Iktomi

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Inktomi was a search engine company acquired by Yahoo!.

In Lakota mythology, Iktomi is a spider-trickster spirit, and a culture-hero for the Lakota people. Alternate names for Iktomi include Ikto, Ictinike, Inktomi, Unktome, and Unktomi. These names are due to the differences in tribal languages, as this spider deity was known throughout many of North America's tribes.

[edit] In Lakota mythology

According to the Lakota, Iktomi is the son of Inyan, rock. Inyan is a creator god similar in form to other male creator gods. Iktomi has a younger brother, called Iya, who is a destructive and powerful spirit. One story of Iktomi goes that in the ancient days, Iktomi was Ksa, or wisdom, but he was stripped of his title because of his troublemaking ways. He began playing evil tricks because people would jeer at his strange or funny looks. Most of his schemes end with him falling to ruin when his intricate plans backfire. These tales are usually told as a way to teach lessons to Lakota youth. Because it is Iktomi, a respected deity playing the part of the idiot or fool, and the story is told as entertainment, the listener is allowed to reflect on misdeeds without feeling like they are being confronted. In other tales, Iktomi is depicted with dignity and seriousness, such as in the popularized myth of the dreamcatcher. The tales of Iktomi's propensity for mischief leads many without a full understanding of Native American mythology to believe that he is an evil figure, however, it is not quite that simple. Iktomi can be seen as both good and bad, and has been portrayed in both ways. Many other Native American trickster spirits, like Coyote, are often victims of the same misconception.

Iktomi is a shapeshifter. He can use strings to control humans like puppets.He has also the power to make potions that change gods, gain control over people and trick gods and mortals. Mika or Coyote is his great accomplice in all of this, though there are times when he behaves seriously and comes to the aid of the Lakota people, there are instances where he gives the people ways to protect from evil, live a better life with technology, or warn them of danger. Iktomi is said in one story to have warned the Lakota of the coming Europeans, and that they could not fight and win against these invaders.

Lakota mythology is a living belief system, still subscribed to by both Lakota and some outsiders. Oral myths stated that it was Iktomi who would bring the webs across the continents. Today, this has interpreted to mean first the telephone network, and then the internet and world wide web. Iktomi has been considered from time immemorial to be the patron of all new technology, from his invention of language he gave to the people to today's modern inventions, such as the computer or robots. Many Lakota today consider Iktomi to be the god of the Europeans, who they claim seem to readily follow in his bizarre behavior and self entrapping tricks.

Because the Lakota mythology is word of mouth, and traditionally there were no written records, most of the information about Iktomi has not been written down or recorded. He has lived on in the retelling of tales and the religious traditions which are passed on from generation to generation, into the modern day. A great majority of the information on the Lakota gods is secret, and deliberate misinformation by the Lakota to anthropologists or curiosity seekers does occur on a regular basis as a way of protecting the culture. This practice of lying has become more deliberate and common in response to books detailing a false or exaggerated version of Lakota or general Native American spirituality. The vast majority of these books are written by outsiders to the religion who receive their information from other misinformed individuals claiming to be spiritual leaders.