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This is our collection of links to Ioway folktales and traditional stories that can be read online. We have indexed our Native American stories section by tribe to make them easier to locate; however, variants on the same legend are often told by American Indians from different tribes, especially if those tribes are kinfolk or neighbors to each other. In particular, though these legends come from the Ioways, the mythology of related tribes like the Kansa and Otoe tribes are very similar.
Ictinike (also spelled Ishjinki, Ishtinike, and other ways.
Sometimes he is referred to as Old Man Ishjinki.)
Ictinike is the Trickster figure of Missouri, Otoe, and Iowa folklore. Ictinike was the son of the Sun God, but due to his bad behavior
was exiled to earth, where he had many adventures and got in every imaginable kind of trouble.
Dore
and Wahre'dua:
These magical twins whose mother was killed by a monster are common to the myths of many Midwestern and Plains tribes.
They are generally portrayed as heroic monster-slayers in Ioway legends.
Sharp-Elbows (Itopa'hi):
A man-eating ogre with spikes on his elbows and faces on both sides of his head.
World-Man (Maianwatahe):
Dwarf-like god of hunting.
Shunka Warak'in:
A wolf-like monster of Ioway folklore.
Dore and Wahredua:The Adventures of Ictinike:Ictinike and the Buzzard:Ictinike and the Creators:The Story of Maianwatahe:The Bee King and the Snake's Daughters:
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