In
Lakota mythology
Lakota mythology is the body of sacred stories that belong to the Lakota people also known aTeton Sioux
Overview
The Lakota believe that everything has a spirit; including trees, rocks, rivers, and almost every natural being. This therefore lea ...
, Unk Cekula (uŋȟčéǧila or uŋkčéǧila) is a serpentoid creature which was responsible for many unexplained disappearances and deaths. Her male counterpart is known as ''Unk Tehi''.
Description
She was described at first as having no real shape or form; she had eyes of fire, and a fanged mouth that was shrouded in a smoky or cloudy mass. As time went on further, her form was exposed as being massive, with a long scaly body whose natural armor was almost impenetrable. Her eyes burned with wrathful hunger, her claws were like iron, and her voice raged like thunder rolling in the clouds.
Whoever looked upon her will become blind or go insane.
Her weakness is a seventh spot on her torso, behind of which her heart lies within, which burned fierily. To kill her, one has to shoot a medicine arrow at it.
Accounts
The ancient Lakota tribes of the Northwest had heard rumors, from neighboring tribes, that a Giant Evil Spirit had emerged from the icy waters of the far Northeast Atlantic. In time the creature and its companion had fought its way across the eastern coast into the mid west, with many different tribes finding ways to scare off the monsters. Until they made their way to the
Black Hills
The Black Hills ( lkt, Ȟe Sápa; chy, Moʼȯhta-voʼhonáaeva; hid, awaxaawi shiibisha) is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black Elk P ...
(Ȟe Sápa) and sought a new home in the mountains. Once she and her companion arrived and made a place in the mountains. She coexisted with everyone, from the tribes to the Wamakaskan and the other spirit beings. During this time her and her companion began to prepare to spawn offspring, many different Tribal Clans and Nagi that lived in the Black Hills learned of the monsters plans and began making plans to prevent anymore monsters from becoming a threat. Unk Cekula and Unk Tehi coexisted with nature because they were only two that were sustained by nature, but if there were more monsters that needed to kill for survival it meant that more animals and people would die to feed them. This forced everyone to act, before she became the cause of chaos and fear.
Over the many years in which she wreaked havoc in the hills, she was challenged by many warriors from the Lakota tribe. It was learned that the creature had offspring, and the tribes had to kill them when they began feeding on people.
In one myth, Unk Cekula fights with and kills a giant bear, whose fallen body produced the
Bear Butte
Bear Butte is a geological laccolith feature located near Sturgis, South Dakota, United States, that was established as a State Park in 1961. An important landmark and religious site for the Plains Indians tribes long before Europeans reached Sout ...
in the Black Hills.
She was slain after she ate the family of a great warrior from the bear clan. This warrior was told by a Weasel spirit that if he was to get swallowed by Unk Cekula, he could use his knife to cut his way out of the belly of the beast and free the other victims.. Alternatively, two twin brothers, one of whom was blind, killed Unk Cekula using arrows given to them by a medicine woman.
Some accounts state that the brothers' arrows did not kill Unk Cekula, but only injured her so greatly that she damaged the land as she writhed away. As she finally died, the
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
scorched her flesh and dried up the land, resulting in the arid rock formations and skeletons found in the
Badlands
Badlands are a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded."Badlands" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 47. They are characterized by steep slopes, m ...
(Makȟóšiča).
In another myth, Unk Cekula emerged from the primordial waters to flood the land. The resulting devastation angered
Wakinyan
Wakíŋyaŋ is a Lakota word for "thunder." It also may be a portmanteau word which associates "wahka" ("sacred") and "kinyan" ("wings").
The word is usually translated as "Thunder Spirits", "Thunder Beings," or " Thunder Birds". Heyoka
The ...
, who flapped his wings to create a great storm to dry up the land and shoot lightning, killing Unk Cekula. Her heart was destroyed, but her bones were scattered across the land.
In popular culture
A fictionalized version of the myth appeared in a ''
Marvel Comics Presents
''Marvel Comics Presents'' was an American comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics originally from 1988 to 1995. It returned for a second volume in 2007–2008, and a third volume that started in 2019.
Volume 1
The first volume ...
'' story arc starring
Wolverine
The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for "gluttony, glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is ...
.
[{{Cite web, url=http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix2/uncegilawolv.htm, title=Uncegila (Wolverine foe), website=Marvunapp.com]
She appears in a story told in the 2003 film ''
Dreamkeeper
''Dreamkeeper'' is a 2003 film written by John Fusco and directed by Steve Barron. The main plot of the film is the conflict between a Lakota elder and storyteller named Pete Chasing Horse (August Schellenberg) and his Lakota grandson, Shane Chas ...
'', in which Eagle Boy is the one who slays her with weapons given to him by an old woman.
Unk Cekula appears in the urban fantasy novel ''Boundary Lines'' by Melissa F. Olson.
She appears briefly in the urban fantasy prequel ''Death Valley Magic'' by Linsey Hall.
J.K Rowling's Ilvermoney House, The Horned Serpents, refers to the Unktechi, or the children of Unchegila.
See also
*
Horned Serpent, including Unk Tehi, and her other counterparts from other Native American cultures.
*
Apep
Apep, also spelled Apepi or Aapep, ( Ancient Egyptian: ; Coptic: Erman, Adolf, and Hermann Grapow, eds. 1926–1953. ''Wörterbuch der aegyptischen Sprache im Auftrage der deutschen Akademien''. 6 vols. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs'schen Buch ...
, another monstrous Reptilian defeated by the Spirits.
*
Tiamat
In Mesopotamian religion, Tiamat ( akk, or , grc, Θαλάττη, Thaláttē) is a primordial goddess of the sea, mating with Abzû, the god of the groundwater, to produce younger gods. She is the symbol of the chaos of primordial creati ...
, a primordial ocean goddess from Mesopotamia who is also associated with serpents.
References
External links
*Uŋȟčéǧila in th
Lakota Dictionary OnlineHistory Database article on Uncegila, Facts on Files
Lakota legendary creatures
Lakota culture
Chaos gods
Legendary serpents
Native American demons