 | |
| Creature information | |
|---|---|
| Similar entities | Rain Bird,Pamola |
| Folklore | Indigenous peoples of the Americas |
| Origin | |
| Region | North America |
Thethunderbird is a mythological bird-like spirit inNorth American indigenous peoples' history and culture. It is considered a supernatural being of power and strength.[1]
It is frequently depicted in the art, songs, and oral histories of manyPacific Northwest Coast cultures,[2] but is also found in various forms among some peoples of theAmerican Southwest,[citation needed]US East Coast,[citation needed]Great Lakes,[1] andGreat Plains.[1]
The thunderbird is said to create thunder by flapping its wings (Algonquian[3]), and lightning by flashing its eyes (Algonquian, Iroquois[4]). Across cultures, thunderbirds are generally depicted as birds of prey, or hybrids of humans and birds.[1] Thunderbirds are often viewed as protectors, sometimes intervening on people's behalf, but expecting veneration, prayers, and gifts.[1]
Archaeologically, sites containing depictions of thunderbirds have been found dating to the past 4000 years.[1]
Petroglyphs of thunderbirds are found nearTwin Bluffs, Wisconsin. They are in a shelter that was probably used c. 250 BCE to 1500.[5]
Stories about the struggle between theThunderbird and Whale (q.v.) have been traditionally by various Pacific coast tribal groups. Studies have scrutinized the possible connection withCascadia subduction zone earthquake in the year1700 that senttsunami to Japan.[6]
The thunderbird myth and motif is prevalent amongAlgonquian peoples in the Northeast, i.e.,Eastern Canada (Ontario,Quebec, and eastward) andNortheastern United States, and theIroquois peoples (surrounding theGreat Lakes).[7] The discussion of the Northeast region has includedAlgonquian-speaking people in the Lakes-borderingU.S. Midwest states (e.g.,Ojibwe in Minnesota[8]).
InAlgonquian mythology, the thunderbird controls the upper world while the underworld is governed by theunderwater panther orGreat Horned Serpent. The thunderbird creates not just thunder (with its wing-flapping) but lightning bolts, which it casts at the underworld creatures.[3]
Thunderbird in this tradition may be depicted as aspreadeagled bird (wings horizontal head inprofile), but also quite common with the head facing forward, thus presenting an X-shaped appearance overall[8] (see under§Iconography below).
TheOjibwe version of the myth states that the thunderbirds were created byNanabozho to fight the underwater spirits. Thunderbirds also punished humans who broke moral rules. The thunderbirds lived in thefour directions and arrived with the other birds in the springtime. In the fall, they migrated south after the end of the underwater spirits' most dangerous season.[9]
TheMenominee of NorthernWisconsin tell of a great mountain that floats in the western sky on which dwell the thunderbirds. They control the rain and hail, and delight in fighting and deeds of greatness. They are the enemies of the great horned snakes (the Misikinubik) and have prevented these from overrunning the earth and devouring humankind. They are messengers of the Great Sun himself.[10]
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The thunderbird motif is also seen inSiouan-speaking peoples, which include tribes traditionally occupying areas around the Great Lakes.
Ho-Chunk tradition states that a man who has a vision of a thunderbird during asolitary fast will become a war chief of the people.[11]
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EthnographerGeorge Amos Dorsey transcribed a tale from theArikaras with the titleThe Boy who befriended the Thunderbirds and the Serpent: a boy named Antelope-Carrier finds a nest with four young thunderbirds; their mother comes and tells the human boy that a two-headed Serpent comes out of the lake to eat the young.[12]
InAlgonquian images, an X-shaped thunderbird is often used to depict the thunderbird with its wings alongside its body and the head facing forwards instead of in profile.[7]
The depiction may be stylized and simplified. A headless X-shaped thunderbird was found on anOjibwemidewiwin disc dating to 1250–1400 CE.[13] In an 18th-century manuscript (a "daybook" ledger) written by the namesake grandson ofGovernor Matthew Mayhew, the thunderbirdpictograms varies from "recognizable birds to simply an incised X".[14]
Americanscience historian andfolkloristAdrienne Mayor and British historianTom Holland have both suggested that indigenous thunderbird stories are based on discoveries ofpterosaurfossils by Native Americans.[15][16]
Similar beings appear in mythologies the world over. Examples include the Chinese thunder-godLeigong, the HinduGaruda and the Africanlightning bird.[17]
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Media related toThunderbird (mythology) at Wikimedia Commons| Middle Mississippian |
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