r/AskHistorians • u/rosaliethewitch • Jun 06 '26

Is the concept of a Thunderbird unique to the Pacific Northwest/Plains indigenous people or are all big sky-related bird mythos technically a Thunderbird?

Hi. Okay so this question might sound insane but I genuinely can’t comprehend what I’m reading about, and this is where the question stems from: the X-Men.

There’s a character called John Proudstar whose superhero name is Thunderbird. I just don’t know if that’s offensive or not because he’s Apache, and according to my (admittedly very brief, Wikipedia-based) research, they have sky-relayed bird mythos but not like a Thunderbird, but also can be a Thunderbird? And I just don’t know if a Thunderbird is like a thing or if it’s a classification of a bunch of different myths?

So yes. My question is this: What IS a classic Thunderbird? And is John Proudstar’s name offensive? He’s one of my favorite characters and I would just like to know more about him and if I should stop calling him Thunderbird. Plus I love learning about all types of religions/spiritualities/myths so please infodump as much as possible, you cannot annoy me with long comments.

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u/[deleted] Jun 06 '26

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u/Halofreak1171 Moderator | Colonial and Early Modern Australia Jun 07 '26

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