#iktomi

i think that i have solved ictinike/iktomi mystery. In short: it semms that ictinike is another version of iktomi from omaha  and iowa people, and i believe that the sources they consulted at the time may have confused the lakota with the omaha and iowa peoples,so that'  why the game compendium claims he is from Sioux.

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Wow, nice job! Just one thing, though---what book is this from?

Iktomi Tales

Iktomi (also known as Unktomi) is a trickster figure of the lore of the Lakota Sioux nation similar to tricksters of other nations, such as Wihio of the Cheyenne, Nanabozho (Manabozho) of the Ojibwe, Coyote of the Navajo, or Glooscap of the Algonquin. As a trickster, he may cause harm or good but always brings transformation.

The concept of transformation is relayed in the form of a lesson learned either by himself or another character in the story that teaches the audience any one of several lessons including respect for nature, the importance of telling the truth, recognizing falsehood, being content with what one has, respect for oneself and one's community, and many others. These stories always encourage recognition of some important cultural value either by illustrating the concept in action or showing the consequences of violating it. Iktomi sometimes appears as a spider, sometimes as a man (a Sioux hunter, warrior, or sage), and is variously known as Ictinike, Ikto, Unktome, and most famously Unktomi by the different bands of the Sioux.

When the character was created or how old the stories are is unknown. The tales were passed down orally, generation to generation, until they were written down by European and Euro-American settlers, primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Native American writers began to record their nation's legends, and those of others, at about this same time, including the Iktomi tales.

Iktomi the Trickster

Iktomi often interacts with Coyote, who sometimes serves as the trickster figure while Iktomi is the one taught the lesson (just as Ma'ii, the coyote figure of the Navajo, does in those stories). There are many variations on the Iktomi character, and when first introduced at the beginning of a story, the audience has no idea what part he is going to play. The story itself, therefore, mirrors the changeable nature of the character. In one piece, he will be the villain, in another the hero, in another a sage mediator, and in another a clown or buffoon.

In The Bound Children, for example, Iktomi is the sage who mediates a dispute between members of the community, while in White Plume, he is the villain who tries to steal the hero's identity and claim the beautiful maiden as his own. In the two tales that follow, Unktomi and the Arrowheads and Iktomi and the Coyote, the character is presented as a helper who is mistreated and as a buffoon who cannot tell the difference between a living animal and a dead one, respectively. Unktomi and the Arrowheads encourages respect for other living things, while the moral of Iktomi and the Coyote would be similar to the old adage, "don't count your chickens until they hatch."

Iktomi tales were, and still are, among the most popular Sioux legends as they are always entertaining while also providing an important cultural, religious, or common-sense moral. In this, they share ground with trickster tales of any culture, ancient or modern, around the world as trickster figures in general often drive the narrative of some of the most engaging texts, as with Loki in Norse mythology, Hermes in Greek mythology, or Reynard the Fox in European medieval folklore, among many others. Regarding such figures, scholar Larry J. Zimmerman writes:

Despite the different guises, the trickster exhibits similar characteristics wherever he is encountered. He can be a crafty joker and a bungler, who is usually undone by his own horseplay or trickery, ending up injured or even dead – only to rise again, seemingly none the wiser for his experience. At times irreverent and idiotic, his doings entertainingly highlight the importance of moral rules and boundaries.

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The cultural importance of the trickster figure was recognized by the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung (l. 1875-1961), who included the concept in his archetypes as a psychological manifestation of one's juvenile and immature impulses, which, even so, should be acknowledged as, through its expression, one can recognize important personal truths. The trickster in Jung's work is an avatar, challenging how one defines oneself and offering the opportunity for change and growth. The Iktomi tales illustrate Jung's concept well in offering their audience the same possibility of seeing the world, and themselves, in a different light.

Propaganda!

Hermes is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology considered the herald of the gods. He is also widely considered the protector of human heralds, travelers, thieves, merchants, and orators. He is able to move quickly and freely between the worlds of the mortal and the divine aided by his winged sandals. Hermes plays the role of the psychopomp or "soul guide"—a conductor of souls into the afterlife. In myth, Hermes functions as the emissary and messenger of the gods, and is often presented as the son of Zeus and Maia, the Pleiad. He is regarded as "the divine trickster", about which the Homeric Hymn to Hermes offers the most well-known account.

Which isn't much ... but it is intriguing that it happened twice ...