TheGreat Spirit is an omnipresent supremelife force, generally conceptualized as a supreme being orgod, in the traditional religious beliefs of many, but not all,Indigenous cultures inCanada and theUnited States. Interpretations of it vary between cultures.
In theLakota tradition, the Great Spirit is known asWakan Tanka.[1][2] According to Lakota activistRussell Means, a more semantically accurate translation ofWakan Tanka is theGreat Mystery.[3] Often,Lakota language prayers begin with the phrase "Tunkasila", which translates to "grandfather, Great Spirit."[4] In theHaudenosaunee tradition, the Great Spirit is known as "the Creator".Haudenosaunee men's lacrosse team captainLyle Thompson characterized it as "the Creator that lives in all of us. It's in the sun. It's in the moon. It's in the stars and the water. It's in the earth."[5] In theAlgonquian tradition, the Great Spirit is known asGitche Manitou.[6]
Due to perceived similarities between the Great Spirit andthe Christian deity, European colonial missionaries drew comparison between the two deities as aChristianization conversion technique.[7]
The Great Spirit has at times been conceptualized as an "anthropomorphiccelestial deity,"[8] agod of creation, history and eternity,[9] who also takes a personal interest in world affairs and might regularly intervene in the lives of human beings.[8]
Numerous individuals are held to have been "speakers" for the Great Spirit; persons believed to serve as an earthly mediator responsible forfacilitating communication between humans and thesupernatural more generally. Such a speaker is generally considered to have an obligation to preserve the spiritual traditions of their respective lineage.[9] The Great Spirit is looked to by spiritual leaders for guidance by individuals as well as communities at large.[10]
While belief in an entity or entities known as the Great Spirit exists across numerous indigenous American peoples, individual tribes often demonstrate varying degrees of cultural divergence. As such, a variety of stories, parables, fables, and messages exhibiting different, sometimes contradictory themes and plot elements have been attributed to the same figure by otherwise disparate cultures.[citation needed]
Wakan Tanka (Wakȟáŋ Tȟáŋka) can be interpreted as the power or the sacredness that resides in everything, resembling someanimistic andpantheistic beliefs. This term describes every creature and object aswakan ("holy") or having aspects that arewakan;[11]tanka corresponds to "great" or "large".[12]
Prior to theChristianizationof indigenous Americans by European settlers and missionaries, the Lakota usedWakan Tanka to refer to anorganization orgroup of sacred entities whose ways were considered mysterious and beyond human understanding. It was the elaboration on these beliefs that prompted scholarly debate suggesting that the term "Great Mystery" could be a more accurate translation of such a concept than "Great Spirit".[13] ActivistRussell Means also promoted the translation "Great Mystery" and the view that Lakota spirituality is not originallymonotheistic.[11]
ChiefLuther Standing Bear (1868–1939) of theLakota Nation put it thus:
Manitou, akin to theHaudenosaunee concept oforenda, is perceived as the spiritual and fundamental life force byAlgonquian peoples. It is believed by practitioners to be omnipresent; manifesting in all things, includingorganisms, the environment, and events both human-induced and otherwise.[15] Manifestations of Manitou are also believed to be dualistic, and such contrasting instances are known asaashaa monetoo ("good spirit") andotshee monetoo ("bad spirit") respectively.[clarification needed] According to legend, when the world was created, the Great Spirit,Aasha Monetoo, gave the land to theindigenous peoples, theShawnee in particular.[16]
TheAnishinaabe culture, descended from theAlgonquian-speakingAbenaki andCree, inherited the Great Spirit tradition of their predecessors.Gitche Manitou (also transliterated asGichi-manidoo) is anAnishinaabe language word typically interpreted as Great Spirit, the Creator of all things and the Giver of Life, and is sometimes translated as the "Great Mystery". Historically, Anishinaabe people believed in a variety of spirits, whose images were placed near doorways for protection.
According toAnishinaabe tradition,Michilimackinac, later named by European settlers asMackinac Island, in Michigan, was the home of Gitche Manitou, and some Anishinaabeg tribes would make pilgrimages there for rituals devoted to the spirit.[17]
Other Anishinaabe names for such a figure, incorporated through the process ofsyncretism, areGizhe-manidoo ("venerableManidoo"),Wenizhishid-manidoo ("FairManidoo") andGichi-ojichaag ("Great Spirit"). WhileGichi-manidoo andGichi-ojichaag both mean "Great Spirit",Gichi-manidoo carried the idea of the greater spiritual connectivity whileGichi-ojichaag carried the idea of individual soul's connection to theGichi-manidoo. Consequently, Christian missionaries often used the termGichi-ojichaag to refer to the Christian idea of aHoly Spirit.
The contemporary belief in the great spirit is generally associated with theNative American Church.[18] The doctrine regarding the great spirit within this modern tradition is quite varied and generally takes onChristian ideas of amonotheistic God alongside animistic conceptions.[19][20] The number of adherents to these contemporary beliefs in the great spirit are unknown, but it is likely they number over a quarter million people.[18]
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