Thunderbird Myth

We are celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Makah Days. Makah Days is our celebration of being granted US citizenship through the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924. Every year, we celebrate Makah Days with a three-day feast at the end of August. We sing, dance, visit, and rekindle our traditions during this time. This year, I’ve created this design to share the Thunderbird myth to respect our traditions.

The Thunderbird myth holds a significant place in our Makah culture, symbolizing survival and trust that our creator will sustain us. We are taught Thunderbird saved Makah from starvation by hunting the whale and bringing it back to us so we would survive. Thunderbird has two lightning snakes that he uses to get the whale. When we hear thunder, we say Thunderbird is dancing and when we see lightning, we say Thunderbird is throwing his lightning snakes down from the heavens. Thunderbird is practicing to bring us a whale.