There is supposed to be a picture of this event, that may or may not have been published in the local newspaper, the Tombstone Epitaph. They dragged the carcass back to town, and it was pinned, wings outstretched across the entire length of a barn. Interestingly, this description has more than a cursory similarity to the prehistoric pterodactyl. It was said it had smooth skin, and featherless wings like a bat. There is a story that in April 1890, two cowboys in Arizona killed a giant birdlike creature with an enormous wingspan. The Thunderbird, if it exists, may be related to the Roc if not the same creature. Families of thunderbirds who kept to themselves, but wore human form, lived along the northern tip of Vancouver Island- other tribes soon forgot the nature of one of these thunderbird families, and when one tribe tried to take them as slaves, the thunderbirds put on their feather blankets and transformed to take vengeance upon their foolish captors.Ī famous story of the Thunderbird is " Thunderbird and Whale". There are stories of thunderbirds in human form marrying into human families, who still trace their lineage to this. The plural thunderbirds (as the Kwakiutl and Cowichan tribes believed) could take on human form by tilting back their beak as if it were only a mask, and by removing their feathers as if it were a feather-covered blanket. The Thunderbird only flew about to carry messages from one spirit to another. The singular Thunderbird (as the Nootka believed) was said to reside on the top of a mountain, and was the servant of the Great Spirit. All agree that you should go out of your way to keep from getting them angry. In both cases, it is intelligent, powerful, and wrathful. In masks, it is depicted as many-colored, with two curling horns, and sometimes with teeth within its beak.ĭepending on the people telling the story, the Thunderbird is either a singular entity, or a species. The Kwakiutl called him "Hohoq," and the Nootka called him "Kw-Uhnx-Wa." It is described as being two canoe-lengths from wingtip to wingtip, and it creates storms as it flies- clouds are pulled together by its wingbeats, the sound of thunder is its wings clapping, sheet lightning is the light flashing from its eyes when it blinks, and individual lightning bolts are glowing snakes that it carries with it. The Lakota name for the Thunderbird is "Wakinyan", a word formed from "kinyan", meaning "winged", and "wakan", "sacred". Its name comes from that supposition that the beating of its enormous wings causes thunder and stirs the wind. The Thunderbird is a mythical creature common to Native American religion. While there are folktales about creatures that resemble pterodactyls in more modern settings, these are not necessarily connected to the thunderbird in any way.Depiction of a Thunderbird on a Totem Pole This directly conflicts with the pterodactyl theory, as their wings more resembled the featherless stretched-skin style of bats. Also, most legends have the bird with bright feathers, which some say they could remove like a blanket upon taking human form. This is a difficult argument to make, since a gigantic bird of any mystical quality (or lack thereof) would likely be easy to spot. Because of this, the thunderbird goes from being merely a mythical creature to potentially also being a cryptid - a creature whose existence is reported but not proven. Some researchers believe that the thunderbird legend is based on the sightings of real birds, with some even posing the argument that early sightings could have been from descents of the pterodactyl dinosaur species. The origins of this bird are largely unknown. It usually appears at the top, sometimes with teeth inside of its beak. Depictions of the thunderbird can be found on several totem poles in various Native American cultures. It could cause great storms at will, and was not to be messed with. In every case, the creature was powerful and intelligent. Depending on the storyteller, the thunderbird could also cause rainfall or shoot lightning from its eyes. It was said in thunderbird legend that the bird caused thunder claps each time it flapped its gigantic wings. The thunderbird myth comes from Native American mythology, ranging from the Pacific Northwest to tribes in the Southeastern United States.Ī thunderbird is a huge bird with an enormous wingspan who was directly connected to adverse weather conditions.
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