MYTH-601 Lessons

Eager to learn about a new culture, Professor Morgan’s students quickly enter the classroom and take their seats. Looking to the front, they see the professor standing in front of a huge tapestry, which is floating a few feet from the floor.

The professor steps out of the way, revealing the image of a giant bird, made with an almost geometric design in red and black. They ponder the image for a few moments, when a student in the back row suddenly shouts, “Its a Thunderbird!”

Indeed, Miss Aleforth! This is a traditional Salish rendering of a Thunderbird, on loan to me from a dear friend in Vancouver. Salish art often depicts one or more of a great number of different creatures, some of whom are magical like the Thunderbird. These creatures feature prominently in the myths of the Salish people and we will speak about the Thunderbird, the Orca, and the Coyote, among other mythological figures throughout our lesson today. Shall we get started?

The Thunderbird. Courtesy of the Cuyamungue Institute

If you have taken Year Five of Ancient Studies, you will know that the Salish peoples are native to the west coast of North America, around the areas of Vancouver and Seattle in Canada and the United States respectively. The Salish are actually a group of civilizations, not a single nation. They speak the same language, with regional variation, but have slightly different cultures and consider themselves separate nations. That said, many of their myths are the same - a feature that helps join these communities together. They are loosely subdivided into two groups called the Coast Salish and the Interior Salish, which simply describes where they historically lived in relation to the ocean. Many Salish nations are still thriving today.

The Thunderbird and Other Magical Creatures

As with other North American civilizations, Salish myths often feature animals as characters in the story. These creatures are referred to simply by their species, for example Coyote is an actual coyote, although he  thinks and speaks like a human. Other creatures that appear in the same manner in Salish myths are Thunderbird, Orca, Fox, Eagle, and many more. TNow, keep in mind that if you hear three different myths about Coyote, they are about the same entity. Those myths will probably make you laugh at some point, as well, as Coyote often gets himself into ridiculous predicaments!

Now, you may have noticed that while most of the creatures I mentioned are non-magical, there is one that is magical. In truth, there is a mix of both creatures in Salish (and other North American) mythology, as the magical creatures of the Americas were in no way hidden from Muggles or wizardkind in any way until long after the arrival of the Europeans.

Our first story features a creature that we know to be magical: the Thunderbird. Only the greatest of chiefs could claim the Thunderbird as their totem animal. To the Salish nations, Thunderbird was a great protector and a formidable opponent. He could shoot thunderbolts from his eyes and create great storms. Now, we know that Thunderbirds cannot shoot lightning, however they do create storms which produce lightening, something that may have easily been misinterpreted by the people experiencing the phenomena.

In this particular myth of the Cowichan people, one of the Coast Salish nations, the fish had ceased to come up river during fishing season. Fearful that their people would starve, the hunters travelled down to where the river met the ocean, and there they saw a terrible sight: a mighty Orca (killer whale), seemingly possessed with evil. Orca was keeping the fish from running upstream.

The hunters took their war canoes out onto the ocean and tried to drive Orca away from the mouth of the river, but to no avail. At this time, the shaman of the village, who was most likely a wizard of some skill, told the villagers to gather together to call Thunderbird (whom the Cowichan refer to as Tzinquaw). For four days and four nights the people of the village sang songs to Tzinquaw, and on the morning of the fifth day, he appeared. Immediately seeing the problem, Tzinquaw descended onto the back of Orca, and a great fight commenced. Ultimately Tzinquaw was victorious, and the fish began their run upstream again.

Tzinquaw and Orca

The characters in this particular myth, namely the Thunderbird and the Orca, actually make this myth a bit more plausible. Just like we know the Greek Bellerophon and Pegasus were real,, we know that the Thunderbird is real, and so too are orcas. It is possible that a Thunderbird killed an orca? Perhaps. They are certainly strong enough, and a bolt of lightning or two is enough  to kill a whale. I will leave it up to the great scholars to debate what is truth and what is myth, but it certainly does spark an interesting conversation, does it not?

Thunderbirds are not the only magical creatures mentioned in Salish myths that we know exist. That said, the other magical creatures do not necessarily match up with their real-world counterparts in terms of physical characteristics.

Take, for example, the myth of Coyote and the giant. Now, Coyote was a bit of a trickster, but he had a good heart and most of what he did was to benefit mankind. One day he took it upon himself to slay a giant who was killing everything in its path. Unfortunately, the cave which Coyote entered to try and find the giant was actually the giant’s mouth. The creature was so large that it’s belly was said to fill an entire valley. Nevertheless, Coyote did succeed in slaying the giant by stabbing it in the heart from the inside of its body.

Now we know that giants,while quite large, are not nearly as big as the one described in the story. That said, it is possible that the Salish people encountered a giant or two at some point, and the description was quite exaggerated over time.

Another myth featuring Coyote as the main character is the story of the giant snake. Again, this snake was so large that people unknowingly walked into its mouth, thinking it was a cave. Similarly, Coyote ends up killing the snake by piercing its heart from the inside.

Now, it is possible that these two myths are actually variations on the same story, but what is interesting in this case is the reference to a giant snake. Giant snakes do appear quite prominently in mythologies across the globe. You may recall discussing the Norse Jormungandr in Year Five, the serpent whose body circled the globe, who was ultimately destined to die by Thor’s hand. Similarly, the Egyptians and later the Greeks spoke of Ouroboros, the great snake who devoured his own tale. In this particular case, Ouroboros became a symbol of a complete, repeating cycle, and sometimes infinity, or life without end.

Ouroboros

As you know, giant snakes are real, although they are certainly not large enough to be mistaken for a cave, let alone circle the globe with their body! That said, certain features of a giant snake such as a Basilisk are present in these myths. They are certainly deadly creatures, as indicated in the Salish and Norse myths, but even more interesting is how their longevity is mirrored in the meaning of the symbol of Ouroboros. These similarities lead historians to ponder just how much ancient civilizations such as the Salish may have been in contact with these creatures. In the case of the Salish in particular, their exposure to this specific magical creature would have been nearly impossible, as Basilisks do not live in the Americas. Perhaps the giant snake was simply just a story, or referenced a similar creature, but it is fascinating nonetheless, given our personal knowledge of Basilisks.

Animagi

Setting aside myths of magical creatures for now, there are also a number of Salish myths that seem to involve Animagi. You should recall from our discussion last class on Mi’kmaq mythology that the magical population of the Americas has a much higher per capita population of wizards who are Animagi.

One of the most interesting of the Salish myths is the story of the horse woman, as it seems to describe someone’s attempts at becoming an Animagus. The woman, unlikely as it may be, fell in love with a stallion, much to the chagrin of her husband. One night she ran away and was not seen for quite some time. Months, or perhaps years later, she was spotted running with a herd of wild horses, her appearance changed. Her hair was long and mane-like, and her limbs had taken on a more four-legged stature. The hunters brought her home to her husband, hoping to help her. It is certainly possible that her state at the time was a result of a backfired Animagus attempt, and perhaps they were able to undo the effects, but she would only whinny, and could not be tamed. As such, they let her go. One year later, she was spotted again, however this time she had almost no human features left, and seemed to behave entirely like a horse.

Putting aside the question of how this woman learned to perform this magic (for this is a myth, after all), it is interesting how very factually this myth is told. It is almost as if the narrator says “Yep, she turned into a horse, which you know is something that can happen.” And indeed it was. Just as with other civilizations, magic was so entwined into Salish culture that someone turning into an animal was not overly surprising. Perhaps the intent of this story was to caution young witches and wizards about the hazards of practicing magic that you were not prepared for. As the magical and Muggle communities were not separated during the ancient period of these civilizations, it is certainly possible that myths were created solely for those children who demonstrated magical ability.

The marriage of magic and day to day life is truly at the root of Salish mythology. Magical creatures are featured as both good and evil in the myths, reflecting the general dispositions of the creatures upon which they are based. So to are the magical abilities woven into these stories. To us, as to the nations to whom these stories belong, they lend a bit of credence to the tale, although they do make me wish to avoid caves with pointy stalagmites in the future.

Just don’t go in here….

And that is all the time we have for today! I hope you enjoyed learning a few Salish myths - there are a great many more, but we have too little time. Our next class will bring us significantly south to the myths of the Navajo civilization where we will meet up with the Thunderbird again, as well as a few other creatures. Until then you will have a quiz on today’s materials as well as an essay on snakes to complete.