Iktómi, the Spider, is the Lakota trickster and culture hero, the first-born son of Íŋyaŋ the Rock. Originally Ksá, the god of wisdom who invented language, stories, names, and games, he was demoted to trickster after his scheming — including the deception that separated the Sun and Moon. As Iktómi he is endlessly cunning yet frequently the victim of his own tricks, the subject of a vast cycle of teaching-tales, and a shaper of the world as the people now find it.