Whirlwind-Woman
Arapaho · numen · Arapaho traditional religion; continuing · numen
Whirlwind-Woman is a female spirit-being who moves in the turning of the whirlwind and is credited as the origin of the sacred art of porcupine-quill ornamentation, the highly symbolic craft carried on by Arapaho women's quilling societies. Her circling motion is bound in Arapaho thought to the spiral and to the decorated ceremonial field. In the trickster cycle she matches herself against Nih'ançan and prevails, adding a note of the uncontainable natural power she personifies.
Domains
- craft quillwork
- wind
Powers
- originate porcupine-quill ornamentation
- move and spin as the whirlwind
- outrace the trickster
Relations
- rival: Nih'ançan