The thunderbird is a mythical bird-like creature in the history and culture of many Native American groups. It is seen as a powerful and strong supernatural being. It is often shown in art, songs, and stories of many Pacific Northwest Coast cultures. It also appears in different ways among some groups in the American Southwest, US East Coast, Great Lakes, and Great Plains.

Description

The thunderbird is believed to make thunder when it flaps its wings (Algonquian) and lightning when it flashes its eyes (Algonquian, Iroquois). In many cultures, thunderbirds are shown as birds of prey or as mixes of humans and birds. They are often seen as protectors who may help people but require respect, prayers, and gifts.

Archaeologists have found places with thunderbird images that are about 4000 years old.

Petroglyphs of thunderbirds are located near Twin Bluffs, Wisconsin. These carvings are in a shelter that was likely used from around 250 BCE to 1500.

By people

Stories about the conflict between the Thunderbird and the Whale have been shared for many years by different groups of people living along the Pacific coast. Researchers have studied whether these stories might be connected to a large earthquake that happened in the Cascadia subduction zone in the year 1700. This earthquake caused a tsunami that reached Japan.

The Thunderbird story is common among Algonquian-speaking groups in the Northeast, including areas in Eastern Canada such as Ontario, Quebec, and lands to the east, as well as in the Northeastern United States. It is also found among the Iroquois people who live near the Great Lakes. Discussions about the Northeast region include Algonquian-speaking groups in U.S. Midwest states that border the Great Lakes, such as the Ojibwe in Minnesota.

In Algonquian mythology, the Thunderbird rules the sky, while the underwater panther or Great Horned Serpent controls the underworld. The Thunderbird makes thunder by flapping its wings and produces lightning, which it throws at creatures from the underworld.

In this tradition, the Thunderbird is sometimes shown as a bird with wings spread wide, with its head facing sideways. It is also often drawn with its head facing forward, creating an X-shaped appearance (see the section on Iconography for more details).

In Ojibwe stories, the Thunderbirds were created by a spiritual figure named Nanabozho to fight underwater spirits. The Thunderbirds also punished people who broke important rules. They lived in all four directions and arrived with other birds in the spring. In the fall, they moved south after the underwater spirits’ most dangerous season ended.

In Menominee folklore from Northern Wisconsin, Thunderbirds live on a floating mountain far to the west. They control rain and hail and enjoy fighting. They battle the Great Horned Snakes (called Misikinubik) to stop them from taking over the Earth and harming humans. The Thunderbirds act as messengers for the Great Sun.

The Thunderbird image also appears in the traditions of Siouan-speaking peoples, who live in areas around the Great Lakes.

According to Ho-Chunk tradition, a person who sees a Thunderbird during a long, lonely fast may become a war chief.

An ethnographer named George Amos Dorsey recorded a story from the Arikara people titled The Boy Who Befriended the Thunderbirds and the Serpent. In the story, a boy named Antelope-Carrier finds a nest with four young Thunderbirds. Their mother warns him that a two-headed Serpent will come from a lake to eat the young.

Iconography

In Algonquian art, a thunderbird is sometimes shown as an X shape, with its wings next to its body and its head pointing forward, not to the side.

These images are often simplified or made more basic. An example is a headless X-shaped thunderbird found on an Ojibwe midewiwin disc made between 1250 and 1400 CE. In an 18th-century manuscript (a type of ledger) written by the grandson of Governor Matthew Mayhew, thunderbird drawings vary from detailed images of birds to simple X shapes carved into the surface.

Scientific interpretations

American science historian and folklorist Adrienne Mayor and British historian Tom Holland have both said that Native American thunderbird stories are based on finding pterosaur fossils.

Outside North America

Similar creatures can be found in myths from many different cultures around the world. Examples include the Chinese thunder-god Leigong, the Hindu Garuda, and the African lightning bird.