The first story is about a many covered/made up of buffalo fat and another of ground beef. A large man named Unktomi (spider) and his family chase them down and eat the ground beef man. The other man escapes and hides himself in a tree. I think that the ending is very sad for the poor spider-man because he ends up drowning in a river. The different animal titles are a good theme throughout these stories.
The next two stories are also about men named Unktomi and they all seem to be tricksters of some assortment! The trickster archetype also seems to be prevalent in a lot of these stories.
The next few stories are about Iktomi, a spider-fairy. Iktomi is also described as being mischievous and wily. The first of multiple stories shows Iktomi killing ducks and then having them stolen away from him by a pack of wolves. The next is about Iktomi offering a blanket to the Great Spirit and then taking advantage of it! The third story is about Iktomi and his interactions with a muskrat, where the muskrat teaches him a valuable lesson of friendship and food. The last two stories are about Iktomi and a coyote and a turtle. All of these stories showed some cool things about Iktomi and the Sioux's perspective on the spider-fairy!
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| Iktomi sketching from wikipedia |
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