IKTOMI
IKTOMI
Real Name: Ksa
Identity/Class: Presumably one of the Anasazi (Native American) gods associated with Earth
Occupation: Trickster-god;
formerly the god of wisdom and a culture-hero
Group Membership: The Anasazi
Affiliations: Clown demons, Curtis Edwards, the Manitou
Enemies: Ghost Dancer (James Owl), Lori,
Mike,
Patti;
possibly Ghost
Dancer (Nathaniel Great Owl)
Known Relatives: Inyan (father), Iya (brother)
Aliases: Inktomi; formerly Ksa
Base of Operations: Unrevealed
First Appearance: Dances with Demons#1 (September, 1993)
Powers/Abilities:
History: See comments for possible myth/history.
(Marvel Frontier Comics Special#1/2 (fb)) - Iktomi the trickster granted one of the Clown demons the power of change, and he took over the form of Curtis Edwards, submerging its true self in a human personality to avoid detection.
(Marvel Frontier Comics Special#1/2 (fb) - BTS) - The Clown demon continued Edwards mission, traveling to Native American reservations and romanticizing the Native American people, as well as romanticizing the slaughter of the Native Americans by the white man.
(Marvel Frontier Comics Special#1/2 (fb) - BTS) <December 21, 1925> - Following the trail of the whispers of one seeking to be Manitou, Ghost Dancer traveled to Edwards residence. Edwards/Clown created illusions to drive him off, but Ghost Dancer dispelled them. Ghost Dancer recognized and summoned forth the Clown demon and then took it away to force it to atone.
(Dances with Demons#2 (fb) - BTS) - Someone (possibly Ghost Dancer (Nathaniel Great Owl) or the Manitou demon) tricked Iktomi, trapping him in a single body, removing from him the power of change. Iktomi sought vengeance on this "motherless son." He also lost "the freedom of the plains and the hospitality of the Hogan and Pueblo," which were his by right.
(Dances with Demons#1) - Iktomi followed the trail of the Manitou demon as it slaughtered people across the USA in the process of tracking James Owl. He sought the Manitou demon to gain vengeance and power.
(Dances with Demons#2) - Iktomi arrived at a hotel just west of Albuquerque, missing the Manitou demon by minutes. As Iktomi pondered regaining his powers and gaining vengeance on the one who had taken them, one the Manitou's Clown demons impaled him with a spear. Iktomi broke off the spear and turned on the Clown demon, only to be swarmed over by dozens of Clown demons hiding in the ceiling.
(Dances with Demons#3) - Iktomi sensed the dreams of Patti, which contained a glimpse of the current trials of her best friend James Owl (the grandson of Nathaniel and the successor to the Ghost Dancer title). Iktomi then traveled to the storm drains under the big "HOLLYWOOD" sign, meeting with the Manitou demon and his Clown demons, who had recently failed to capture or slay James Owl. Breaking the neck of one of the Clown demons for the Hell of it, Iktomi offered to help him re-locate James in exchange for the return of the power of change. Iktomi then met with Patti, claiming to be a friend of another friend, Mike, and convinced her to accompany him becomes James needed her help. As they approached the storm drains, Patti realized something was wrong, but it was too late, and Iktomi trapped her between himself and the Manitou demon and his Clowns.
(Dances with Demons#4 (fb) - BTS) - Iktomi, Manitou, and the Clowns inhabited the flesh of Patti, forcing her to use her spiritual connection to James to lead them to him.
(Dances with Demons#4) - As James continued his confrontation with and training by his ancestor Ghost Dancers, Patti--possessed by Iktomi, Manitou, and the Clowns--was forced to follow the psychic trail to James in the Grand Canyon, after which they erupted from her form. When the Manitou demon attacked James' spirit guardian, Lori, they crashed into Iktomi, knocking him off of a rocky bridge, and he fell into the canyon far below. The Manitou demon was consumed by James Owl shortly after his acceptance of the Ghost Dancer role.
Comments: Adapted by by Simon Jowett and Charlie Adlard.
I really doubt Iktomi would have died in that fall, but who knows.
Given the fact that the Manitou in this series was a demon-creature unrelated to the Native American god Manitou, I am uncertain whether Iktomi is supposed to be a god or just another poser. Here's some info on Iktomi I pulled from ye olde net. Take it for what that's worth.
Per Wikipedia:
In Lakota mythology, Iktomi is a spider-trickster spirit, and a culture-hero for the Lakota people. He is the son of Inyan, rock, and the elder brother of Iya, the great destroyer. In the ancient days, Iktomi was Ksa, wisdom, but he was stripped of his title because of his troublemaking ways. Most of his schemes end with him falling to ruin when his intricate plans backfire. His propensity for mischief leads many without a full understanding of Native American mythology to believe that he is an evil or satanic figure, however, it is never quite that simple. Iktomi can be 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 uses strings to control humans like puppets.He has also the power to make potions that change gods, gain control over women and basically make a nuisance of himself. 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, for instance, when he gave the people ways to protect from evil, or when he came to warn the tribes of the coming Europeans.
Lakota mythology is a living belief system, still subscribed to by both Lakota and some outsiders. The myths state that it was Iktomi who would bring the webs across the continents, today, this has come to mean first the telephone network, and finally the internet and world wide web. Iktomi is considered from time immemorial to be the patron of all new technology, from his invention of writing he gave to the people to today's modern inventions. Many Lakota today consider Iktomi to be the god of the Europeans, who seem to readily follow in his bizarre behavior and self entrapping tricks.
http://www.pantheon.org/areas/folklore/folktales/articles/iktomi.html:
In Lakota myth, Iktomi (a.k.a. Inktomi, and Spiderman) is a man who 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 said, 'We are in a toh-ka territory and we are subject to a suprise 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 whip 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 seemed 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 oh 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."
Per Will U:
He's a giant and cannibal-god, enemy to the Native American Gods, and possibly connected to Sussatinnako, the cannibal-goddess, grandmother of Tawa the sun-god. He's probably her mate, but I don't know that for sure. I'll let you know more if I find anything else worth mentioning. His name is also spelled Inktomi.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
No KNOWN connections to:
images: (without ads)
Dances with Demons#2 cover (main)
#3, p17, panel 3 (face)
Other Appearances:
Dances with Demons#1-4 (September-December, 1993) - by Simon Jowett (script), Charlie Adlard
(art), Garry Russell (editor)
Marvel Frontier Comics Special#1 (January, 1994)- by Simon Jowett (script), Charlie Adlard
(art), Michael Bennent (editor)
Last updated: 08/11/06
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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