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Native American Thunder Mythology

Thunder is also used as a clan symbol in some Native American cultures. Tribes with Thunder Clans include the Ottawa (whose Thunder Clan is named Nimki) and the Caddo (whose Thunder Clan is named Kagahanin.)

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Here is our collection of Native American legends and traditional stories about thunder.

Native American Thunder Gods and Spirits

*Animikii (Ojibwe)
*Chequa (Potawatomi)
*Coneneses (Caddo)
*Gaqtugwewe'sm (Mi'kmaq)
*Hinun (Iroquois)
*Huhuk (Pawnee)
*The Little Thunders (Seminole)
*Nonoma (Cheyenne)
*Pinesi (Anishinabe)
*Tahu (Hidatsa)
*Thunder Brothers (Wabanaki)
*Thunderbird (Plains and Western tribes)
*The Thunderer (Sioux)
*Thunderers (Cherokee)
*Thunders (Iroquois)

Native American Legends About Thunder

*White Owl:
    Story of a Penobscot hero who was saved from a witch by the Thunder Brothers.
*The Origin of the Thunderbird:
    Story of a Passamaquoddy man who discovered the home of the Thunderers and was transformed into one of them.
*Thunder Son:
    Shawnee story about the son of a Thunder-man.
The Man Who Visited The Thunder-Beings:
    Lenape legend about the thunderers and their home in the sky world.
*The Girl Who Joined The Thunders:
    Legend about the Thunders rescuing a Lenape girl from the land of snakes.
*Grandfather Thunder:
    Lenape myth about the Thunderers.
*Mudjikiwis:
    Epic legend about ten Cree brothers and their Thunder wives.
*The Twin Brothers * The Brothers Who Became Lightning And Thunder:
    Caddo legends about the twin heroes, Thunder and Lightning.
*Ababinili and the Humans:
    Chickasaw myth about the Creator assigning Thunder and other elements roles to play in the lives of the people.

Recommended Books of Thunder Stories from Native American Myth and Legend
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The Girl Who Helped Thunder:
    Collection of Native American folktales about thunder and other natural phenomena by Abenaki storyteller James Bruchac.
How Thunder and Lightning Came to Be:
    Picture book based on a Choctaw legend about the origin of thunder and lightning.
Weather Legends: Native American Lore and Science of Weather:
    Collection of weather myths from various tribes, including a chapter on thunder and lightning.



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