The daily morning journal and courier., 1894-10-26
tradition or myth where it could be

I VI tAyh hAA " NW~'N
 used.
 They tattoo the image of the bird on
 their bodies as a elan or family mark
 in the same manner that they do the
 otter. halibut. skate. and other designs
 to signify the family the Individual be'
 longs to. or. as one remarked to Judge
 Swan of Port Townsend. If you had
 the image of a swan tattooed on your
 body the Indians would know your
 family name" The figure Is carved on
 their totem posts and canoe stems and
 painted On the house front and various
 implements with the belief, as among
 the Twanas, that il gives them power,
 courage. and luck In hunting. fishing or
 war A mask representing The head of the bird is worn in the Tamah-na-wis dances and ceremonies which have
 something to do with the Thunderbird. though just what thls Is has never been clearly ascertained. as the Indians
 will not allow whites to witness these
 Tamah-wa-nis practices, which are of
 the nature of q secret society among | civilized people. The Twanas and the Clallams also use mask of a different
 design for the same purposes. No tribes tattoo the ilgure on their person, so far as known, outside of the Hal das.
 Leaving the coast and going eastward
 we find the Thunderblrd among the Sioux of Dakota end eastern Montana again. this time being personified as an immense eagle with four points to tha yyinU nd nybinh 1uallc n n In10a on the top of high knoll or butte. The lodge has four doors, one for each cardinal pint Of the compass, and at each door there Is guardian spirit. These spirits are beaver, a butterfly, an otter and one other animal not clear ly defined, whose duty 1t is to guard and act as messengers for the Thunderbird.
 As with the Twanas, the lightning Is glance from the eye, and a person who has presentiment that the Thun- derblrd Is displeased with him and in- tends to kill him. retires to high hill to await his doom. after having bid his farewell Sometimes, owing to the isolated position of the individual, he is actually struck by lightning during the heavy thunder storms of the region, and that settles the myth all the firmer in the Indian mind, for the Thunder bird 1t was who killed him, just as he said it would.
 Here the myth assumes three or four, or rather, family of thunderers, some good, some evil, some who guard the destiny of the warrior and strike terror into the heart of the enemy; others who see that the hunter does not come emp ty handed. Some are headless and have wings; some are wingless, but provided with heads, but the Thunder bird, with big or" who is the rain god and thunder creater and good spir- it-in-chief is described as very large whole brood of little ones, who follow behind the big thunderer, and make the long rumble noticeable in the prai- rie thunder peals The old bird is wise and good, harming no one and causing rain which makes the plants grow; but the young ones are like young men, very mischievous, and will not listen to counsel, and are continually doing a great deal of damage, and killing an oSSShoioioi pStoOi, pulCiy III tl way, but when they grow old they set tie down and become good spirits, too Nothing can kill or destroy the Thun- derbird but an immense giant who can stride over rivers and mountains and can kill anything by look. This giant still exists, but nobody knows where, and is always hunting for the thunder CT, who has to fly from place to place to keep away from the evil giant, thus causing storms by flying about. The old bird starts with the loud crash of noise, and then the little ones rise in a swarm and make a lot more noise, but not so loud as the old one, which flies very fast.
 The giant killed one of the old ones a long, long time ago, back of Little Crows village, near the head of the Mississippi river, and the medicine men still have totems made of the feathers and bones and they are very strong medicine against evil. This bird had face like man, nose like an eagle bill, body long and slender, and four joints to each wing, which were painted zigzag like the lightning, and the back of the head was rough and red, accord ing to the Dakota tradition. This is the Sioux story of the Thunderbird.
 Going little further east we find the Ojibwa, who live in Minnesota and around the shores of Lake Superior, with a myth of the thunderer which makes it entirely a good spirit, sort of a servant of the medicine men, sham an, or priest, and who helps them to work cures, find good medicine plants, and many other things which have a good influence. With the Ojibwa it is also an immense eaglelike bird, but without any superfiuity of wing joints. The thunder is the noise of it's flying, and 1t causes rain which makes medi- cine plants grow, and also it can ap- parently find medicine plant to fit the particular disease by looking on the | earth, in the sky or in the inside of the | earth, either of which places it can visit at will under the instructions of the medicine man who holds a control | ling power over it.
 There is no record of any masks being used to represent the thunderer east of | the coast tribes, the only representa- tions being from Indian drawings, which l interpret their idea and which are pre- scented with this article. I
 There are no carvings or images ex- cept those worked in beads, from near Fort Smelling, Minnesota, which repre- sent the bird with a red breast and tail. and having somewhat of an ca gle form