In Lakota mythology, Iktomi is a spider-trickster god, 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. The Lakota (also Sioux, Dakota) are a Native American tribe located in the Great Plains area of the United States. ... Suborders Araneomorphae Mesothelae Mygalomorphae See the taxonomy section for families Spiders are invertebrate animals that produce silk, have eight legs and no wings. ... In the study of mythology, folklore and religion, a trickster is a god, goddess, spirit, human hero or anthropomorphic animal who breaks the rules of the gods or nature, sometimes maliciously (for example, Loki) but usually with ultimately positive effects. ... A culture hero is a mythological or historically-embellished hero specific to some group (cultural, ethnic, racial, religious, etc. ... The Lakota (friends or allies, sometimes also spelled Lakhota) are a Native American tribe, also known as the Sioux (see Names). ...

Iktomi is a sorcerer, he has the power to make potions that change gods, gain control over women and basically make a nuisance of himself. Mica 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.