The Myth of the Thunderbirds

Thunder birds are talked about in many parts of the continent. Stories are found amongst the peoples of from the West Coast to the East Coast. They often come in combination with a floating mountain.
One variant goes as follows:
Source: Crow (Apsaalooke)

A young boy roams the praririe alone hunting

Finds strange white object

He fired an arrow at it and was teleported on top of a mountain

That mountain was floating on in the air

He was wandering around. Almost dying of thirst.

He finds a nest with young thunderbirds

They told him to get into the nest as mother was approaching

She fed them some water and some food.

The thunderbird took him here to protect their young form some evel Otters. They would come up to their nest and take their young every year.

The young human prepared various tools and traps for their arrival

Then he fought and won

The thunderbirds thanked him and transformed him into an eagle. This way he could descent from the floating mountain.

The youth lived as an eagle for some time. Almost forgetting that he was a human. Then he was reminded at some point and returned to the floating mountain

The thunderbird agreed to help him return to his people, but first he had to help the thunderbird to kill some more evil creatures.

They killed more otters, a beaver and a maverick buffalo

Finally they attacked an elk. The elk was too smart for them

He stabbed the youth and threw him into a lake. Told him that he had killed too many creatures of nature. The thunderbird had already abandoned him and was not the good guy.

The youth had to repent from his sin

He was shoved into a sweat house and there he transformed back into a human. Once he left the house thunder mountain had disappeared. Instead he could now see the camp of his people again. He eagerly returned home.

There are many other variations of this tale and similar.

Related Species

Thunderbird

Related Locations

Thunderbird Mountain