File:The American Museum journal (c1900-(1918)) (17972314750).jpg

Title: The American Museum journal
Identifier: americanmuseumjo14amer (find matches)
Year: c1900-(1918) (c190s)
Authors: American Museum of Natural History
Subjects: Natural history
Publisher: New York : American Museum of Natural History
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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72 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL the Middle West, the Sauk and Fox, Menomini.Winnebago, Ojibway, Potawa- tomi and Ottawa, have many tales of this titanic feud. These tribes all believe that the Thunderers are mighty " super- eagles" who dwell in floating tiers of rock in the ether above man in the west- ern sky. It is the flashing of their eyes which we call lightning and their raucous cries that we de- nominate the thun- der. It is the duty "T'r\%' ', of these birds to ; ft^ ; ■.■^■MtJ-- guard man, to rake the earth with hail and water it with rain, and above all, to prevent the evil horned snakes from destroying mankind. They are war gods and patrons of war- riors and it was through them that the war bundles, sa- cred packs of talis- mans carried into battle as protection from the arrows and bullets of the foe, were given to mankind by the Sun and the Morning Star. In the Museum's collection in the Woodland hall are many examples of the images of these birds from all the central western tribes. They are mostly woven on carrying bags made of native basswood string with the designs in yarn or blanket ravelings. Most interesting of all is a painted robe which forms the inner wrapping of a war bundle. On it appear the Thunderers in both bird and human form as protectors and patrons of warriors. The human Thunderers are always distinguishable by their pos- session of huge beaks in place of noses. Another unique piece from nearer home, is a fragment of pottery found in 1902 on a Museum expedition to Shinne- cock Hills, Long Island. On it is incised the crude figure of a Thunderbird, very
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A Menomini woven bag showing the Thunderers. The bag is a very old specimen made of basswood barli fibre with the designs of buffalo- wool yarn much like those shown on the woven bags from farther west. It is interesting- in that it shows the eastern distribution of this concept. Among the Plains-Cree, men who- dreamed of the Thunderers not infre- quently ornamented their buffalo skin tipis with paintings of the Thunder- birds in semihuman form. The photo- graph showing the Cree tent was made in the summer of 1913 in the Qu'Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan, and illustrates this custom.

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