{"id":5760,"date":"2026-05-13T20:20:32","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T20:20:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wakan-tanka-great-sacred-power-of-the-lakota\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T14:00:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T14:00:45","slug":"wakan-tanka-great-sacred-power-of-the-lakota","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/wakan-tanka-great-sacred-power-of-the-lakota\/","title":{"rendered":"Wakan Tanka: Great Sacred Power of the Lakota"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"5760\" class=\"elementor elementor-5760 elementor-2584 elementor-bc-flex-widget\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-hero e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-hero\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-hl e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-hl\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-htxt e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-htxt\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-h1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-h1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Wakan Tanka, Great Sacred Power and supreme being of the Lakota tradition<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-lead elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-lead\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Wakan Tanka (Lakota: <em>Wakan Thanka<\/em>, Great <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Belonging to the divine and thereby withdrawn from everyday use.\" tabindex=\"0\">Sacred<\/span> Power) is, in the religious understanding of the Lakota and the broader Sioux language family, the highest, all-encompassing numinous reality. It is less a personified <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A being venerated as divine within a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">deity<\/span> in the Western sense than an all-pervading sacred power.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-pillc e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-pillc\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-pills elementor-widget elementor-widget-html\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-pills\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"html.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"iwg-pill-row\"><span class=\"iwg-klasse-badge\" tabindex=\"0\" data-tooltip=\"Creator of the Native American tradition.\">Creator<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/native-american-gods-wakan-tanka-and-first-nations\/\" class=\"iwg-kultur-badge\" tabindex=\"0\" data-tooltip=\"Mythology of the Native American tradition.\">Native American<\/a><span class=\"iwg-tradition-badge\" tabindex=\"0\" data-tooltip=\"Highest sacred power.\">Highest Sacred Power<\/span><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-tocc e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-tocc\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-toc elementor-toc--minimized-on-tablet elementor-widget elementor-widget-table-of-contents\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-toc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;headings_by_tags&quot;:[&quot;h2&quot;,&quot;h3&quot;],&quot;minimize_box&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;marker_view&quot;:&quot;bullets&quot;,&quot;no_headings_message&quot;:&quot;Es wurden keine \\u00dcberschriften auf dieser Seite gefunden.&quot;,&quot;exclude_headings_by_selector&quot;:[],&quot;icon&quot;:{&quot;value&quot;:&quot;fas fa-circle&quot;,&quot;library&quot;:&quot;fa-solid&quot;,&quot;rendered_tag&quot;:&quot;&lt;svg class=\\&quot;e-font-icon-svg e-fas-circle\\&quot; viewBox=\\&quot;0 0 512 512\\&quot; xmlns=\\&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.w3.org\\\/2000\\\/svg\\&quot;&gt;&lt;path d=\\&quot;M256 8C119 8 8 119 8 256s111 248 248 248 248-111 248-248S393 8 256 8z\\&quot;&gt;&lt;\\\/path&gt;&lt;\\\/svg&gt;&quot;},&quot;minimized_on&quot;:&quot;tablet&quot;,&quot;hierarchical_view&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;min_height&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]},&quot;min_height_tablet&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]},&quot;min_height_mobile&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]}}\" data-widget_type=\"table-of-contents.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-toc__header-title\">\n\t\t\t\tTable of Contents\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__toggle-button elementor-toc__toggle-button--expand\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"elementor-toc__iwgw-wakantanka-toc\" aria-expanded=\"true\" aria-label=\"Open table of contents\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-fas-chevron-down\" viewBox=\"0 0 448 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M207.029 381.476L12.686 187.132c-9.373-9.373-9.373-24.569 0-33.941l22.667-22.667c9.357-9.357 24.522-9.375 33.901-.04L224 284.505l154.745-154.021c9.379-9.335 24.544-9.317 33.901.04l22.667 22.667c9.373 9.373 9.373 24.569 0 33.941L240.971 381.476c-9.373 9.372-24.569 9.372-33.942 0z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__toggle-button elementor-toc__toggle-button--collapse\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"elementor-toc__iwgw-wakantanka-toc\" aria-expanded=\"true\" aria-label=\"Close table of contents\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-fas-chevron-up\" viewBox=\"0 0 448 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M240.971 130.524l194.343 194.343c9.373 9.373 9.373 24.569 0 33.941l-22.667 22.667c-9.357 9.357-24.522 9.375-33.901.04L224 227.495 69.255 381.516c-9.379 9.335-24.544 9.317-33.901-.04l-22.667-22.667c-9.373-9.373-9.373-24.569 0-33.941L207.03 130.525c9.372-9.373 24.568-9.373 33.941-.001z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div id=\"elementor-toc__iwgw-wakantanka-toc\" class=\"elementor-toc__body\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__spinner-container\">\n\t\t\t\t<svg class=\"elementor-toc__spinner eicon-animation-spin e-font-icon-svg e-eicon-loading\" aria-hidden=\"true\" viewBox=\"0 0 1000 1000\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M500 975V858C696 858 858 696 858 500S696 142 500 142 142 304 142 500H25C25 237 238 25 500 25S975 237 975 500 763 975 500 975Z\"><\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-hr e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-hr\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-heroimg iwg-hero-image elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-heroimg\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/goetter_native-american_wakan-tanka-683x1024.webp\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-5761\" alt=\"Wakan Tanka - Gods from the Native American tradition, historical-illustrative\" srcset=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/goetter_native-american_wakan-tanka-683x1024.webp 683w, https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/goetter_native-american_wakan-tanka-200x300.webp 200w, https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/goetter_native-american_wakan-tanka-768x1152.webp 768w, https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/goetter_native-american_wakan-tanka.webp 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s0 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s0\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s0h elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s0h\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Classification within Lakota Religion<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s0c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s0c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s0t elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s0t\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Wakan Tanka stands at the center of the religious worldview of the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota, the three main branches of the Sioux language family.<\/p><p>Unlike the monotheistic God of the Abrahamic religions, Wakan Tanka is not a clearly personified supreme being with its own will, biography, and voice, but rather the all-pervading sacred power (<em>wakan<\/em>) that is present in all living and non-living things.<\/p><p>The Lakota theologian Black Elk addressed Wakan Tanka in his recorded speeches, especially in the work compiled by John Neihardt, <em>Black Elk Speaks<\/em> (1932), as <em>Wakan Tanka unsi unkila<\/em> (the Great <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Belonging to the divine and thereby withdrawn from everyday use.\" tabindex=\"0\">Holy<\/span> One who has compassion on us).<\/p><p>The contemporary Lakota scholar of <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The academic discipline that studies religions comparatively and without confessional commitment.\" tabindex=\"0\">religion<\/span> Vine Deloria Jr. showed in <em>God Is Red<\/em> (1973) that the simple translation of Wakan Tanka as <em>Great <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An incorporeal being to which effects in the world are attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">Spirit<\/span><\/em>, which has been common in popular literature since the 19th century, misses the genuine meaning.<\/p><p>Structurally, Wakan Tanka belongs to the class of pan-religious <em>omnipotent supreme beings<\/em>, but is strongly shaped by the Lakota understanding of the sacred power <em>wakan<\/em>.<\/p><p>The Lakota recognize a wide variety of wakan beings (comparable to the Apu mountain lords of the <a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/andean-cultures-and-the-inca-inti-pachamama-and-viracocha\/\">Andean<\/a> Inca): the Four Directions, the Thunder Beings (see <a href=\"\/en\/thunderbird-thunder-bird-of-the-native-americans\/\">Thunderbird<\/a>), the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A bodiless being to which agency in the world is attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">spirits<\/span> of animals, the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An ancestor venerated in many cultures as a protective power.\" tabindex=\"0\">ancestral<\/span> spirits. All are <em>wakan<\/em>, all are part of the one encompassing sacred power.<\/p><p>Compared to Western monotheistic <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The academic study of God and the beliefs of a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">theology<\/span>, one important aspect of the Lakota conception is the absence of a clear gender assignment. Wakan Tanka is neither male nor female; the personified wakan aspects instead fall into male, female, and androgynous beings.<\/p><p>This gender neutrality of the highest reality represents a genuine difference from the Jewish-Christian-Islamic <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The passing on of knowledge and narratives across generations.\" tabindex=\"0\">tradition<\/span> with its male God-the-Father image, and has received repeated attention in comparative <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The academic discipline that studies religions comparatively and without doctrinal commitment.\" tabindex=\"0\">religious studies<\/span>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s1 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s1\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s1h elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s1h\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Name and Etymology<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s1c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s1c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s1t elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s1t\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The Lakota term <em>wakan<\/em> is one of the central religio-philosophical terms of the Sioux tradition. It literally means <em><span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Belonging to the divine and thereby withdrawn from everyday use.\" tabindex=\"0\">sacred<\/span><\/em>, <em>mysterious<\/em>, or <em>not-fully-comprehensible<\/em> and is used across the entire spectrum of what we would call <em><span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Denoting the awe-inspiring and sublime quality of the sacred; a term used in religious studies.\" tabindex=\"0\">numinous<\/span><\/em>.<\/p><p>The Lakota linguist Stephen Riggs compiled a remarkable list of wakan applications in his Lakota-English dictionary (1852), ranging from a woman in childbirth to a lightning strike, from the healer&#8217;s tobacco pouch to the death of a beloved horse.<\/p><p>The addition <em>thanka<\/em> or <em>tanka<\/em> means <em>great<\/em> in the sense of encompassing, all-containing. Thus Wakan Thanka is the <em>encompassing, all-containing sacred power<\/em>.<\/p><p>In Lakota <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The academic study of God and the doctrines of a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">theological<\/span> texts a distinction is made between <em>wakan kin<\/em> (the sacred in general) and <em>Wakan Thanka<\/em> (the one encompassing sacred), where the difference is not numerical (one versus many) but qualitative (part versus whole).<\/p><p>An important theological distinction was made by the Lakota healer Sword (Sword&#8217;s Account) in the 1890s in conversations with the anthropologist James Walker: he spoke of sixteen different wakan aspects that together form the unity of Wakan Tanka. This list is systematically documented in James Walker&#8217;s work, <em>Lakota Belief and <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A prescribed, recurring sequence of symbolic actions with religious or cultural significance.\" tabindex=\"0\">Ritual<\/span><\/em> (1980, published posthumously).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s2 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s2\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s2h elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s2h\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Theological Structures<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s2c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s2c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s2t elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s2t\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The theological structure of Wakan Tanka is, according to the Lakota healers documented by James Walker (Sword, Finger, Bad Wound, No Flesh), considerably more complex than the simple <em>Great Spirit<\/em> conception found in popular literature. Lakota <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The academic study of God and the beliefs of a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">theology<\/span> distinguishes sixteen wakan aspects, arranged hierarchically in four groups of four aspects each.<\/p><p>The uppermost four (<em>Wakan akantu<\/em>) comprise: <em>Wi<\/em> (the Sun), <em>Skan<\/em> (the Moving One, cosmic energy), <em>Maka<\/em> (the Earth), and <em>Inyan<\/em> (the Stone, the primordial material). The second group (<em>Wakan kolaya<\/em>) comprises the associated companion aspects: the Moon (Hanwi), the Wind (Tate), Beauty (Wohpe), and the Thunder Bird (Wakinyan).<\/p><p>The third group (<em>Wakan kuya<\/em>) consists of the subordinate aspects: the Buffalo <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A non-corporeal being credited with agency in the world.\" tabindex=\"0\">Spirit<\/span> (Tatanka), the Bear <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A non-corporeal being credited with agency in the world.\" tabindex=\"0\">Spirit<\/span> (Hununpa), the Four Winds <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A non-corporeal being credited with agency in the world.\" tabindex=\"0\">Spirit<\/span> (Tate), and the Whirlwind <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A non-corporeal being credited with agency in the world.\" tabindex=\"0\">Spirit<\/span> (Yumni).<\/p><p>The fourth group (<em>Wakan lakolapi<\/em>) consists of the helpful spirits: the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A non-corporeal being credited with agency in the world.\" tabindex=\"0\">Spirit<\/span> (Niya), the Shadow (Nagi), the Breath of Life (Naula), and the Sister <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A non-corporeal being credited with agency in the world.\" tabindex=\"0\">Spirit<\/span> (Sicun).<\/p><p>This sixteenfold aspect structure is a genuine <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The academic study of God and the beliefs of a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">theological<\/span> construction that does not correspond to the superficial assumption of a uniformly monotheistic Lakota religion. Vine Deloria Jr. and the Lakota scholar of religion Joseph Epes Brown have repeatedly emphasized the importance of this structural complexity in their works.<\/p><p>The Sword-Walker texts are methodologically complex to evaluate. James Walker was a reservation physician at Pine Ridge between 1896 and 1914 and during this time conducted extensive conversations with the last Lakota healers of the pre-reservation generation.<\/p><p>The records are one of the most important primary sources, but they are partially distorted by Walker&#8217;s own theological background (he was a physician with a Western educational background) and by translation difficulties. More recent research, in particular by Raymond DeMallie and Vine Deloria Jr., has systematically discussed these methodological problems.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s3 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s3\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s3h elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s3h\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Mythological Narratives<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s3c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s3c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s3t elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s3t\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The mythological <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The transmission of knowledge and narratives across generations.\" tabindex=\"0\">tradition<\/span> surrounding Wakan Tanka is, compared to many other religious traditions, noticeably sparse in personified narratives.<\/p><p>This is because Wakan Tanka itself is not an acting figure but the background reality in which the acting figures appear. The mythological wealth of the Lakota tradition therefore concerns the individual wakan aspects more than Wakan Tanka itself.<\/p><p>A central mythological constellation is the appearance of the <a href=\"\/en\/white-buffalo-calf-woman-sacred-woman-of-the-lakota\/\">White Buffalo Calf Woman<\/a>, who, on behalf of Wakan Tanka, brought the seven sacred rites (see below) and the sacred pipe <em>chanunpa<\/em> into the Lakota tradition.<\/p><p>This narrative, transmitted especially through Black Elk, is the central founding story of the Lakota religion and is retold in almost every Sweat Lodge and Vision Quest <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A solemn act carried out according to fixed rules.\" tabindex=\"0\">ceremony<\/span>.<\/p><p>A second narrative constellation encompasses the cosmogonic myths surrounding the <em>tunkasila<\/em> grandfathers (see <a href=\"\/en\/tunkasila-grandfather-sky-of-the-lakota\/\">Tunkasila<\/a>) and the <em>uncegila<\/em> water serpent. These myths are preserved in texts recorded by George Bushotter in the late 19th century and were systematically described by the anthropologist James Howard in <em>The Dakota or Sioux Indians<\/em> (1980).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s4 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s4\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s4h elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s4h\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Seven Sacred Rites<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s4c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s4c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s4t elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s4t\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The Lakota tradition recognizes seven great sacred rites (<em>Owanka wakan<\/em>), all performed in relation to Wakan Tanka and attributed to the White Buffalo Calf Woman. They are systematically described in the work of Black Elk and Joseph Epes Brown, <em>The Sacred Pipe<\/em> (1953).<\/p><p>The seven rites comprise: first, the <em>Inipi<\/em>, the purification sweat lodge, which serves as the ritual preparation for every other <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A prescribed, recurring religious action.\" tabindex=\"0\">rite<\/span>; second, the <em>Hanblechiyapi<\/em>, the Vision Quest, in which a young person or adult goes alone into the mountains or onto a hill for several days and nights without food or water, seeking to receive a vision; third, the <em>Wanagi Yuhapi<\/em>, the Keeping of the Soul (a mourning <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A prescribed, recurring religious action.\" tabindex=\"0\">rite<\/span>); fourth, the <em>Hunkapi<\/em>, the Making of Relatives (adoption); fifth, the <em>Ishna Ta Awi Cha Lowan<\/em>, the puberty <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Ritual transition through which someone is admitted to a new status or community.\" tabindex=\"0\">initiation<\/span> of young women; sixth, the <em>Tapa Wankayeyapi<\/em>, the Throwing of the Ball (a playful representation of cosmic distribution); seventh, the <em>Wiwanyag Wachipi<\/em>, the Sun Dance.<\/p><p>The latter, the Sun Dance, is the most spectacular and religiously intense Lakota practice. In it, practitioners dance for several days without food or water in a circle around a sacred tree, some of them with bone skewers pierced through the pectoral muscles and attached to the tree with leather thongs.<\/p><p>The dance ends when the skewers tear through the pectoral muscles and the practitioner is pulled free from the connection to the tree. This physical experience is understood as the highest <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Gift to a deity to express gratitude, petition, or reverence.\" tabindex=\"0\">sacrifice<\/span> to Wakan Tanka and as a gateway to vision.<\/p><p>The seven sacred rites are practiced with varying frequency in modern reservation communities.<\/p><p>The Inipi (sweat lodge) is performed regularly in almost every reservation household; the Hanblechiyapi (Vision Quest) takes place at initiations and in particular life situations; the Wiwanyag Wachipi (Sun Dance) is held annually at the larger reservation gatherings and ranks among the most important collective religious events of the Sioux peoples.<\/p><p>The remaining rites have in some cases become less common, but are being actively revived by a growing movement of indigenous religious renewal.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s5 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s5\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s5h elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s5h\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Protective Practices and Apotropaic Tradition<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s5c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s5c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s5t elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s5t\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The Lakota tradition does not practice direct <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The invocation or beseeching address to a deity or power.\" tabindex=\"0\">invocation<\/span> of Wakan Tanka in acute situations of need, because Wakan Tanka as the all-encompassing reality is too general to be directly responsible in individual life circumstances. Protective veneration is directed more toward the individual wakan aspects: the Four Winds, the Buffalo <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A non-corporeal being credited with agency in the world.\" tabindex=\"0\">Spirit<\/span>, the Thunder Bird.<\/p><p>Concrete protective practices include carrying a medicine pouch (<em>chanli<\/em>) with special stones, feathers, roots, and personal medicine objects; the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The invocation or beseeching address to a deity or power.\" tabindex=\"0\">invocation<\/span> of the Four Winds in the four cardinal directions at every ritual occasion; purification smudging with buffalo <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A traditional narrative with an often historical core and wondrous elements.\" tabindex=\"0\">sage<\/span> (cedar) or sweetgrass; and the ritual use of the sacred pipe <em>chanunpa<\/em>.<\/p><p>Pipe smoking is not a burning of tobacco but a cosmological act: the tobacco (<em>kinnikinnick<\/em>) is connected in the pipe with the Four Winds, with earth and sky, and with the ancestors; the act of pipe smoking itself becomes a form of wakan <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The verbal turning of a person toward a deity.\" tabindex=\"0\">prayer<\/span>.<\/p><p>In the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Warding off evil: of signs and objects intended to keep harmful influences away.\" tabindex=\"0\">apotropaic<\/span> tradition, Lakota shields play a special role. Warriors bore paintings on their shields that had been received in a vision and were connected with the wakan power of a particular animal or being.<\/p><p>These shield paintings were not merely aesthetic decorations but effective ritual objects of protection. Joseph Epes Brown described the Lakota shield tradition systematically in <em>The Spiritual Legacy of the American Indian<\/em> (1982).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s6 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s6\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s6h elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s6h\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Parallels in Other Cultures<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s6c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s6c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s6t elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s6t\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Wakan Tanka has frequently been cited in comparative religious studies literature as an American example of a pan-spiritualist supreme being <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The academic study of God and the beliefs of a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">theology<\/span>. Structurally comparable concepts include the Polynesian <em>mana<\/em>, the Melanesian <em>mana<\/em>, the Chinese <em><span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"In Chinese thought, the active life force that flows through all things.\" tabindex=\"0\">qi<\/span><\/em>, the Indian <em><span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"In Hinduism the absolute, formless, attributeless being; reflected in the Upanishads as the ground of all appearances.\" tabindex=\"0\">brahman<\/span><\/em>, and the West African <em>nyama<\/em> or <em>nyam<\/em>.<\/p><p>Wakan Tanka is not pantheism in the strict sense: the Lakota distinguish between the individual wakan aspects and Wakan Tanka itself, without these being identical to one another.<\/p><p>The scholar of religion Aase Hultkrantz systematically described this distinction in <em>Belief and Worship in Native North America<\/em> (1981) and showed that Lakota <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The academic study of God and the beliefs of a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">theology<\/span> corresponds neither to strict <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The belief in a single God.\" tabindex=\"0\">monotheism<\/span> nor to <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The era of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BCE to 600 CE.\" tabindex=\"0\">classical<\/span> pantheism, but to an independent panentheistic <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The academic study of God and the beliefs of a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">theology<\/span>.<\/p><p>Within North American Native traditions, Wakan Tanka shows close parallels to the Algonquian <em>Manitou<\/em>, the Cheyenne <em>Maheo<\/em>, the Apache <em>Yusen<\/em>, the Navajo Creator, and the Pueblo Creator. In all these cases the concepts are supreme being concepts grounded in an all-pervading sacred power.<\/p><p>A noteworthy religio-historical observation concerns the continuity of Lakota <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The academic study of God and the beliefs of a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">theology<\/span> within the broader Sioux diaspora. The Mdewakanton Dakota in Minnesota, the Yankton Sioux in South Dakota, and the Assiniboine in Montana and Saskatchewan have each developed their own Wakan Tanka traditions that differ in details but share the structural main line of Lakota <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The academic study of God and the beliefs of a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">theology<\/span>.<\/p><p>This pan-Sioux continuity has been systematically described by the anthropologist Raymond DeMallie in his extensive Sioux studies.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s7 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s7\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s7h elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s7h\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Contemporary Reception and Research<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s7c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s7c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s7t elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s7t\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Since the forced Christianization of reservation-dwelling Native Americans in the 19th century and especially after the violent suppression of the Sun Dance (banned 1881, then 1934) by the US government, the Lakota religion has been in a complex phase of renaissance.<\/p><p>Since the re-authorization of the Sun Dance in 1934 and the broader recognition of indigenous religions through the <em>American Indian Religious Freedom Act<\/em> (1978), the Lakota religion has experienced a substantial revival.<\/p><p>In academic discourse, engagement with Wakan Tanka has played an important role in the deconstruction of missionary religious descriptions.<\/p><p>Vine Deloria Jr. (<em>God Is Red<\/em>, 1973; <em>The World We Used to Live In<\/em>, 2006), George Tinker (<em>American Indian Liberation<\/em>, 2008), and the Lakota theologian Charles Eastman (<em>The Soul of the Indian<\/em>, 1911) have defended authentic Lakota <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The academic study of God and the beliefs of a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">theology<\/span> against Christian-missionary reductions.<\/p><p>From the perspective of religious studies, Wakan Tanka is an important example of how the simple typological classification of indigenous religions (<span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The view that animals, plants, and objects also possess a soul.\" tabindex=\"0\">animism<\/span>, <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The belief in multiple gods.\" tabindex=\"0\">polytheism<\/span>, <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The belief in a single God.\" tabindex=\"0\">monotheism<\/span>) usually fails to capture the theological richness of the respective tradition.<\/p><p>The genuine Lakota <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The academic study of God and the beliefs of a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">theology<\/span> is neither <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The view that animals, plants, and objects also possess a soul.\" tabindex=\"0\">animism<\/span> nor pantheism, but an independent philosophical-religious construction that deserves its place in comparative history of religions. The iWell Guard reference to the Lakota tradition is explicitly observational in nature, with no claims of efficacy.<\/p><p>In the 21st century, Lakota <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The academic study of God and the beliefs of a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">theology<\/span> has also entered into interreligious dialogue. Lakota spiritual leaders such as Arvol Looking Horse, the current 19th-generation keeper of the sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe, represent the Lakota tradition at UN assemblies, world religion gatherings, and ecumenical conferences.<\/p><p>These international appearances have contributed to growing global awareness of the Lakota religion, but have also fostered problematic tendencies of spiritual appropriation by Western New Age groups, against which the Lakota Elder Council has repeatedly issued official protests since 1993.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s8 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s8\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s8h elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s8h\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Literature and Sources<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s8c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s8c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-s8t elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-s8t\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The following selection lists key works on Lakota religion and Native American research that are central to understanding Wakan Tanka.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp2c8c5672 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cp2c8c5672\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp2d052194 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cp2d052194\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The Problem of Translating Wakan Tanka<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp2ac2c6c1 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cp2ac2c6c1\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp2c442efa elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cp2c442efa\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The expression <em>Wakan Tanka<\/em> comes from the languages of the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota and has most often been rendered in English-language literature as Great <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A non-corporeal being credited with agency in the world.\" tabindex=\"0\">Spirit<\/span> or Great Mystery. Both translations are problematic.<\/p><p><em>Wakan<\/em> designates a quality of the sacred, the mysterious, or of that which is filled with special power, and <em>tanka<\/em> means great. The combination cannot be translated into a single divine name without loss.<\/p><p>Early missionary and ethnographic literature tended to understand <em>Wakan Tanka<\/em> as the name of a single supreme god corresponding to the Christian God. This reading was reinforced by the translation work of missionaries who needed a term for the Christian God.<\/p><p>Twentieth-century research corrected this picture. The ethnographer James R. Walker, who worked with Lakota religious specialists at the Pine Ridge Reservation in the early 20th century, recorded a considerably more complex picture.<\/p><p>According to Walker&#8217;s records, compiled together with Lakota informants such as George Sword, <em>Wakan Tanka<\/em> is not a single being but a collective term for a plurality of sacred powers and beings that can at the same time be conceived as a unity.<\/p><p>Walker&#8217;s material speaks of various aspects or classes of the sacred that in their totality constitute <em>Wakan Tanka<\/em>.<\/p><p>Research continues to discuss how far Walker&#8217;s systematic presentation accurately reflects the views of his informants and how far it imposes an order on the material that was not consistently present. What can be established is that a simple equation with a monotheistic God does not do justice to the sources.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp2699683a e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cp2699683a\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp28de6a45 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cp28de6a45\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Wakan Tanka in the Reservation Period and the Resurgence of Lakota Religion<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp22c559d8 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cp22c559d8\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp22475154 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cp22475154\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The records concerning <em>Wakan Tanka<\/em> were produced predominantly during a period of massive pressure on the Lakota religion. Following defeat and confinement to reservations, the US government banned central ceremonies from the 1880s onward, including the Sun Dance.<\/p><p>Religious practice took place partly in secrecy. James R. Walker&#8217;s collection activity fell precisely in this phase, which means his informants passed on their knowledge under conditions of persecution.<\/p><p>This circumstance shapes the source situation. Some religious specialists deliberately passed on their knowledge because they feared it might otherwise be lost. Other content was withheld.<\/p><p>Research must therefore reckon with the fact that the transmitted accounts contain both gaps and deliberate selection. Added to this is the influence of Christianity, which many Lakota adopted over the course of the 20th century, sometimes alongside the older tradition.<\/p><p>Since the 1970s, in the wake of the American Indian Movement and broader indigenous civil rights movements, a clear resurgence of Lakota religion has been observed. The Sun Dance is again performed publicly, and concepts such as <em>Wakan Tanka<\/em> are established elements of religious discourse.<\/p><p>At the same time, there are debates within Lakota communities about how tradition should be transmitted and who is authorized to do so, as well as criticism of the appropriation of these concepts by non-indigenous <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Collective term for teachings that claim a hidden knowledge accessible only to initiates.\" tabindex=\"0\">esoteric<\/span> movements.<\/p><p>For the religious studies presentation, this means that <em>Wakan Tanka<\/em> is not a closed historical topic but a living and at times contested point of reference for contemporary Lakota identity.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-lit e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-lit\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-lith elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-lith\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Literature (Selected)<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-litc e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-litc\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-litt elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-litt\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul><li>Joseph Epes Brown: <em>The Sacred Pipe<\/em> (1953)<\/li><li>John Neihardt: <em>Black Elk Speaks<\/em> (1932)<\/li><li>James Walker: <em>Lakota Belief and <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A prescribed, recurring sequence of symbolic actions with religious or cultural significance.\" tabindex=\"0\">Ritual<\/span><\/em> (1980)<\/li><li>Vine Deloria Jr.: <em>God Is Red<\/em> (1973)<\/li><li>Aase Hultkrantz: <em>Belief and Worship in Native North America<\/em> (1981)<\/li><li>Charles Eastman: <em>The Soul of the Indian<\/em> (1911)<\/li><li>George Tinker: <em>American Indian Liberation<\/em> (2008)<\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-kwd e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-kwd\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-kwdc e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-kwdc\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-kwdt elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-kwdt\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><em>Related key terms: Wakan Tanka Lakota Sioux Sweat Lodge Sun Dance Black Elk Vision Quest Chanunpa.<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-cc e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-cc\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" id=\"iwg-cc-wakan-tanka\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-ccinner e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-ccinner\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-cch elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-cch\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">iWell Guard and Protective Traditions<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-cct elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-cct\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div data-nosnippet=\"true\"><p>iWell Guard draws on the cultural-historical tradition of portable protective objects, in the tradition of <a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/native-american-gods-wakan-tanka-and-first-nations\/\">Native American<\/a> and many other cultures worldwide. 41 levels, solid gold, platinum, silver, crafted in Germany. 30-day return policy.<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-ccb iwg-cc-button iwg-cc-cta-2026-05-13 elementor-widget elementor-widget-jet-button\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-ccb\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"jet-button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-jet-button jet-elements\"><div class=\"jet-button__container\"><a class=\"jet-button__instance jet-button__instance--icon-left hover-effect-1\" href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/about-iwell-guard-the-protective-pendant-in-detail\/?utm_source=iwell-guard.com&amp;utm_medium=info-box&amp;utm_campaign=wesen-tradition\"><div class=\"jet-button__plane jet-button__plane-normal\"><\/div><div class=\"jet-button__plane jet-button__plane-hover\"><\/div><div class=\"jet-button__state jet-button__state-normal\"><span class=\"jet-button__label\">Learn more about the iWell Guard<\/span><\/div><div class=\"jet-button__state jet-button__state-hover\"><span class=\"jet-button__label\">Learn more about the iWell Guard<\/span><\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div><style>.elementor-element.elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-ccb .jet-button__instance{width:320px;height:56px;}.elementor-element.elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-ccb .jet-button__state-normal .jet-button__label{text-align:center;margin:0px 0px 0px 0px;color:#1a1b20;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-size:13px;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:4px;line-height:1.714em;text-transform:uppercase;}.elementor-element.elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-ccb .jet-button__state-hover .jet-button__label{text-align:center;margin:0px 0px 0px 0px;color:#FECC76;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-size:13px;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:4px;line-height:1.714em;text-transform:uppercase;}.elementor-element.elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-ccb .jet-button__plane-normal{background-color:#FECC76;border-style:solid;border-color:#C99540;border-width:2px 2px 2px 2px;}.elementor-element.elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-ccb .jet-button__plane-hover{background-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.55);border-style:solid;border-color:#FECC76;border-width:2px 2px 2px 2px;}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-ccd elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-ccd\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div data-nosnippet=\"true\"><p style=\"text-align:center;font-size:13px;opacity:0.7;margin-top:14px\" data-nosnippet=\"true\">Personal experiences may vary. Not a medical device. No health claims.<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-disc e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-disc\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wakantanka-discw elementor-widget elementor-widget-html\" data-id=\"iwgw-wakantanka-discw\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"html.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<footer data-nosnippet=\"true\" class=\"iwg-disclaimer-block\"><p data-nosnippet=\"true\">iWell Guard is <strong>not a medical device<\/strong> and does not replace medical or psychotherapeutic treatment. The religious studies content is cultural-historical context, not a recommendation for spiritual practice.<\/p><\/footer>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wakan Tanka, Great Sacred Power and supreme being of the Lakota tradition Wakan Tanka (Lakota: Wakan Thanka, Great Sacred Power) is, in the religious understanding of the Lakota and the broader Sioux language family, the highest, all-encompassing numinous reality. It is less a personified deity in the Western sense than an all-pervading sacred power. CreatorNative [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5761,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"Wakan Tanka Lakota","_yoast_wpseo_title":"Wakan Tanka: Supreme Being of the Lakota","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Wakan Tanka, the great sacred power of the Lakota, designates not so much a personified deity as an all-pervading numinous reality.","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_angie_page":false,"gefaehrdungsstufe":"","wesen_kultur":"","wesen_klasse":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"class_list":["post-5760","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v27.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Wakan Tanka: Supreme Being of the Lakota<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" 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