View source for Thunderbird (mythology)

{{Short description|Legendary indigenous North American creature}}
{{Infobox mythical creature
|name = Thunderbird
|AKA           = 
|image         = Thunderbird on Totem Pole.jpg
|image_size    = 
|caption       = A [[Northwest Coast art|Northwest Coast]] styled [[Kwakwaka'wakw|Kwakiutl]] [[totem pole]] depicting a thunderbird.
|Folklore     = [[Mythologies of the indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indigenous peoples of the Americas]]
|Sub_Grouping  = 
|Region        = North America
|Similar_entities = [[Rain Bird (legend)|Rain Bird]], [[Pamola]]
}}
[[File:Haida double thunderbird 1880.jpg|thumb | 220x124px | right | alt= Pacific Northwest (Haida people) imagery of a double thunderbird |Pacific NW ([[Haida people|Haida]]) imagery of a double thunderbird]]

The '''thunderbird''' is a mythological bird-like spirit in [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|North American indigenous peoples']] history and culture. It is considered a supernatural being of power and strength.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2020-11-30 |title=Rulers of the Upper Realm, Thunderbirds Are Powerful Native Spirits |url=https://www.audubon.org/news/-rulers-upper-realm-thunderbirds-are-powerful-native-spirits |access-date=2024-07-09 |website=Audubon |language=en}}</ref>

It is frequently depicted in the art, songs, and oral histories of many [[Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast|Pacific Northwest Coast]] cultures,<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Thunderbird Indigenous Symbol {{!}} Spirits of the West Coast |url=https://spiritsofthewestcoast.com/collections/the-thunderbird-symbol? |access-date=2025-05-18 |website=Spirits of the West Coast Art Gallery Inc |language=en}}</ref> but is also found in various forms among some peoples of the [[American Southwest]],{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}} [[East Coast of the United States|US East Coast]],{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}} [[Great Lakes]],<ref name=":0" /> and [[Plains Indians|Great Plains]].<ref name=":0" />

== Description ==
The thunderbird is said to create thunder by flapping its wings (Algonquian<ref name=thundermaking-cleland/>), and lightning by flashing its eyes (Algonquian, Iroquois<ref name=thundermaking-lenik/>). Across cultures, thunderbirds are generally depicted as birds of prey, or hybrids of humans and birds.<ref name=":0" /> Thunderbirds are often viewed as protectors, sometimes intervening on people's behalf, but expecting veneration, prayers, and gifts.<ref name=":0" />

Archaeologically, sites containing depictions of thunderbirds have been found dating to the past 4000 years.<ref name=":0" />

[[Petroglyph]]s of thunderbirds are found near [[Twin Bluffs, Wisconsin]]. They are in a shelter that was probably used c. 250 BCE to 1500.<ref name="Rock Art - Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center">{{cite web |title=Rock Art - Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center |url=https://www.uwlax.edu/mvac/past-cultures/specific-sites/rock-art/#content-130245 |publisher=Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center |access-date=21 July 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

== By people ==
Stories about the struggle between the [[Thunderbird and Whale]] (q.v.) have been traditionally by various Pacific coast tribal groups. Studies have scrutinized the possible connection with [[Cascadia subduction zone]] earthquake in the year [[1700]] that sent [[tsunami]] to Japan.<ref name="ludwin-etal2007"/>

=== Algonquian ===
{{multiple image
| total_width = 400
| image1 = Grande Paix de Montréal 12 Signature des MISSISSAGUÉS.svg
| width1 = 512
| height1 = 723
| caption1 = Mississaugas
| image2 = Grande Paix de Montréal 17 Signature des PUANTS.svg
| width2 = 512
| height2 = 523
| caption2 = [[Ho-Chunk]]
| image3 = Grande Paix de Montréal 20 Signature des MALOUMINIS (FOLLES AVOINES).svg
| width3 = 512
| height3 = 389
| caption3 = [[Menominee]]
| footer_align = center
| footer = Tribal signatures using thunderbirds on the [[Great Peace of Montreal]]
}}

The thunderbird myth and motif is prevalent among [[Algonquian peoples]] in the Northeast, i.e., [[Eastern Canada]] ([[Ontario]], [[Quebec]], and eastward) and [[Northeastern United States]], and the [[Iroquois|Iroquois peoples]] (surrounding the [[Great Lakes]]).{{sfnp|Lenik|2012|p=163}} The discussion of the Northeast region has included [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]]-speaking people in the Lakes-bordering [[Midwestern United States|U.S. Midwest states]] (e.g., [[Ojibwe]] in Minnesota{{sfnp|Lenik|2012|p=181}}).

In [[Anishinaabe traditional beliefs|Algonquian mythology]], the thunderbird controls the upper world while the underworld is governed by the [[underwater panther]] or [[Horned Serpent#In Native American cultures|Great Horned Serpent]]. The thunderbird creates not just thunder (with its wing-flapping) but lightning bolts, which it casts at the underworld creatures.<ref name=thundermaking-cleland/>

Thunderbird in this tradition may be depicted as a [[Spreadeagle (position)|spreadeagled]] bird (wings horizontal head in [[Profile portrait|profile]]), but also quite common with the head facing forward, thus presenting an X-shaped appearance overall{{sfnp|Lenik|2012|p=181}} (see under [[#Iconography|§Iconography]] below).

==== Ojibwe ====
[[File:Pouch, southeastern Ojibwa, with porcupine quills, from Boston Museum Collection - Native American collection - Peabody Museum, Harvard University - DSC05441.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Ojibwe]] shoulder pouch depicting two thunderbirds in [[quillwork]], [[Peabody Museum Harvard]]]]

The [[Ojibwe]] version of the myth states that the thunderbirds were created by [[Nanabozho]] to fight the underwater spirits. Thunderbirds also punished humans who broke moral rules. The thunderbirds lived in the [[Cardinal direction#Native Americans|four 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.<ref name="Ojibwa">{{cite book | title=Traditional Ojibwa Religion and Its Historical Changes | publisher=American Philosophical Society | author=Vecsey, Christopher | year=1983 | page=75 | volume=152 | isbn=978-0-87169-152-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Un5uxow5c-UC&q=Thunderbird}}</ref>

==== Menominee ====
The [[Menominee]] of Northern [[Wisconsin]] 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.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lankford |first=George E. |author-link=<!--George E. Lankford--> |title=Native American Legends of the Southeast: Tales from the Natchez, Caddo, Biloxi, Chickasaw, and other Nations |year=2011|publisher=University of Alabama Press|location=Tuscaloosa, AL|page=77|isbn=978-0-8173-5689-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cs383Ik3CAQC&q=Thunderbird}}</ref>

=== Siouan ===
{{One source section
| date = February 2022
}}
[[File:Painted Skin representing the thunderbird.jpg|thumb|right| alt= Painting of a thunderbird on an animal hide, originally from the Great Lakes region |Painting of a thunderbird from the Great Lakes region, likely pre-1800]]

The thunderbird motif is also seen in [[Siouan languages|Siouan]]-speaking peoples, which include tribes traditionally occupying areas around the Great Lakes.

==== Ho-Chunk ====
[[Ho-Chunk mythology|Ho-Chunk tradition]] states that a man who has a vision of a thunderbird during a [[Vision quest|solitary fast]] will become a war chief of the people.<ref>{{cite book|last=Burlin|first=Nathalie C.|title=The Indians' Book: An Offering by the American Indians of Indian Lore, Musical and Narrative, to Form a Record of the Songs and Legends of Their Race|year=1907|publisher=Harper and Brothers|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924028767238}}</ref>

=== Arikara ===
{{One source section
| date = February 2022
}}

Ethnographer [[George Amos Dorsey]] transcribed a tale from the [[Arikara]]s with the title ''The 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.<ref>Dorsey, George Amos. ''[https://archive.org/details/traditionsofarik00dorsuoft/page/187/mode/1up Traditions of the Arikara]''. Washington: Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1904. pp. 73-79, 187.</ref>

== Iconography ==
=== X-shapes ===
In [[Algonquian peoples|Algonquian]] 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.{{sfnp|Lenik|2012|p=163}}

The depiction may be stylized and simplified. A headless X-shaped thunderbird was found on an [[Ojibwe]] ''[[midewiwin]]'' disc dating to 1250–1400 CE.<ref>{{harvp|Bouck|Richardson|2007|p=15}}, citing Cleland (1984), p. 240, figure 2C; Lenik (1985), p. 132, figure 5.</ref> In an 18th-century manuscript (a "[[Commonplace book|daybook]]" ledger) written by the namesake grandson of [[Matthew Mayhew|Governor Matthew Mayhew]], the thunderbird [[pictogram]]s varies from "recognizable birds to simply an incised X".{{sfnp|Bouck|Richardson|2007|p=15}}

==Scientific interpretations==
[[File:ThunderBird Rock Carved Petroglyph at Twin Buffs.jpg|thumb|Thunderbirds carved in [[sandstone]] wall at [[Twin Bluffs, Wisconsin|Twin Bluff]], [[Juneau County, Wisconsin]], by prehistoric artist(s)]]

American [[History of science|science historian]] and [[Folklore studies|folklorist]] [[Adrienne Mayor]] and British historian [[Tom Holland (author)|Tom Holland]] have both suggested that indigenous thunderbird stories are based on discoveries of [[pterosaur]] [[fossils]] by Native Americans.<ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=CMsgQQkmFqQC&q=pterosaur| title = Fossil Legends of the First Americans| isbn = 0-691-11345-9| last1 = Mayor| first1 = Adrienne| year = 2005| publisher = Princeton University Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b014lsgb| title = BBC Four - Dinosaurs, Myths and Monsters}}</ref>

==Outside North America==
Similar beings appear in mythologies the world over. Examples include the Chinese thunder-god [[Leigong]], the Hindu [[Garuda]] and the African [[lightning bird]].<ref name="Dictionary of Nature Myths: Legends of the Earth, Sea, and Sky">{{cite book |last1=Andrews |first1=Tamra |title=Dictionary of Nature Myths: Legends of the Earth, Sea, and Sky |date=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-513677-7 |page=203 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7jS65aClvFEC&dq=Thunderbird+myth&pg=PA203 |language=en}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
{{more citations needed section|reason=existing is not enough, decent source is needed|date=July 2024}}
* The [[shoulder sleeve insignia]] for the [[45th Infantry Division (United States)|45th Infantry Division]] ([[Oklahoma Army National Guard]]) was a thunderbird patch after 1939.<ref name="The Rock Of Anzio: From Sicily To Dachau: A History Of The U.s. 45th Infantry Division">{{cite book |last1=Whitlock |first1=Flint |title=The Rock Of Anzio: From Sicily To Dachau: A History Of The U.s. 45th Infantry Division |date=16 April 1998 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=978-0-8133-3399-1 |page=21 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hupmAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}</ref>
* Several [[X-Men]] characters go by the name [[Thunderbird (disambiguation)#Fictional characters|Thunderbird]], the first appearing in 1975.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Doran |first1=Michael |title=Thunderbird is back and badass after 50 years in Giant-Size X-Men special |url=https://www.gamesradar.com/john-proudstar-giant-size-thunderbird/ |publisher=[[GamesRadar+]] |access-date=21 July 2024 |language=en |date=28 April 2022}}</ref>
* The [[Ford Thunderbird]] is an American car.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bacon |first1=Roy |title=The Ford Thunderbird |date=2000 |publisher=Gramercy Books |isbn=978-0-517-16173-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=99YFAAAACAAJ |language=en}}</ref>
* A WWII-era airfield for pilot training in Arizona was called [[Thunderbird Field No. 1|Thunderbird Field]], which in turn was the inspiration for other names, including:
** The [[Thunderbird School of Global Management]] at [[Arizona State University]].
** The 1960s TV show [[Thunderbirds (TV series)|Thunderbirds]] created by [[Gerry Anderson]].<ref>''Gerry Anderson – The Authorised Biography'', by Simon Archer & Stan Nicholls, 1996, pp. 85–86, {{ISBN|0-09-978141-7}}.</ref>
* In 1925, [[Aleut]]s were recorded as using the term to describe the [[Douglas World Cruiser]] aircraft which passed through [[Atka, Alaska|Atka]] on the [[first aerial circumnavigation]] by a US Army team the previous year.<ref name="LThomas">{{cite book|title=The First World Flight|url=https://archive.org/details/firstworldflight0000thom|url-access=registration|last=Thomas|first=Lowell|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company|date=1925|place=Boston & New York}}</ref>{{rp|100}}
* The Pokémon [[Zapdos]] is based on First Nations folklore surrounding the Thunderbird.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gamesradar.com/15-pokemon-based-real-world-mythology/|title = 17 Pokemon based on real-world mythology|date = 4 February 2014}}</ref>
* [[Thunderbird (Holiday World)|Thunderbird]] is a roller coaster at [[Holiday World & Splashin' Safari]] in [[Santa Claus, Indiana]].
* [[Mozilla Thunderbird]] is a free and open-source cross-platform [[email client]].
* The Thunderbird is the cap badge and symbol of the [[Canadian Forces Military Police]] since 1968.
* Various sports teams are called the Thunderbirds or have Thunderbird mascots, including:
** The [[Seattle Thunderbirds]] of the [[Western Hockey League]].
** The teams of [[Southern Utah University]], in Cedar City, UT.
** The teams of the [[University of British Columbia]], Vancouver campus.
** The [[Connetquot School District]] in Long Island, which was the subject of a [[lawsuit]] in 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-19 |title=Connetquot schools sue Regents over Native American mascot ban |url=https://www.newsday.com/long-island/education/state-mascot-ban-native-american-connetquot-rsp6n42u |access-date=2024-06-19 |website=Newsday |language=en}}</ref>

* Thunderbirds can be recruited as units in 1999 ''[[Heroes of Might and Magic III]]'' and 2002 ''[[Heroes of Might and Magic IV]]''.

* in [[Power Rangers Mystic Force]] the Yellow Ranger Chip Thorne's helmet design and motif is based on the Thunderbird

==See also==
{{Div col}}
* [[Lightning bird]]
* [[Pamola]]
* [[Piasa]]
* [[Rain Bird (legend)|Rain Bird]]
* [[Raven (mythology)]]
* [[Roc (mythology)]]
* [[Hábrók]]
* [[Thunder god]]
* [[Timeline of pterosaur research]]
{{Div col end}}

== References ==
{{reflist|25em|refs=
<ref name="ludwin-etal2007">{{citation|last1=Ludwin |first1=Ruth S. |author1-link=<!--Ruth S. Ludwin---> |author-mask=2 |last2=Smiths |first2=Gregory J. |author2-link=<!--Gregory J. Smiths---> |last3=Carver |first3=D. |author3-link=<!-- Deborah Carver--> |last4=James |first4=K. |author4-link=<!-- Karen James--> |others=Jonientz-Trisler, C.; McMillan, A. D.; ... & Wray, J. |title=Folklore and earthquakes: Native American oral traditions from Cascadia compared with written traditions from Japan |editor1-last=Piccardi |editor1-first=Luigi |editor1-link=<!--Luigi Piccardi--> |editor2-last=Masse  |editor2-first=W. Bruce |editor2-link=<!--W. Bruce Masse--> |work=Myth and Geology |location= |publisher=Geological Society of London |date=2007 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F7pZfLUoHJIC&pg=PA67 |pages=70–71<!--67–94--> |series=Special Publications, 273(1) |isbn=<!--1862392161, -->9781862392168}}</ref>

<ref name=thundermaking-cleland>
{{harvp|Cleland|Chute|Haltiner|1984|p=240}}
<!--miscited by {{harvp|Bouck|Richardson|2007|p=14}} as p. 238 and faulty journal name--><!--&lightning (Algonqian)-->
</ref>

<ref name=thundermaking-lenik>
{{harvp|Lenik|2012|p=163}}
<!--&lightning&wind (Algonqian, Iroquois)-->
</ref>

}} <!-- end "refs=" -->

== Sources ==
{{refbegin|colwidth=25em|small=yes}}

* {{cite journal|last1=Bouck |first1=Jill |author1-link=<!--Jill Bouck--> |last2=Richardson |first2=James B. III  |author2-link=<!--James B. Richardson III-->| title=Enduring Icon: A Wampanoag Thunderbird on an Eighteenth Century English Manuscript From Martha's Vineyard | journal=Archaeology of Eastern North America |volume=35 |date=2007 |pages=11–19 |jstor=40914506}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Cleland |first1=Charles E. |author1-link=<!--Charles E. Cleland--> |last2=Chute |first2=Richard D. |author2-link=<!--Richard D. Chute-->|last3=Haltiner |first3=Robert E.  |author3-link=<!--Robert E. Haltiner--> |title=NAUB-COW-ZO-WIN Discs from Northern Michigan |journal=Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology |volume=9 |number=2 |date=1984 |pages=235–249 |jstor=20707933}}
* {{cite journal|last=Lenik |first=Edward J. |author=<!--Edward J. Lenik--> | title=The Thunderbird Motif in Northeastern Indian Art |journal=Archaeology of Eastern North America |year=2012 |volume=40 |pages=163–185 |jstor=23265141}}

{{refend}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline|Thunderbird (mythology)}}
 
{{Mississippian and related cultures}}
{{Pre-Columbian North America}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thunderbird (Mythology)}}
[[Category:First Nations culture in Canada]]
[[Category:Kwakwaka'wakw mythology]]
[[Category:Bird deities]]
[[Category:Legendary creatures of the Indigenous peoples of North America]]
[[Category:Mississippian culture]]
[[Category:Mythological birds of prey]]
[[Category:Native American culture]]
[[Category:Native American religion]]
[[Category:Northwest Coast art]]
[[Category:Thunder deities]]