Lawrence democrat. (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) 1884-1925, 1895-10-18
THUNDER BIRD OF THE AYoAHs
Myth of Northwest Coast Tribe which
Ia Mads. tn, Hi..l.I l,...L


Myth NJ Northwest Coast Tribe which
Ia Made to Yield a Cash Income.
One of the curious features of this
place is the presence occasionally of a
Hydah Indian from the Charlotte is.
lands selling carved images Of the
thunder bird, The thunder bird Is
not known to any system of ornithol-
ogy. found Ia the brooks, but it has a
very real existence to the Hydah In
dian, and his faith in the bird not only
| helps him to solve a majestic electrical
| problem, but it enables him to turn
many nimble two-bit piece among
lovers OF curios. According to the
Hydah there exists in the mountains
a being in human form of supernatural
powers and enormous size who at irreg-
ular intervals goes forth to search for
food. When ready for the start he
clothes himself with dark feathers, SO
that his arms and legs become enorm-
GUS wings, which are spread out as he
flies until they cover the whole sky
The vibrations of the wings are heard
from afar as he rises up from the hori-
zon, heard in the sound of what the
white men call thunder, Moreover
this being carries living fish, with
forked fiery serpent tongues, concealed
among his feathers. AS he sails along
and spies anything that would serve
him for food he takes one of these fish,
and, swooping with increased vibra-
hn IN f<,x arI ho IL
hurls fish down upon it. The fish
projects its tongue of fire and thereby
tears the prey to pieces The number
of flashes of lightning seen during a
storm naturally indicate the condition
of the thunder birds appetite.
To turn this myth to his profit the
Hydah makes images of the thunder
bird of size convenient to carry in
the gripsack of the tourist. A slate
rock found on the islands where the
Hydahs live is of such quality that IL
may be, when first quarried, easily
carved. An image OF bird is cut from
this, the usual form showing very
crude representation of bird. There
is a head with an enormous rounded
beak, of which the upper mandible is
very thick and the lower one very
slender. A narrow neck joins this to
an oval body in such shape that the
srue OF the head and the breast of the
body are toward the spectator. On
each side the thin fiat wings extend
with marks to indicate feathers, and
below them two short legs, with four
claws, are found. Last of all is
rounded, fan-shaped tail. The whole
must be seen breast to the front if the
fact that it is a bird is to be recog-
nized, the back being commonly a
blank, flat surface. The stone thunder
bird therefore serves very well for a
paper weight.
However, the Hydah sculptor does
more than carve the stone into shape.
The stone by natural process hardens
on exposure to the air, but the Hydah
hastens the natural hardening process
and gives the surface really beauti-
full polish by rubbing it with oil.
1t is curious fact that the thunder
bird image is usually found tattooed
on the arm of the vender. Tattooinp
is religious ceremony among the Hy-
dahs, and variety Of fish, birds, man.
mails and bactracians are delineated
by their artists, every being so repre-.
sented having reference to some of
their myths or traditions. The images
so tattooed also indicate the name of
the individual, his family and clan.
The most popular of all these pictures
is the thunder bird. Possibly because
of desire to let everybody know to
what clan or family he belongs the Hy-
dab tattooes his distinctive symbols on
his fingers and forearms While peo-
pie here become so familiar with the
devices that they readily tell about
Hydah's clan and family by a glance
at the hands and arms, though the in.
dividual be an entire stranger. The
chiefs are known, too, for the reason
that they carry the distinctive designs
of all the families under them as well
as their own. So every chief not only
shows thunder bird on his person,
but variety of birds, mammals, frogs,
and fishes as well.-N. Y. Sun.