Editing Thunderbird (mythology) (section)

=== Algonquian ===
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| footer = Tribal signatures using thunderbirds on the [[Great Peace of Montreal]]
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The thunderbird myth and motif is prevalent among [[Algonquian peoples]] in the Northeast, i.e., [[Eastern Canada]] ([[Ontario]], [[Quebec]], and eastward) and [[Northeastern United States]], and the [[Iroquois|Iroquois peoples]] (surrounding the [[Great Lakes]]).{{sfnp|Lenik|2012|p=163}} The discussion of the Northeast region has included [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]]-speaking people in the Lakes-bordering [[Midwestern United States|U.S. Midwest states]] (e.g., [[Ojibwe]] in Minnesota{{sfnp|Lenik|2012|p=181}}).

In [[Anishinaabe traditional beliefs|Algonquian mythology]], the thunderbird controls the upper world while the underworld is governed by the [[underwater panther]] or [[Horned Serpent#In Native American cultures|Great Horned Serpent]]. The thunderbird creates not just thunder (with its wing-flapping) but lightning bolts, which it casts at the underworld creatures.<ref name=thundermaking-cleland/>

Thunderbird in this tradition may be depicted as a [[Spreadeagle (position)|spreadeagled]] bird (wings horizontal head in [[Profile portrait|profile]]), but also quite common with the head facing forward, thus presenting an X-shaped appearance overall{{sfnp|Lenik|2012|p=181}} (see under [[#Iconography|§Iconography]] below).

==== Ojibwe ====
[[File:Pouch, southeastern Ojibwa, with porcupine quills, from Boston Museum Collection - Native American collection - Peabody Museum, Harvard University - DSC05441.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Ojibwe]] shoulder pouch depicting two thunderbirds in [[quillwork]], [[Peabody Museum Harvard]]]]

The [[Ojibwe]] version of the myth states that the thunderbirds were created by [[Nanabozho]] to fight the underwater spirits. Thunderbirds also punished humans who broke moral rules. The thunderbirds lived in the [[Cardinal direction#Native Americans|four directions]] and arrived with the other birds in the springtime. In the fall, they migrated south after the end of the underwater spirits' most dangerous season.<ref name="Ojibwa">{{cite book | title=Traditional Ojibwa Religion and Its Historical Changes | publisher=American Philosophical Society | author=Vecsey, Christopher | year=1983 | page=75 | volume=152 | isbn=978-0-87169-152-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Un5uxow5c-UC&q=Thunderbird}}</ref>

==== Menominee ====
The [[Menominee]] of Northern [[Wisconsin]] tell of a great mountain that floats in the western sky on which dwell the thunderbirds. They control the rain and hail, and delight in fighting and deeds of greatness. They are the enemies of the great horned snakes (the Misikinubik) and have prevented these from overrunning the earth and devouring humankind. They are messengers of the Great Sun himself.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lankford |first=George E. |author-link=<!--George E. Lankford--> |title=Native American Legends of the Southeast: Tales from the Natchez, Caddo, Biloxi, Chickasaw, and other Nations |year=2011|publisher=University of Alabama Press|location=Tuscaloosa, AL|page=77|isbn=978-0-8173-5689-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cs383Ik3CAQC&q=Thunderbird}}</ref>