They are also unique from most other dragon myths across the world in that many of them were covered with feathers. South and Central American dragon myths are even more diverse and colorful than those in North America. The Oregon sea serpent Amhuluk and the Huron drake Angont are good examples of that. Many sea serpents and land drakes alike used to abduct children, spit poison or fire, and were used as bogeys to scare children away from certain areas. Many other dragon myths were described as exclusively malevolent. It was both worshipped and feared by the natives. It was a horned serpent but it could transform into any shape it wanted to, including human form. The feathered sea serpent Kolowissi from Zuni and Hopi mythology, for example, was the chief spirit of a group of water and rain spirits called Kokko. Some were benevolent or morally-ambiguous sea creatures and water spirits like the East Asian dragons. The meanings behind the different North American dragon myths are as diverse as the dragons themselves. Meaning and Symbolism Behind Most North American Dragon Myths In essence, it’s very possible that all three of these origins played a part in the formation of the different North American dragon myths. This is a much less likely but still possible hypothesis. There’s also a third hypothesis which is that some dragon myths, particularly on the east North American coast, were brought by the Nordic vikings of Leif Erikson and other explorers around the 10 th century AD.Others believe that the dragon myths of native North American tribes were their own inventions as they did spend a lot of time on the continent alone between their migration and the European colonization.This is very likely as many of the North American dragons do resemble East Asian dragon myths. Many historians believe that the North American dragon myths were brought with the people as they migrated from East Asia through Alaska.There are two or three possible sources of the North American dragon myths and it’s likely that they all came into play when these myths were created: Origins of the North American Dragon Myths In short, the dragon myths of North America were very similar to dragons from all over the rest of the world. There were also depictions of winged rattlesnakes in some Mississippian ceramics and other artifacts. Gaasyendietha was famous in Seneca mythology and while it lived in rivers and lakes, it also flew in the sky with its giant body and it used to spew fire. Gaasyendietha is another interesting creature as it was described more like the European dragons even though settlers from Europe hadn’t arrived in North America yet.Its horn was rumored to be a powerful aphrodisiac, so the natives often tried to chant and perform magical summons to draw the serpent and harvest its horn. Stvkwvnaya was a horned sea serpent from Seminole mythology.Kinepeikwa or Msi-Kinepeikwa was a massive land serpent that gradually grew by repeatedly shedding its skin until it eventually dove into a lake. Then, there are the many giant sea or cosmic serpent myths that are usually depicted with snake-like bodies. It certainly doesn’t look like the European or Asian dragons most people know, but it can definitely be classified as a dragon nevertheless.Īnother example is the underwater panther dragon from the Great Lakes region which had a cat-like body but was drawn with scales, a reptilian tail, and two bull’s horns on its head.
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