Haŋwí
Sioux/Lakota · deity · second world · Recorded classification
Haŋwí, the Moon ('night-sun'), is the first of the four Associate Gods (Wakáŋ Kȟoláya), the companion of the Sun. Made to travel the sky with Wí as his wife, she was publicly shamed at the Feast of the Gods when the two-faced Ité usurped her seat; Škáŋ separated her from the Sun and gave her the night. Her waxing and waning are explained as her covering and uncovering her face in shame as she nears or leaves her estranged husband.
Domains
- moon
- night
Powers
- rule the night and give it light as the Night-Sun
- wax and wane by covering and uncovering her face in shame
Epithets
- Haŋwí Night-Sun (the Moon)James R. Walker, Lakota Belief and Ritual (primary)
Relations
- spouse: WíWife of Wí the Sun, from whom she was separated by Škáŋ's decree after the Feast of the Gods.Walker, Lakota Myth (1983); Lakota Belief and Ritual (1980) (secondary)
Sources
- existence: Walker, The Sun Dance and Other Ceremonies of the Oglala (AMNH 16, 1917) (secondary); Walker, Lakota Belief and Ritual (DeMallie & Jahner eds., 1980) (secondary)