Black Elk's Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux. translation: Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1953. read
Riggs, Stephen Return, Dakota Grammar, Texts, and Ethnography (Contributions to North American Ethnology, Vol. IX). translation: Washington: Government Printing Office, 1893. read
Studies
Hassrick, Royal B., The Sioux: Life and Customs of a Warrior Society. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1964. open
National Park Service (U.S. Department of the Interior), The Gift of the Pipe: White Buffalo Calf Woman and the Sacred Pipe. U.S. National Park Service, 2020. open
Neihardt, John G., Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux. New York: William Morrow & Company, 1932. open
McGaa, Ed (Eagle Man), Mother Earth Spirituality: Native American Paths to Healing Ourselves and Our World. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1990. open
Name and epithets
The Lakota-Dakota term Wakȟáŋ Tȟáŋka is grammatically formed from two fundamental linguistic components: the adjective and ontological concept wakȟáŋ ('sacred', 'incomprehensible', 'potent', 'supernatural', or imbued wi…
In the ancient sources
The Sun Dance and Other Ceremonies of the Oglala Division of the Teton Dakota, 1917 AD. James R. Walker's foundational field monography detailing the fourfold organizational structure of the sixteen manifestations of Wa…
The myths
The Primordial Genesis and Cosmic Differentiation from Íŋyaŋ. According to the esoteric teachings of traditional Oglala holy men recorded by James R.
Worship and archaeology
Lakota religious and ceremonial life centers upon maintaining reverent, reciprocal communion with Wakan Tanka through the Seven Sacred Rites (Wičhóȟ’aŋ Waŋkȟáŋ Šákowiŋ) recounted by Black Elk.
How the god was depicted
Wakan Tanka is never depicted in finite anthropomorphic iconography, as traditional Plains theology strictly forbids reducing the boundless sacred reality to a single static figure.
What scholars debate
. Within comparative religion and anthropology, James R. Walker's documentation has generated extensive scholarly debate. Specialists such as Raymond J.
After antiquity
Traditional teachings surrounding Wakan Tanka and the Seven Sacred Rites have profoundly influenced global dialogues regarding Indigenous rights, environmental stewardship, and comparative mysticism.
Did you know?
The foundational Lakota prayer formula Mitákuye Oyásʼiŋ ('All My Relations'), uttered at the conclusion of every ceremonial invocation and sweat lodge round, articulates the ecological and metaphysical core of Wakan Tan…
Codex relic
Sacred Pipe. The chanunpa, the ceremonial pipe whose smoke carries the prayers of men up to the Great Mystery.
The rest of this scroll is sealed
The legends, the myth, the cult and relics are part of the full Codex. You can open 1 full entry for free every day; to open all 500 deities with no limits and no ads, subscribe to Codex PRO.
