Great Spirit

Accounts vary by nation. In Lakota usage prior to Christian influence, Wakȟáŋ Tȟáŋka could denote an organization or plurality of sacred powers whose ways were mysterious; oral formulations (e.g., Chief Luther Standing Bear) describe a unifying life force that flowed through all things and was breathed into the first man. In Anishinaabe traditions Gitche Manitou is typically called the Creator and Giver of Life and is associated in some accounts with a sacred locality (Michilimackinac) where rituals and pilgrimages were made. Algonquian manitou frameworks present a pervasive spiritual force manifesting throughout creation and sometimes dualizing into beneficial and harmful instances.

Sources do not give a fixed anthropomorphic appearance. The Great Spirit is most often framed as a non-corporeal, immanent sacred force present in sun, moon, stars, water, earth, plants and animals rather than a single visual form. Ritual address sometimes uses familial honorifics (e.g., Lakota prayers beginning with 'Tunkasila' meaning 'grandfather, Great Spirit'), which conveys respectful personhood without prescribing a consistent physical depiction. Some historical descriptions and teachings emphasize unity and kinship among all beings rather than an image of a singular body.

Described as Creator and Giver of Life and the foundational source of sacredness; the Great Spirit is held to be omnipresent in beings and environments and to provide moral and sacred order. Certain traditions attribute to it occasional personal agency and intervention in human affairs; spiritual leaders and designated 'speakers' mediate and communicate its will for individuals and communities. In Algonquian thought the underlying life force (manitou) can manifest in dualistic ways—helpful (aashaa monetoo) or harmful (otshee monetoo)—so manifestations associated with the broader concept may be morally ambivalent.