North America is rich in thunder-gods. Of these a
typical example is Haokah, the god of the Siox. The countenance
of this divinity was divided into halves, one of which expressed
grief and the other cheerfulness---than is, on occasion he could
either weep with the rain or smile with the sun. Heat affected
him as cold, and cold was to him as heat. He beat the tattoo of
the thunder on his great drum, using the wind as a drum-stick.
In some phases he is reminiscent of Jupiter, for he hurls the
lightning to earth in the shape of thunderbolts. He wears a pair
of horns, perhaps to typify his connexion with the lightning, or
else with the chase, for many American thunder-gods are mighty
hunters. This double conception arises from their possession of
the lightning-spear, or arrow, which also gives them in some
cases the character of a war-god. Strangely enough, such gods of
the chase often resembled in appearance the animals they hunted.
For example, Tsul 'Kalu (Slanting Eyes), a hunter-god the
Cherokee Indians, seems to resemble a deer. He is of giant
proportions, and dwells in a great mountain of the Blue Ridge
Range, in North-western Virginia. He appears to have possessed
all the game in the district as his private property. A Cherokee
thunder-god is Asgaya Gigagei (Red Man). The facts that he is
described as being of a red colour, thus typifying the lightning
and that the Cherokees were originally a mountain people, leave
little room for doubt that he is a thunder-god, for it is around
the mountain peaks that the heavy thunder-clouds gather, and the
red lightning flashing from their depths looks like the moving
limbs of the half-hidden deity. We also find occasionlly invoked
in the Cherokee religious formulae a pair of twin deities known
as the 'Little Men, or 'Thunder-boys.' This reminds us that in
Peru twins were always regarded as sacred to the lightning, since
they were emblematic of the thunder-and-lightning twins,
Apacatequil and Piguerao. All these thunder-gods are analogous
to the Aztec Tlaloc, the Kiche Hurakan, and the Otomi Mixcoatl.
A well-known instance of the thunder- or hunter-god who possesses
animal characteristics will occur to those who are familiar with
the old English Legend of Herne the Hunter, with his deer's head
and antlers.
The Dakota Indians worshipped a deity whom they addressed
as Waukheon (Thunder-bird). This being was engaged in constant
strife with the water-god Unktahe, was was a cunning sorcerer,
and a controller of dreams and witchcraft. Their conflict
probably symbolizes the atmosphereic changes which accompany the
different seasons.
"Myths of the North American Indians".. by Lewis Spence.
