"You can call Wakan-Tanka by any name you like. In English I call Him God or the Great Spirit. He's the Great Mystery, the Great Mysterious. That's what Wakan-Tanka really means - the Great Mysterious. You can't define Him. He's not actually a 'He' or a 'She,' a 'Him' or a 'Her.' We have to use those kinds of words because you can't just say 'It.' God's never an 'It.' So call Wakan-Tanka whatever you like. Just be sure to call Him. He wants to talk to you . . . When I go up on the hill to pray I don't just talk to God. I try to get the talking over quick. Mostly I'm listening. Listening to God - that's praying, too . . . So that's how you pray to God. You LISTEN."
Noble Red Man (Mathew King), Lakota elder
Photo: Bear Lodge, Devil's Tower National Monument, WY, May 19, 2012
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