Ishkitini (the horned owl that prowls by night)
Choctaw · numen · Choctaw traditional religion; continuing · numen
Ishkitini is the great horned owl of Choctaw belief, singled out from the other owls of ill omen as an active and dangerous nocturnal being rather than a mere sign. It was said to prowl the darkness killing both men and animals, and its screech was heard as a warning of sudden death, often understood specifically as a murder. Choctaw tradition ranked the omen-birds by degree: while the screech owl foretold the death of a young child and the common hooting owl warned of death among near relatives, Ishkitini's cry marked the gravest and most violent end, giving it a place among the feared night powers of the Choctaw world.
Domains
- omens of death
- night and predation
Powers
- to foretell a sudden or violent death by its screech
- to prowl by night killing men and animals
Epithets
- Ishkitini
Sources
- John R. Swanton, Source Material for the Social and Ceremonial Life of the Choctaw Indians, Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 103, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1931.
- David I. Bushnell Jr., The Choctaw of Bayou Lacomb, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 48, Smithsonian Institution, 1909.