Did you know?
Stories of the First Nation People.
First Nation, Native American, and American Indian, are all terms that refer to the earliest inhabitants on the American continent.
Masked Qagyuhl dancers, Northwest Coast.
Dancing with masks
These Kwakiutl people of about one hundred years ago wore costumes for their winter ceremonial. Did you know that some dancers believed they could actually transform into the animal or bird represented by their mask?
A Kwakwaka'wakw totem pole topped with a Thunderbird at Thunderbird Park in Victoria, British Columbia. Photo taken by Ryan Bushby.
The Thunderbird
Many First Nation people tell stories about Thunderbirds, including the Cherokee, Algonquin/Abenaki, Lakota, and Ojibwa Nations. In many stories the Thunderbird is a benevolent protector, but in some it is a frightening creature that hunts people. The Thunderbird usually has black or gray feathers and sometimes is invisible because it hides in clouds.
In the Northwest, the Quileute (or Quillayute) people of the Olympic Peninsula have a beautiful story of how the Thunderbird saved them during a famine caused by a terrible storm. After their Chief prayed to the Great Spirit for help, the people heard a loud noise and saw flashes of lightning. A huge bird appeared. Its wingspan was twice as long as a war canoe, it had a curved beak, and its eyes glowed. Each feather was the length of a canoe paddle. When Thunderbird flapped its wings, it made thunder. When it opened and shut its eyes it made lightning. It held a large living whale in its claws which it presented to the people to save them from starvation.
Many other people also have ancient stories about a Thunderbird-like creature. The Maoris of New Zealand tell about the Pouakai, the Arabs the Roc, and the Chinese the Fenghuang. The ancient Greeks and Egyptians spoke of the Phoenix, and the Mayan about the Quetzalcoatal. Did you know that the sheer number of these stories all across the globe makes some people suspect that Thunderbird legends may be based on an actual dinosaur era bird?
(Left) The famous frame 352 from the Patterson-Gimlin film shot in 1967 in Bluff Creek, California. (Middle) A tsunukwa totem in the ancient village of Kwaustums that some believe represented Sasquatch (1914). (Right) In another 1914 photo, a Koskimo dancer dresses as Hami, a forest spirit that some also believe represents Sasquatch.
Sasquatch
The name "Sasquatch" came from J.W. Burns, who wrote about Bigfoot in Canadian newspaper articles during the 1920s. The word comes from the Halkomelem language. It means "hairy man." Burns used it to describe a similar creature found in many First Nation legends across the Northwest U.S. and Canada. The Lummi, for example, tell stories about Ts'emekwes—a local version of Bigfoot. But did you know that stories about the creature aren't limited to the first people of the Northwest U.S. and British Columbia? The Lakota call it Chiye-tanka, "Big Elder Brother." And many think it might be the same creature called the Nuk-luk or Nakani in the Northwest territories, the Arulataq in Alaska, the Oh-man in California, the Florida Skunk Ape in the everglades, the Windigo in Quebec, the Yeti in Tibet, the Mapinguary of Brazil, and the Yowie of Australia.
Most scientific experts consider Sasquatch to be a combination of folklore and hoaxes, but many other indigenous people disagree. Some believe he and his kind are still living in uninhabited forests.
A depiction of the Haida creation story, where the trickster Raven opens an oyster shell on the beach to find the first Humans. Sculptor: Bill Reid. University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology. Photographer: Joe Goldberg.
The Trickster
Some of the most popular First Nation stories deal with a trickster—usually a creature with great powers who teaches important life lessons by acting like a fool. To the Chinook he is Bluejay, and to the Haida he is Raven, but across many Native American Indians he is Coyote. He might be as powerful as a Creator in some stories like those of the Crow Nation. He can change the rivers or mountains and outsmart monsters in the stories of the Nez-Perce Nation. Did you know that in other stories he can travel to the Land of the Spirits, change between human and coyote forms, and remove his eyes?
According to a Wasco story, Coyote was the hero to fight and kill Thunderbird, the killer of people. They say that the Multnomah Falls near Portland, Oregon, came to be because of him (and/or Raven). Sometimes Coyote is a noble trickster, as when he takes water from the Frog people because it is not right that one people should keep all the water to themselves. In another story he steals fire to help the humans keep warm. But other times he is mean, arrogant, or vulgar.
The Coyote trickster is quite unpredictable, but never boring.
Las Limas Monument 1 is a greenstone figure of a youth holding a limp were-jaguar baby. Found in the Mexican state of Veracruz in the Olmec heartland.
Shapeshifters and Skinwalkers
Shapeshifters means humans who can turn into animals and animals who can change into humans. Stories about them have been around at least as long as the Olmec people in Mesoamerica (about 1400-400 BC). Did you know that some experts believe that the Las Limas Monument 1 pictured above shows a youth holding a were-jaguar baby, a human baby that can change into a jaguar and/or a jaguar that can change into a human baby? It was probably carved between 1000 to 600 BC.
Most First Nation people have stories that speak of shapeshifters. They are very common in tales about tricksters who often choose to switch between human and animal form to complete their adventures. Navajo skinwalkers are called "yee naaldlooshii" and have frightening powers. They are witches (usually male) that can choose to take any animal form they please, but commonly appear as wolves, coyotes, or ravens.
This 1887 photo shows masked Apache Spirit dancers preparing for a ceremony to keep evil spirits away from their village.
Demons
Did you know that there are many First Nation stories about demons? In the north, the Inuit people speak of Kigatilik, who is especially known for killing shamans - the holy or magic people. And the Mapuche of South America tell about the Pillan, who live inside volcanoes or in a spiritual world.
The Shoshone tell stories about Dzoavits, the earthquake demon. He was fooled into jumping into a hole where he thought the dove he chased was hiding. When the demon reached the bottom, Badger and a flock of birds dropped red hot rocks to seal the hole.
Átahsaia is a cannibal demon of the Zuni. His chest is shaggy with hair as stiff as porcupine-quills and his legs and arms have speckled scales. His hair is snarled as a buffalo's mane, and his eyes so bulbous that they pop out of his skull like skinned onions. His fingernails are like bear claws. He always carries his great flint knife, which he brandishes with his right hand. He pokes his hair back with it, so that his mangy fore-locks are covered with the blood of those he has slaughtered.
A haunting image by artist Kirby Sattler.
The Land of the Dead
Stories about life after death are quite common. The Sioux, Iroquois, Cherokee, and Algonquians are just a few of the people who have a rich tradition about a place where people go after death. Some call it the Happy Hunting Grounds, but many experts think that name may be a poor translation of the original words. The Algonquian word for this place, for example, could be translated as something closer to "Big Sand." In the Northwest the Chinook people have stories about "Supernatural People" who live in the "Land of the Dead."
Did you know that many First Nation stories say that not only humans have a spirit that survives death, but that animals, rocks and trees do, too? Many stories say that all beings are related. Many First Nation people refer to animals, planets, and mountains, as Brother, Grandfather, Uncle, or other terms that demonstrate this connection.
