great spirit
Native American deity
Great Spirit is a term for the supreme deity or divine creative force in various Native American spiritual traditions, often used as an English translation of concepts like Wakan Tanka (Lakota) or Gitche Manitou (Ojibwe).
The phrase appears frequently in literature and film, sometimes oversimplifying diverse Indigenous beliefs into a single concept: The elder prayed to the Great Spirit.
While authentic to some traditions, its generic use can flatten the complexity of distinct Native cosmologies.
- manitouAlgonquian supernatural force
- creatorOne who produces something
- divineOf or from gods
- sacredWorthy of reverence
- sacred pipeRitual smoking instrument
peace pipe · soul · ancestor · tribal elder · shaman · medicine man · vision quest · sweat lodge · nature · Mother Earth · vision · ceremony · medicine · totem · sky · earth · wind · eagle
- mythsmyth, legend, fable, fairy tale, folk tale
- spiritghost, specter, phantom, apparition, soul
- creation mythscosmogony, theogony, world egg, creation, primordial
- indigenous traditionselder council, powwows, totem poles, healing rituals, sweat lodges
- Tribal Spiritualitytotem, totem poles, ancestors, dreamcatcher, dream catcher
- Indigenous SpiritualityGhost Dance, vision quest, smudging, medicine wheel, creation myth