To the native Lakota Sioux people of the Black Hills region of South Dakota, Wind Cave is known as Oniya Oshoka, and is a sacred place. According to Lakota legend, this small opening in the rock led into a great cave, which is a portal to a spirit world, through which the first people arrived on the Earth.
Guide to Wind Cave
A Spiritual Waiting Ground
Native inhabitants of western South Dakota believed that deep within the cave, there was a portal between the natural world, and the supernatural. Just beyond that passage, the early Lakota believed, there was a spiritual waiting ground, which was known as the Tunkan Tipi.
The early people were positioned here by the Creator, Takuskanskan, to wait as the Earth above was prepared for arrival, as plants and animals were only beginning to populate the land above. These people were instructed not to leave the confines of the cave, and under no condition were they to go to the surface until the Creator instructed them to do so.
Iktomi & Anog-ite
However, above on the Earth were two spirits whom had gained the Creator’s disfavor by consorting with the evil spirit Gnaskinyan. These spirits had been banished to the surface before it was ready for human arrival. They were Iktomi, a spider who was known as the trickster spirit, and Anog-ite, the double faced woman, whose face was beautiful on one side, and ugly on the other.
Both Iktomi and Anog-ite had once held favor with the Creator. However their actions in concert with Gnaskinyan were actions of pride and ego, leading to their banishment to the Earth’s surface prior to its completed preparation.
A Tale of Temptation
These spirits sent a wolf companion into the cave with a pack filled with beautiful clothing and furs along with delicious berries, plants and meats from the Earth’s surface. Once there, the wolf tempted the people with the fruits of the land above, inviting them to follow him back to the surface, where they too could enjoy such delicacies.
In the spirit world, the people were led by a man named Tokahe, who distrusted the wolf, and instructed his people to remain within the cave until they were told by the Creator to make passage to the Earth above. However, those who had tasted the delicious meats, chose to follow the wolf, and departed from the spirit world toward the world above.
Bountiful Earth
Upon arrival on the Earth’s surface, it was summer and the world was warm and beautiful. The wolf led the people to the home of Anog-ite, who wore a scarf over part of her head to cover the ugly side of her face.
She invited the newly arrived people into her home and provided them with feasts and told them she would teach them how to procure the delicacies that they so craved. This she did. However, the people were weak, and were not good workers, as their existence in the cave was easy and all basic necessities had been provided there by the Creator.
Harsh Winter
When winter came, they were unprepared and suffered greatly. They sought assistance from Anog-ite, who then revealed her true face, and laughed and teased the cold and hungry people. They ran back to the hole in the wall, in hopes that they could return to the world within, only to find that Iktomi had blocked the wall and that they were trapped in the cold, harsh world without shelter, food and clothing. They began to weep loudly.
At this time, the Creator heard their cries, and asked what they were doing there. They told the Creator the story of the wolf and Anog-ite. The Creator was angry, and told the people that they should not have disobeyed, because now they would have to be punished.
The Bison
Then the Creator turned them into massive four legged beasts, that would thereafter be forced to endure the Earth’s harsh seasons without shelter or the ability to enjoy the feasts of plenty that would be enjoyed later by their obedient brethren.
When the Creator had readied the Earth, Tokahe led his people from the cave, stopping to pray 4 times. After their prayers, they continued to the hole in the rock and stepped into the world. Upon their emergence from the cave, the Creator shrank the sacred hole to its current size to prevent the people from returning to the cave, as their home was now to be the Earth.
Outside the hole, the people observed the hoof print of a bison. The Creator told them to follow the bison, and that it would provide for them and would enable their survival in the cold winters that were to come. From this great animal, they would obtain food, clothing and shelter.
Lakota oral tradition refers to this “hole that breathes cool air”, as “Pte Tatiopa”, the “Doorway of the Buffaloes”…
To the Lakota people, the bison is a sacred animal… The bison is a part of us…
Guide to Wind Cave
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