Íŋyaŋ
Sioux/Lakota · deity · first world · Recorded classification
Íŋyaŋ, the Rock, is the primordial of Lakota cosmology and the first of the four Superior Gods (Wakáŋ Aŋkáŋtu) who together comprise Wakȟáŋ Tȟáŋka. Alone in the original darkness, holding all power in his blue blood, he sacrificed himself to create — opening his veins to form Maká the Earth and the waters, and in doing so shrank and hardened into the rock and stone of the world. From his line come Iktómi the trickster and the Winged One Wakíŋyaŋ. He is invoked in stone, and the sweat-lodge stones (Tȟuŋkáŋ) carry his ancient power.
Children
Domains
- earth and stone
- creation
- primordial power
Powers
- create the world by opening his veins in self-sacrifice
- give the waters their being from his blue blood
Relations
- father of: IktómiIktómi, originally Ksá (wisdom), is the first-born son of Íŋyaŋ.Walker, Lakota Myth (1983); Powers, Oglala Religion (1977) (secondary)
- creator of: MakáDrew Maká, the Earth, out of his own substance and blood.Walker, Lakota Belief and Ritual (1980), pp. 51-53 (secondary)
- creator of: WakíŋyaŋWakíŋyaŋ, the Winged One, is reckoned the associate of Íŋyaŋ, brought into being in his cause.Walker, Lakota Belief and Ritual (1980); Lakota Myth (1983) (secondary)