News, events, and anything else related to indigenous people across the globe.
Thank you for sharing something about the owls. I can't think of too many animals that would be familiar to every culture, but owls of one kind or another are everywhere people are, and it's always interesting to hear regional thoughts and beliefs about them.
If you haven't seen the cross post to SuperbOwl, I shared an article about La Lechuza, and I called in the Nahua person to share some of their Meso American native owl facts.
Those were both pretty cool reads. We have something similar to La Lechuza called a hatakchaya, which is a kind of witch. The Nahua associating owls with death is interesting, especially since they sound to be more positive than the stories I hear. For Choctaw, the owl is also closely associated with death in the sense they are considered to be harbingers. As you mentioned in a comment, there is actual differentiation. For us, the difference in what owl you see indicates things like the age of the person who will die. The one exception IIRC is the screech owl, which is seen as a sign of a murder has or will happen.
Edit: Also, thanks for pointing out that they're climate change deniers. I definitely won't be posting any more articles from them.
Very cool. I looked up hatakchaya and found an article from the Choctaw Nation that goes into some stories about it and some other owl symbolism.
After the story in that article, I tried looking up if any raptors were still allowed to be killed by native people and I just saw everyone mentioning they're federally protected, so I'm guessing there's no exception. In talking to wildlife handlers, I've heard about all the federal cataloging and distribution to tribes the eagle feathers, so I assumed all the raptors were protected.
I did come across a Lakota talking more like the Meso Americans where the owls are more messengers from the spirit world, and were basically the counterpoint to the eagle. They're still a bit unsettling, but also well respected.
That Choctaw article also had lots of names for the different owls, which I hadn't seen before. With as many stories and omens seem associated with owls, it only makes sense that people would be aware of the different types and differentiate them.
Interestingly, it sounds like the ELC was disbanded in 2009, but the article is dated today. From looking around the rest of their site, it doesn't sound too bad, there is definitely mention of industry related climate change, but I can't find who they are or who funds them. The lady I found listed as the head lists herself as a life coach as her primary job now, so it's all very mysterious looking.
It did bring up some fun stuff for us all to talk about, and now I have a bunch more to read, so I'll count it as a win for us, despite a potential dubious source.
I looked up Reservation Dogs and it seems to have amazing reviews scores so I'll have to check that out as well.
I'm Choctaw and we're from the Southeast United States (Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana), so owls are bad news. If you've ever watched the show "Reservation Dogs", there's a scene where the kids (I think they're Mvskoke/Creek) catch a glimpse of an owl and react in a typical way for kids raised traditionally: This scene (Youtube)