Whale
Nuu chah nulth · numen · Nuu chah nulth traditional religion; continuing · numen
In Nuu-chah-nulth tradition the Whale, whom the coastal peoples reckon among the great powers of the deep, is the adversary of the Thunderbird in the widely told myth of their cosmic struggle. Seized in the Thunderbird's talons and lifted from the sea, the Whale thrashes with such force that the mountains shake, trees are torn up, and the ocean rises to cover the land. As the embodiment of the chaotic strength of the sea, capable of loosing floods, earthquakes, and great waves, the Whale forms the counterweight to the sky-power of the Thunderbird, and some scholars read the story as a remembered account of the great Cascadia earthquake and tsunami of 1700.
Domains
- sea and ocean power
- earthquake and flood
Powers
- shakes the earth and raises the sea in its struggle
Relations
- enemy: Kw-Uhnx-Wa
Sources
- Arima, Eugene, and John Dewhirst. 'Nootkans of Vancouver Island.' Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 7: Northwest Coast. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1990.
- Ludwin, Ruth S., et al. 'Dating the 1700 Cascadia Earthquake: Great Coastal Earthquakes in Native Stories.' Seismological Research Letters 76, no. 2 (2005): 140-148.