The Sun

The Sun (Crow áxxaashe) was among the most frequently invoked supernatural beings of the Apsáalooke. Lowie records that oaths were sworn by the Sun, sweat baths were dedicated to him, and prayers and offerings were addressed to him at dawn. In the celestial-marriage narrative, the Sun takes a Crow woman to the sky country, where she bears him a son who becomes the culture hero Old Woman's Grandchild and, ultimately, the Morning Star.

Children

• Old Woman's Grandchild

Domains

• sun
• oaths and prayer

Powers

• to grant visions and supernatural power to fasters and suppliants

Relations

• father of: Old Woman's Grandchild

Sources

• Robert H. Lowie, The Religion of the Crow Indians, Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History 25(2), 1922
• Timothy P. McCleary, The Stars We Know: Crow Indian Astronomy and Lifeways, Waveland Press, 1997