Talk:Iktomi

24.92.74.83 21:16, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

1

The story of Iktomi is in the movie Dreamkeeper. Definately a movie worth seeing.

This article seems to have been maliciously edited.

Hallmark Specials

I did not maliciously edit it, I created the original. From what I can tell, no one else has edited my original. I did, just tonight, to expand it, check my spelling and the grammar and try to stay as close as possible to a scientific viewpoint. While I appreciate your concern for the treatment of Iktomi, I can assure you I hold no grudges against Iktomi. In fact, I worship him, much to the chagrin of my Lakota elders. Perhaps I should be commended for keeping my personal opinions out of the article and attempting to stick to fact and not fiction...and as for what Iktomi has to say about you...tsk tsk. :D Well if I let Iktomi edit the article it wouldn't be so G rated or sensible. Iktomi isn't about warm fuzzies and sweet new age myths made into Hallmark specials. Some of the few stories that are recorded are straight out of a horror movie. Did you ever hear the one where Iktomi cooks and eats the babies of some women? Oh yes. That's one of my favorites. If you cannot see the good in that story, should you find it, you do not understand Iktomi.

I will continue to find time to edit the page according to what legitimate references I am able to dig up and hope the entry doesn't get wiped out to be replaced with another sappy version of the dreamcatcher myth.

Yours truly,

Lowachin Sungila

more

you dont know me and i dont know you. i am not one of these editors. what is the story of Iktomi cooking and eating babies?

Eating babies

Hmm well I think it's called Iktomi and the Red Plums, though there is a chokecherry version. It was originally published in the book from Zitkala...maybe not. I know it's on the web somewhere.

LSungila

Edit: PS: I hope you know I am teasing you a bit about that story. Welcome to the creepy tipi :P

24.92.74.83

Donated picture!

Hello I donated a picture I created of Iktomi using his symbology. The grey, black and red colors of spider woman and her cross. Also in the background is a symbol of Iktomi...six prongs for the six directions. He lacks a seventh direction in mythology. And of course eight eyes!

Also I added a real spider photo.

Can someone please format these correctly? I don't know how.

I removed the real spider photo, as it appears to have been changed to an image of a cover for "The Spider" comic book. Jedikaiti (talk) 19:41, 1 February 2011 (UTC)

Citation problems

Hey out there, I took this off the tale end of this article I've been poking at here and there, to improve the quality and avoid distraction. There's a big problem here because I have oral tales and information from Lakota people but it's oral...there's no published source. This is completely natural for the Lakota but on Wikipedia they want concrete sources or it's no good. Sort of reminds me of Iktomi. :(

'A great majority of the information on the Lakota gods is secret, and deliberate misinformation by the Lakota to anthropologists or curiosity seekers does occur on a regular basis as a way of protecting the culture. This practice of lying has become more deliberate and common in response to books detailing a false or exaggerated version of Lakota or general Native American spirituality. The vast majority of these books are written by outsiders to the religion who receive their information from other misinformed individuals claiming to be spiritual leaders. This caused a public outcry amongst the Native American communities in many nations, and with the religion and old ways of the Native Americans slowly dying out, it is in peril of being lost forever.'

• • You can use oral sources, just remember to cite them properly so that the authenticity of the source can theoretically be verified. Check out This site and this site (use find function --> "interview") for info on how to cite an interviewed/oral source.Sailor Titan (talk) 18:14, 20 January 2011 (UTC)

Corrections to the page

"Alternate names for Iktómi include Ikto, Ictinike, Inktomi, Unktome, and Unktomi. These names are due to the differences in languages between different indigenous nations, as this spider deity was known throughout many of North America's tribes."

I feel like this description could be better also Unktomi/e is Dakota while Lakota say Iktomi. Also this page is specifically talking about Iktomi/Unktomi only so why mention that the difference in name due to language differences? linguistically Dakota-Nakota-Lakota are thought of as a Dialect continuum, and with Iktomi/Unktomi being specific to the Lakota & Dakota there may be a trickster spider in different nations/people however that is irrelivent here given again this is solely about the Lakota & Dakota Iktomi.

If this entry is to talk about various Indigenous American peoples trickster spider / spider deities then the whole page should reflect that and not be as it appears now as solely talking about the Lakota understanding/belief of Iktomi.

Líla wópila

Matĥó Ĥwá Matȟó ȟwá (talk) 22:24, 8 August 2025 (UTC)

See Cultural depictions of spiders.  oncamera  _{(talk page)} 04:23, 9 August 2025 (UTC)