Whirlwind Woman: Native American tornado mythology and global parallels

Abstract

Scope and Method of Study: This research encompasses Native North American tornado-related ethnohistorical material from the seventeenth century through the twentieth century. It explores and analyzes the relationships among ancient agriculture, women, weather, the environment, animals, and the cultural traditions related to tornadoes. Because the same meteorological conditions that produce seasonal severe storms are essential to rain-fed agriculture, tornado beliefs from other agricultural regions in the world are examined for comparison. Global sources include archaeological and ethnohistorical material from ancient Mesopotamia, China, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Mesoamerica.

Findings and Conclusions: Extensive ethnohistorical material was found relating to ancient tornado beliefs, both in Native America and around the world. A powerful female deity linked to agriculture was associated globally with spring thunderstorms and, specifically, tornadoes. Mythological material treats tornadoes consistently as a separate entity, distinct from thunder and lightning, and directly linked to matriarchal systems. Thunderstorms were not necessarily linked to aggression and male imagery. Identical and repeated animal symbols accompany concepts of women and tornadoes in globally attested material. Previous research has failed to incorporate the fact that tornadoes, lightning, and thunder were intrinsically linked to the rain needed for vegetation. Female storm goddesses originated in this linkage and the creative-destructive duality that accompanied such phenomena. The consistent suppression and demonization of female-storm goddesses in favor of male storm-gods parallels cultural shifts probably linked to a significant change in food subsistence strategies, including the introduction of pastoralism and the domestication of the horse.