When the Storm God Rides

[seanachi]

With the Spring bringing showers of all intensity,
I was reminded of this Native Texas tale~ the
story below is a re-telling of a traditional.

For a Texas heart~

When the Storm God Rides

The Texas shores along the Gulf of Mexico did not
always boast the islands that we see today.

Along the coast is a story of a God and his great
black-winged thunder bird, which he rode like a horse
over the Gulf. He was the Storm God, and he made
islands where none had been before. These islands were
made as homes for the wild birds, the sea gulls, the big
pelicans, the cranes and the herons.

The God of Storms did not live among the Native
People, but resided down in the warm seas below
the Gulf of Mexico. The people were glad for this,
as his terrible thunder bird filled them with fear.

The tribes which lived near the Gulf only saw the mighty
God when he rode his thunder bird through the skies. He
visited their land when he wanted to get the white and
colored feathers of birds living on the seashore for his cloak.

The people could tell when he was on the way. As Hurakan,
the thunder bird, moved swiftly through the air over the
Gulf, with the sky in front of him filling with bits of white
clouds sailing high over the beaches. Then the wind would
swirl and blow, first here, then there. At last the great
thunder bird in the shape of a cloud, closed the eye of
the sun, and made the land dark.

The wind's howl grew in intensity, as the God and his
thunder bird came roaring across the sky. The People
ran into their wigwams, and secured them down as best
they could, while the Storm God rushed by and snatched
feathers from birds to put on his cloak. The people were
happy when he was gone, because Hurakan threw fear
into their souls .. (Even today Hurakan comes back once
in a while in the shape of a storm which we know as a
hurricane.)

Then there came a day when the peaceful tribes who
fished in the Gulf were driven away from their homes by
fierce tribes from the north. Unlike the Natives who lived
on the coast, these tribes liked to kill.

When they saw the birds flying they shot them with arrows.
They caught them on their roosts at night. They robbed their
nests. The poor birds cried out at the tops of their voices for
the Storm God to save them.

Far off down in his home in the warm seas, the God lifted his
head and heard the bird's cry. Quickly he rose to his feet and
shook himself. Thunder broke loose over his head, so angry
was he. He ran and jumped upon the back of Hurakan.

He shouted for Hurakan to be swift~ the thunder bird shot
fire like lightning from his eyes, while shaking loose black
clouds from the tips of his great wings. The Storm God's
Hurakan flew toward the Texas coast. They were wrapped
in darkness as they flew across the sky. The day became
like night, and the waters of the Gulf broke into white foam.

The ones who were killing the birds saw the Thunder God
coming too late to get away. The sun was gone, and the
clouds were so thick, and the color of midnight. The wind
from Hurakan's wings hit the intruders, and blew them
down when they tried to run.

Behind them came the waters of the Gulf, pushed upon the
land by the wind stirred up by the Storm God's thunder bird.
The wind blew the birds high in the air, as it drove the water
into the camps of the intruders, and scattered the homes and
belongings. The Gulf now poured far inland over the land,
and the land was now like the sea.

Everywhere was rolling water, leaping waves, crying winds.
High above the earth the Storm God rode his thunder bird,
and shouted with joy while the wind blew his long hair loose
through the flying clouds.

At last the God went away. As he left, the waters of the Gulf
began to roll back from the land, and when they reached the
ocean bed again, they dropped mud and sand they had torn
loose from the land and brought with them. The mud and sand
began to pile up. Soon many islands were forming. They rose
higher and higher, as the waters kept dropping their loads of
earth around them. When all was done the Texas coast was
dotted with islands that were new homes for the birds.

The intruders could not reach those birds any longer. The
pelicans, the gulls, the sand pipers and all the others now
went to their new homes, and made their nests where they
could be safe, and where the Storm God could find them
when he wanted new feathers for his cloak.

To this day those islands remain. Dwarf trees, cactus plants,
weeds, grasses and flowers cover them like fairy gardens.
And thousands of birds live on them, sing amid the bushes,
and bathe in the little pools left by the rains. During spring
and summer they lay their eggs and raise their little ones.
They are happy and safe from men, because long ago the
Storm God built the islands for them.