Wakȟáŋ Tȟáŋka can be interpreted as the power or the sacredness that resides in everything, resembling some animistic and pantheistic beliefs.
[3][4] The element Tanka or Tȟáŋka corresponds to "Great" or "large".
[5] Before contact with European Christian missionaries, the Lakota used Wakȟáŋ Tȟáŋka to refer to an organization or group of sacred entities whose ways were mysterious: thus, "The Great Mystery".
[6] Activist Russell Means also promoted the translation "Great Mystery" and the view that Lakota spirituality is not monotheistic.
[citation needed] This article relating to a myth or legend from North America is a stub.