The landscape was different back then. It belonged to Wa-Kon-da, “the mysterious creative power that brings into existence all living things.”
All things embodied Wa-Kon-da, but stone was especially venerated because it was here first. It was called Inyan by the Osage’s northern relatives. Inyan was wise; Inyan was revered; Inyan was the father of all. Inyan was imbued with such power that people would go to the stone for comfort, and pray to the sacred stone to be healed, supplicate it for …