NativeAmericans

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Native Americans

Folktales

IK-TO-MI

By Laughing Deer

Amongst the Lakotas there lives a man called Ik-to-mi
(Spiderman.) This man does things backwards and his clownish
ways cause the people to laugh at him, but he is also a sly and
cunning man and a teacher. He plays an important role in all the
stories and also in the oral history. We also have Coyote in our
stories. In most of the jokes and in the children's stories both
these two characters are present. In most stories Ik to mi comes
out on top because he is so wise, cunning and sly. Because of
these characteristics sometimes he outsmarts himself and the
Coyote comes out on top. Amongst the Lakotas Ik-to-mi has two
meanings. One is spider and the other is that when a man has the
instincts of this insect he is Ik-to-mi - Spiderman. He has
mysterious, supernatural powers both good and bad. He might
predict something and if he senses that the people have doubts
about his prediction, he makes it come true. Sometimes he
displays his mysterious powers in front of his enemies like in this
one story I was told when I was a kid.

My grandfather said, "Grandson long ago when this country was
wild and free several of the Lakotas went out on a mission to prey
upon the toh kas (enemies) to take away their horses. As they
were traveling wi-oki-se som-iya (sun past mid day) and as they
were crossing an open space the leader of this group told
everybody to be on the alert and to stay together because, as he
sad, 'We are in a toh-ka territory and we are subject to a surprise
attack any time.' Ik-to-mi was amongst them and all the time they
were traveling he always was the last one he was always lagging
behind so the leader told him to stay right in the middle of the
group. They were crossing a big open space and Ik to mi was
riding a spotted horse. His horse always looked like he wanted to
go to sleep the way he drooped his head and slowed down. Ik-to-
mi would have to kick his horse with his heels hard not once but
two or three times he had to lay the whi on his horse's rump to
get him going. "As they were getting close to where there were
some small rolling hills on each side of the trail from out of
nowhere they heard war cries. Before they realized what was
taking place the toh kas were swooping down upon them and
they were outnumbered five to one. The only thing they could do
was to turn their horses around and make a dash towards the
small rolling hills which are to one side of the trail."

My grandfather explained, "They said that they left Ik-to-mi
behind as though he were standing still and just as they looked
back to see how far the toh kas were behind them they saw the
toh kas surround Ik-to-mi like bees around honey. The toh kas
were whooping it up and it semed as though every one of them
tried to be the first one to count coup by touching Ik-to-mi with
their coup stick. In so doing they were getting in one another's
way. While they were all milling around him and whooping it up, a
short distance away from them Ik-to-mi somehow had popped up
from out of the ground and had dashed of in another direction.
His horse was so slow that he was trying to make him go faster
by kicking him with his heels. At the same time he was laying the
whip on both sides of his horse's rump back and forth. From afar
he looked like a big bird with a broken wing trying to fly away.
Two of the toh kas saw him. They let out a war cry and took after
him. Others soon joined in the chase and it didn't take any time to
catch up with him. They were on him like bees again some of
them yelling as though coup had been counted. Others let out
war whoops and as they were milling around, a short distance
away, again Ik-to-mi came out of the ground and dashed off in a
different direction. Again the chase was on. Ik-to-mi had such a
mysterious power that he was simply disappearing into the
cracks of the ground with his horse only to reappear again. A
distance away the Lakotas were watching. On the seventh time
the toh kas surrounded Ik to mi he disappeared and reappeared a
distance away from them and dashed off in another direction
again. No war cry was heard nor was there any yelling from the
toh kas. Instead all of them stood there watching him in awe.
They knew that they were messing around with something that
they didn't want any part in. As the toh kas stood watching Ik-to-
mi he rode up to the Lakotas and said, "Ho ka he!" The Lakotas
charged downhill towards the toh kas. The toh kas stood there
dumbfounded.

"They didn't know whether to charge or turn and run. When the
Lakotas were almost upon them they suddenly realized what was
happening to them and the only thing they could do was to turn
their horses around and to take off. The Lakotas caught up with
them from behind and they were knocking them off their horses.
They took their horses away from them. That day the Lakotas
counted many coups and took many horses all because of ik-to-
mi's mysterious power."

The American Indians
and Their Many Cultures

By WildWest.Org

Native American tribes have lived and thrived upon the North
American landscape for thousands of years—long before there
was a United States. Historically, about 500 distinct Native
languages were spoken in North America.

Enjoy Native American
culture and society
explored at The
WildWest.org. The names
Native Americans and
American Indians are
used interchangeably on
this website to describe
America's first inhabitants.
In many cases "Indians"
is a proper name or title
such as in "American Indian Movement" or "Bureau of Indian
Affairs". The name Indian was used traditionally in American
culture and history. The term "Native American" became popular
much later but both are commonly used today and neither should
be considered preferable over the other, although people do have
personal preferences.

Although the freedom of their ancient way of life has been lost,
the religion, culture, legends, and spirit of the American Indian
will always endure. Learn more about the Apache, Blackfoot,
Cherokee, Cheyenne, Lakota, and Pueblo Indian tribes. Read
about Native American legends, heroes, leaders (like Geronimo),
and great battles (like Custer's Last Stand). And understand the
religions of the Blackfoot Indians and the Cheyenne, who
Kachinas are, and the background of The People (Navajo history).
Enjoy the wisdom and peace that American Indian culture has
with nature.

First People: When the Europeans first came to North America in
the 16th- and 17th-century, there were approximately ten million
Indians populating this country. It is believed that the first Native
Americans arrived during the
last ice-age, approximately 20,000
- 30,000 years ago and that they
came through a land-bridge
across the Bering Sound, from
northeastern Siberia into Alaska .
The oldest documented Indian
tribes or cultures in North
America are Sandia (15000 BC),
Clovis (12000 BC) and Folsom (8000 BC) The name "Indian" was
first applied by Christopher Columbus who believed mistakenly
that the mainland and islands of America were part of the Indies,
in Asia.

TheWildWest.org brings to you but a small part of Native
American Indian history with the facts surrounding Native
American people, the places which they inhabited and inklings of
their different cultures, legends, arts and crafts, supreme wisdom
and love of nature.

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