Thunderbird Stories, Legends, and Myths

 

                                     

Thunderbird Stories of Pacific Northwest Native Peoples

Thunderbird Stores from the Hoh, Quileute, and Tillamook Tribes

"For the native cultures of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Plains, the Thunderbird was a mythical creature that embodied strength and power. The Thunderbird is a very large and powerful bird. It was said to be so large, in fact, that it could pluck an orca whale from the sea with as much ease as an eagle catching salmon in its talons. As the name implies, Thunderbirds were associated with storms. The massive wings of the Thunderbird made the sound of thunder when they flapped, and according to some stories, the Thunderbird even shot lightning from its eyes. For peoples of the Great Plains, the Thunderbird was a harbinger of rain, which could be a welcomed sight or a destructive force, depending on the conditions. In some cultures, Thunderbirds go to war with other forces of nature. “To the Arapaho, Thunderbird is the summer bird who challenges White Owl Woman, the winter bird, to see whose powers are greater. Thunderbird stirs up great black clouds with tremendous noise and wind. White Owl Woman stirs up thick, fast-moving white clouds that blow a piercing wind. The Thunderbird represented the power of nature and the violence of storms, but it was, for the most part, not a fearsome or malevolent creature. This mythical creature was revered as sacred. The tribes of the Pacific Northwest topped their totem poles with carved images of Thunderbirds. Drawings, artwork, songs, stories, and dances featuring the Thunderbird are common in the tribes of the Great Plains and Pacific Northwest."
-  Ten Native American Mythical Creatures

"The thunderbird is a mythological bird-like spirit in North American indigenous peoples' history and culture. It is considered a supernatural being of power and strength. The thunderbird is said to create thunder by flapping its wings (Algonquian^[1]), and lightning by flashing its eyes (Algonquian, Iroquois^[2]). Across cultures, thunderbirds are generally depicted as birds of prey, or hybrids of humans and birds. Thunderbirds are often viewed as protectors, sometimes intervening on people's behalf, but expecting veneration, prayers, and gifts. Petroglyphs of thunderbirds are found near Twin Bluffs, Wisconsin. Similar beings appear in mythologies the world over. Examples include the Chinese thunder-god Leigong, the Hindu Garuda and the African lightning bird.^[14]"
- Thunderbird in Wikipedia

"According to many legends, the Thunderbird is so large that one feather from their wingspan would have to be folded in half to properly fit into a quiver. Additionally, these creatures were so large and mighty that they could easily carry a whale in their talons. Because of this, many scholars find it unlikely that the Thunderbird could exist in modern day without being seen.

In spite of these things, the Thunderbird continues to be a point of fascination for all. The Thunderbird appears to be a creature of extreme intelligence and intrigue. There are many stories that tell of the Thunderbird in Native American legends, which make the creature appear to be one of the key deities in their beliefs. The Thunderbird is mysterious in that it is not merely a protector, but is also seen as enforcer of morality – one that should never be angered."
- Thunderbirds in Myths

Other Transformer Changers Creatures are the Raven and Coyote.

My favorite harmonica is the Hohner Thunderbird in the Key of C Low.

Astoria, Oregon

 

Finished reading the book "Astoria: Astor and Jefferson's Lost Pacific Empire; A Tale of Ambition and Survival on the Early American Frontier."  By Peter, Stark.  Eco, 2015, 400 pages.  

From 1804-1814, John Jacob Astor sent an overland party to the Columbia River form St. Louis.  They developed a new route from the upper Snake (Mad) river overland through the Blue Mountains of Oregon.  It later became part of the Oregon Trail from 1840-1870.  He also sent three ships from New York down and around the tip of South American and up to Hawaii and then to a new settlement for trading furs at a port in Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia River.    

Fascinating account of this business venture to take furs from the Northwest Pacific Coast to sell for a high markup in profit in Canton, China.  Nearly half of the men that signed on for this "Astoria" adventure died in the dangerous quest.  

Astoria

Astoria   Northwest Oregon Coastal town and Port on the Columbia River.

Population 9,500   A small town with many tourist attractions.  There are many motels, restaurants, cafes, grocery, museums, theaters, historical sights, marina, docks, hospital, gas, stores, services, supplies. 

Clatsop County   Population 38,000   The Clatsop County Courthouse is in Astoria.  Astoria is the largest city in Clatsop County. 

Astoria Images  

"Astoria is a port city and the seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1811, Astoria is the oldest city in the state of Oregon and was the first American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains.[7] The county is the northwest corner of Oregon, and Astoria is located on the south shore of the Columbia River, where the river flows into the Pacific Ocean. The city is named for John Jacob Astor, an investor and entrepreneur from New York City, whose American Fur Company founded Fort Astoria at the site and established a monopoly in the fur trade in the early nineteenth century. Astoria was incorporated by the Oregon Legislative Assembly on October 20, 1876.  he city is served by the deepwater Port of Astoria. Transportation includes the Astoria Regional Airport. U.S. Route 30 and U.S. Route 101 are the main highways, and the 4.1-mile (6.6 km) Astoria–Megler Bridge connects to neighboring Washington across the river."

Columbia River Maritime Museum

Museums in Astoria

Astoria Lodging

Fort Astoria (1811-1825) History

Astoria Food 

Astoria   History1    History2

Astoria Column Historical Tower

Charter Boat Services in Astoria 

Lower Columbia River: Astoria to Portland, Ilwaco to Vancouver

Long Beach Peninsula  

Lewis and Clark Historic Sites

Clatsop County, Oregon  Population 38,000 

Fort Clatsop  Camp of Lewis and Clark in the Winter of 1805.  Video: Winter Story

Fort Steven's State Park  A World War II military base defending the Columbia River. 

Northwest Coastal Oregon Travel Guide: Astoria to Cape Lookout.  By Mike Garofalo. 

Clatsop People

 

With Beauty Again It Is Finished

"Greeting the Dawn,
This Fruitful Day,
For Sun, Sky, Soil, Water, Plants, Animals, and Mankind
I am so grateful.

Seeing the Light without,
Feeling the Light within,
I walk on. 

Thus joyfully you accomplish your tasks,
Happily will the old men in the fields regard you,
Happily will the children regard you,
Happily will women in their homes regard you;
Happily may our trails lead us in the way of peace. 
Happily may we all return.  

With beauty before me I walk,
With wisdom above me I walk,
With good works around me I walk,
With love it is finished,
With beauty again it is finished!"

Adapted by Mike Garofalo from a Navaho prayer found in Pagan Prayers collected by Marah Ellis Ryan.  

In the summertime, I begin my walk very early, around 5:30, at daybreak.  It is cooler and quieter at this time of day.  A good time for a prayer of thanksgiving to the Great Spirit.  In the winter, as shown below, I walk around 9 am.  

      

I enjoy this painting of a Daoist Sage, an Immortal, smiling, walking in the clouds.  A bottle of magical elixir hangs from his Dragon Cane in one hand, and the Peach of Immortality in his other hand.  There is also a sacred Crane ready to show the way.  

   

"Zen Master Yunmen Wenyan and Shifu Miao Zhang were walking together in the valley behind the temple one cloudy summer morning.  It began to rain steadily on the two old friends.  Yunmen said, “My staff has changed into a dragon and is swallowing up the heaven and earth.  So, my friend, where do mountains, rainfall, rivers and the great earth come from?”
Miao Zhang was quiet for awhile, stopped on the trail, and then held his cane in his hand with the tip pointing to the sky.  He said, “Yunmen, as for the source of their coming, the tip of my cane points to the fecund depths of vast emptiness, the crook end to the endless inter-marriages of ten thousand realities, and my hand grasps the heartwood of the ordinary mind.  So, my friend, Yunmen, where are they all going?” "

-  Shifu Miao Zhang's Koan Collection
   By Mike Garofalo, in Way of the Staff

A repost from 9/2020.  

Tamastslikt Cultural Institute and Museum, Pendleton, Oregon

On Thursday, April 20, 2023, Karen and I enjoyed visiting the Tamastslikt Cultural Institute and Museum, near Pendleton, Oregon.  The museum was quite large with fascinating exhibits and artwork.  It featured the history, culture, and artifacts of the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla Tribes of northeast Oregon.  

We stayed at the Wildhorse Resort and Casino, eight miles west of Pendleton.  There are also hundreds of new motel rooms off of Interstate 84 on a high bluff above the city of Pendleton.  

On our first day, we ate breakfast at the old Hood River Hotel Cafe.  It featured Scandinavian style breakfast foods.  For lunch, we ate at Mazatlán Mexican Restaurant immediately adjacent to the main large Pendleton Stadium for all kinds of large events, powwows, Pendleton Round Up, races, concerts, etc.  

The drive from the Wildhorse Resort's golf course out to the Tamastslikt Museum gave us some great views of the Blue Mountains rising up immediately to the west.  Interstate 84 from Pendleton 46 miles southeast to La Grande (2,700 feet), up and through the Blue Mountains  has some steep grade, and gets closed in winter storms.  

We intend to visit La Grande, Baker City, Boise and Walla Walla in a future four day trip.  

The City of Pendleton, Oregon (population 17,900) sits in a narrow valley along the Umatilla River at the eastern edge of the Blue Mountains.  

The Blue Mountains and the wide gentle rolling valleys filled with very Spring Green upcoming grains were a spectacular sight.  Cattle grazing in many places along Interstate 84.  The bright green fields covered with 6" plants were spectacular.  

As is always the case, the MAIN FEATURE of our trips to the East of Portland, is the drive along the Columbia River along US Interstate 84 from Troutdale-Gresham, Oregon, to Boardman, Oregon.  This is the famous Scenic Columbia River Gorge Area, preserved in various ways.  This is a spectacular 147 mile drive!  You drive by three Dams: Bonneville, Dalles, and John Day.  The views were very good as we drove twice through this scenic Interstate highway along the Columbia River with the steep basalt canyon walls to the south of the highway. 

I was impressed with the very large Amazon Data Super-Computer Centers in The Dalles and at Boardman.  Hermiston and Prineville are other locations.  They draw electrical power from The Dalles Dam and the John Day Dam.  

I purchased one book at the Tamastslikt Museum gift shop:

"Coyote Was Going There: Indian Literature of the Oregon Country. Compiled and edited by Jarold Ramsey.  Seattle, University of Washington Press, 1977, 295 pages.  Numerous illustrations. VSCL, Paperback.  

"Beyond the literature of other regions in Oregon, these stories [from the northeast Oregon Coastal Tribes like the Tillamook or Nehalem] persistently dwell on the possibility of other worlds, other mediums of life, and strange travels and transformation from one world to another.  The imagination of the coastal Indian, living on the brink of the great unknown element of the Pacific, must have been deeply attuned to such possibilities ... Behind such weird episodes, there is always the compelling presence of the sea, both familiar and alien, indifferent giver of life, another, alternative medium of being, limitless - "the river with one bank," the Indians called it - the source of all change."
-  Jarold Ramsey, Coyote Was Going There, p. 127.

I sat for a long time in the Museum under a reconstructed Tule Mat longhouse.  I listened to recordings of Indian storytellers.  I thought of practicing my string figures at home in Vancouver.  I thought about the difference between communicating verbally and through printed text.  

"This modern long tent community structure is a cotton canvas-covered version of the original Tule Mat Lodge or Longhouse, which is a shelter or house that was constructed using mats made of tule (a type of bullrush or reed) that was abundant along rivers and marshes in the Plateau region of North America and Canada. The reeds were first dried and then woven into mats and used as coverings for pyramid shaped lodges like tepees. Tules were perfect for building temporary, portable structures as the mats could be rolled up and carried away. Tepees were covered with animal skins but the tule-mat lodge was covered with mats of strong, durable, tule reeds. While the Long Tent you see on Whitman College campus has a canvas covering, it still carries the original practices of the Tule Mat Lodge engineering."

A reconstructed Tule Mat Longhouse
Tamastslikt Museum, Pendleton, OR

Cowboys and Ranchers and Farmers and Workers
Rodeos, Round Ups, Powwows
Anglos, Indians, Mexicans, Tourists

Roundup Rodeo is BIG

Wildhorse Resort and Casino
Golf Course

Cabbage Hill
Deadman's Pass
Interstate 84 from Pendleton to La Grand

Hood Canal, WA, Poetry

Hood Canal (Fjord)

Dosewallips State Park
Washington State
June 2025

Turning Left at Quintain Lane
Quintains, Cinquains, Waka, Tankas
650+ Quintains by Mike Garofalo

 

566.

        Highway 101
    winds past
Brinnon to Potlach—
from forests to the edge of the seas,
the Hood sea flapping endlessly.

 

567.

    O! Amazed! The pale blue sea—
The Hood Canal’s little waves
slapping the rocky shore.
Happy oysters settling—
    Oh! Took my breath away.

 

568.

The buzz of aircraft
over the red cedars
        fading...
a big black ant
crawled over me

 

569.

No ancient ruins
no famous folks
no documented histories
no great battle scenes—
    just fish in the Hood Canal.

 

570.

Seal Rock campground
concrete picnic bench—
        slight breeze
dappled shade
    nobody here but me

 

571.

Heartburn’s heavy
        painful stab—
pharmacy had
what I need
    Rolaids' Tabs

 

572.

Occasional red
Pacific Madrone trunk—
    roadside decoration
sprinkled amongst
spruce and cedar trees

 

573.

A couple walking
the Seal Rock path—
    he very tall
    she very short
hand in hand

 

574.

Not a single boat
of blue or gray
        speeding by
anywhere today—
    Monday workday!

 

575.

Keyboard singing
from the French Suite
or Well Tempered Clavier—
    J.S. Bach by Argerich
in the dark woods on MP3s.

 

576.

        Surprisingly,
the campground was empty
these final days
of Spring—
Twilight Zone scene.

 

577.

The cafe was empty
except for me
eating fried Hamma Hamma oysters—
        the perky young waitress
        told me her stories

 

578.

One blooming rhododendron
on a sloped dressed in spiky ferns—
        one girl and four boys
    waiting for the school bus
coexisting amicably

 

579.

emptiness hums
a solemn tune
    clothed invisibly
hiding in
branches of hanging skies

 

580.

Rainbow View Falls trail
steep and long
        for an 80 year old—
    my knees and thighs
ached for two days on.

 

581.

Mt. Walker flanked
deep Rainbow Falls—
    salmon hatchery
on the tiny Quilcene stream,
returning hatchlings to the sea.

 

582.

The Hood waterways
blurred in hazy mist
dull gray obscured today—
        flashes of sunlight
    cut through the trees.

 

583.

From Chimacum
to Quilcene, picturesque
rolling hills of farms—
    faster cards
        Speed around me!

 

584.

“DosEwallips” they say
not “Doswallips” like me,
spelled “Dosewallips” correctly—
Saying “pOtato” or “poTato,”
tastes so good either way.

 

585.

In heated afternoons
I sit in the shade…
    reading dead poets
        still alive
in printed words on paper trees.

 

586.

Many see them in clouds…
    faces and animals
appearing and disappearing.
I see them in photographs
as if captured alive.

 

587.

She told me
“look for the Strawberry Moon”
tonight; above the Hood sea.
    I did. The Man in the Moon
was munching plump strawberries.

 

588.

    The road through Sequim—
four lanes fast pass
flat fields of lavender and grass
in the rain shadow of Mt. Olympus,
    sunnier, drier, less overcast.

 

589.

    The tourists nod as they pass
from Port Townsend to Port Angeles
on a straight stretch of Hwy 101—
        sipping a cafe mocha
            on the run.

 

590.

        I’m not in Beijing, Rome,
    or Buenos Aries—
just in the Geoduck cafe (in Brinnon),
eating clams, drinking beer,
listening to locals I can understand.

 

591.

Strawberry Moon
hung low
    orange glow
    midnight rose
over Lilliwaup Cove

 

592.

Elk heads stuffed
on the Geoduck Cafe wall.
Still life taxidermy. Hair
    bristling. Comatose,
heard the elk's stifled moan.

 

593.

Codfish battered
and fried. French fries
    stale and crisp.
Ketchup and Tartar
    sauce for dips. Cold beer.

 

Dosewallips State Park, Washington, Camping Day 4

 Hood Canal: Adventure II, Day 4

Day  4    Thursday, June 12, 2025

I loaded my car and emptied the yurt/cabin. 

I drove home safely from Dosewallips to Vancouver.  Clear skies and warmer.
Little traffic until reaching Shelton.

Here are some more photographs of my campground and Dosewallips River area.

Vancouver WA  110 miles north to Olympia

Olympia WA  23 miles north to Shelton

Shelton WA  41 miles north to Brinnon

Shelton WA  - Images

Shelton WA  - Information

Hood Canal, Fjord, WA

Lake Cushman, WA

Skokomish Twana Native Americans

Skokomish River, WA, Images

Potlach State Park

Hoodsport WA

Liliwalup

Hamma Hamma

Duckabuch

Brinnon WA

Dosewallips State Park WA  39 miles north to Port Townsend

Dosewallips SP Images  13 miles north to Quilcene

Dosewallips SP Campground

Dosewallips River Images

Dosewallips Oyster and Clam Harvesting

Quilcene

Dabob Bay

Port Townsend  215 miles south to Vancouver

Four Days at Grayland: Extensive Travel Guides, Yurt Camping notes, local cities and villages, reports, commentary, Yurt Camping Information, Native American Information.  Yurt camping on the coast in Oregon and Washington.  

The best book I used to study general travel options for the Hood Canal
for my trip in May 2024 was:
Olympic Peninsula with Olympic National Park. By Jeff Burlingame.
Moon, 5th Edition, 2024.

Books I have found useful in my study of the Native American People of Olympic National Park (fournded in 1938) include:

Olympic Peninsula with Olympic National Park. By Jeff Burlingame. Moon, 5th Edition, 2024.

Images of America: Hood Canal.  By Michael Fredson. Arcadia, 2007.

Native Peoples of the Olympic Peninsula|: Who We Are.  By the Olympic Prninsula Intertribal Cultural Advisory Committee.  University of Oklahoma Press, 2015.  This book covers S'Kallam, Skokomish Twana, Sqaxin, Quinault, Hoh, Quileute, and Makah Native Americans in the area. 

The Olympic Peninsula. By Ericka Chickowski.  Moon, 2009.

Longstreet Highroad Guide to the Pacific Northwest.  By Allan and Elizabeth May.  Longstreet, 2000.

Four Days at Grayland: Extensive Travel Guides, Yurt Camping notes, local cities and villages, reports, commentary, Yurt Camping Information, Native American Information.  Yurt camping on the coast in Oregon and Washington.  

Images from the Internet

Dosewallips State Park, Washington, Camping Day 3

Hood Canal: Adventure II, Day 3

Dosewallips State Park, Washington

Day 3 June 11, 2025

Seal Beach Campground walking. Yurt campground walking. Reading and writing. Shopped at Whitney's Gardens and Nursery in Brinnon. Dinner at Geoduck Restaurant.

Here are some of my photos of the area:

Vancouver WA  110 miles north to Olympia

Olympia WA  23 miles north to Shelton

Shelton WA  41 miles north to Brinnon

Shelton WA  - Images

Shelton WA  - Information

Hood Canal, Fjord, WA

Lake Cushman, WA

Skokomish Twana Native Americans

Skokomish River, WA, Images

Potlach State Park

Hoodsport WA

Liliwalup

Hamma Hamma

Duckabuch

Brinnon WA

Dosewallips State Park WA  39 miles north to Port Townsend

Dosewallips SP Images  13 miles north to Quilcene

Dosewallips SP Campground

Dosewallips River Images

Dosewallips Oyster and Clam Harvesting

Quilcene

Dabob Bay

Port Townsend  215 miles south to Vancouver

Four Days at Grayland: Extensive Travel Guides, Yurt Camping notes, local cities and villages, reports, commentary, Yurt Camping Information, Native American Information.  Yurt camping on the coast in Oregon and Washington.  

Tai Chi Chuan at the Beach: Please join Michael P. Garofalo for a Taijiquan Meetup/Gathering/Retreat at Dosewallips State Park, 7 am, Yurt C.  I hang a kite on my Yurt that is shaped like a Salmon Fish.  Campfire chats and a little practice sharing.

The best book I used to study general travel options for the Hood Canal
for my trip in May 2024 was:
Olympic Peninsula with Olympic National Park. By Jeff Burlingame.
Moon, 5th Edition, 2024.

Books I have found useful in my study of the Native American People of Olympic National Park (fournded in 1938) include:

Olympic Peninsula with Olympic National Park. By Jeff Burlingame. Moon, 5th Edition, 2024.

Images of America: Hood Canal.  By Michael Fredson. Arcadia, 2007.

Native Peoples of the Olympic Peninsula|: Who We Are.  By the Olympic Prninsula Intertribal Cultural Advisory Committee.  University of Oklahoma Press, 2015.  This book covers S'Kallam, Skokomish Twana, Sqaxin, Quinault, Hoh, Quileute, and Makah Native Americans in the area. 

The Olympic Peninsula. By Ericka Chickowski.  Moon, 2009.

Longstreet Highroad Guide to the Pacific Northwest.  By Allan and Elizabeth May.  Longstreet, 2000.

Tai Chi Chuan at the Beach: Please join Michael P. Garofalo for a Taijiquan Meetup/Gathering/Retreat at Dosewallips State Park, 6 pm, Yurt C.  I hang a kite on my Yurt that is shaped like a Salmon Fish.  

Four Days at Grayland: Extensive Travel Guides, Yurt Camping notes, local cities and villages, reports, commentary, Yurt Camping Information, Native American Information.  Yurt camping on the coast in Oregon and Washington.  

Images from the Internet