Napi
Napi AmericaLiteral meaning: ‘old man’. The creator deity of the Blackfoot Indians, a tribe of Algonquin stock. It is suggested that Napi is a god of light rather than a solar deity. This would make his name ‘dawn-light-colour-man’.
In character the Old Man is a curious mixture of opposite attributes. At the creation of the world he is spoken of as the thoughtful and wise sky father; but, in other dealings with mankind, he displays an impishness, even in spite worthy of the trickster god Coyote. The Blackfeet, however, are sure about his immortality. They say that he has simply withdrawn into the mountains and has promised to return one day. Natos, ‘the sun’ appears to have taken the place of Napi as their supreme deity: his wife is Kokomikeis ‘the moon’. According to legend, all the children of Natos and Kokomikeis were eaten by pelicans, except Apisuahts, ‘the morning star’.
Having created the world and set it in order...
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