![]() Today, we know these monsters as “Thunderbirds”. The Haida referred to them as “ Ooolala“. To the Bella Coola, they were the “ Alkuntam“. The Kwakwaka’wakw called them “ Kwunusela“. The Coastal tribes had many names for these giant birds. Every once in a while, it left its perch to hunt killer whales, which it snatched from the ocean like a bald eagle snatches salmon from the river. The Coast Salish said that, in ancient times, a Thunderbird lived atop the Black Tusk peak in the Garibaldi Range north of Squamish, British Columbia. Their nests were enormous structures composed of tree branches, supplemented by the occasional human bone. These mythical creatures made their homes among the rocky crags of the Coast Mountains. Around smoky longhouse fires, they spoke of a massive eagle endowed with the ability to create storms. Lightning shot from its eyes when it blinked, and thunder boomed when it flapped its wings. From Haida Gwaii to the Fraser Delta, the image of a great eagle with curved horns serves as testament to an ancient legend shared by the First Peoples of the Pacific Northwest.įor centuries, Bella Coola, Nootka, and Tlingit medicine men regaled their fellow tribesmen with tales of a winged monstrosity which once dominated the western skies. The Thunderbird is a common motif in the indigenous artwork of Canada’s West Coast. The Thunderbird of the Pacific Northwest A Thunder Bird totem pole in Victoria, British Columbia. Its upper half- the half relevant to this article- is dominated by an aquiline figure with outstretched wings- a mysterious character from First Nations mythology known as the Thunderbird. The lower half of the Thunderbird House Post features a grizzly bear holding a human being. It is called the ‘Thunderbird House Post.’ The Thunderbird House Post in Stanley Park, Vancouver, British Columbia. One of these carvings- a striking replica of a Kwakwaka’wakw longhouse post- stands in conspicuous prominence. On the eastern shore of Stanley Park in Vancouver, British Columbia, at a place known as Brockton Point, stands a cluster of ten totem poles carved and painted by First Nations artists. ![]()
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