of a thunderbird during a solitary fast will become a war chief of the people. Arikara Ethnographer George Amos Dorsey transcribed a tale from the Arikaras with the title The Boy who befriended the Thunderbirds and the Serpent: a boy named Antelope-Carrier finds a nest with four young thunderbirds; their mother comes and tells the human boy that a two-headed Serpent comes out of the lake to eat the young. Iconography X-shapes In Algonquian images, an X-shaped thunderbird is often used to depict the thunderbird with its wings alongside its body and the head facing forwards instead of in profile. The depiction may be stylized and simplified. A headless X-shaped thunderbird was found on an Ojibwe midewiwin disc dating to 1250–1400 CE. In an 18th-century manuscript (a "daybook" ledger) written by the namesake grandson of Governor Matthew Mayhew, the thunderbird pictograms varies from "recognizable birds to simply an incised X". Non-indigenous scientific interpretations American science historian and folklorist Adrienne Mayor and British historian Tom Holland have both suggested that indigenous thunderbird stories are based on discoveries of pterosaur fossils by Native Americans. However, it has also been noted that, despite variations, the typical design elements of the motif within different tribal groups across the continent appear distinct from the makeup of the suggested prehistoric flying reptile, such as eagle or raptor-like avian feathered wings and tail, along with a vastly different head shape, perhaps with the exception of some Pacific Northwest imagery. In modern usage Thunderbird is the name of an operator in the popular competitive shooter Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege. The Ford Thunderbird took its name from the Thunderbird. In 1925, Aleuts were recorded as using the term to describe the Douglas World Cruiser aircraft which passed through Atka on the first aerial circumnavigation by a US Army team the previous year. The Pokémon Zapdos is based on First Nations folklore surrounding the Thunderbird. The Thunderbird is part of the Harry Potter franchise, and plays a significant role in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. See also Lightning bird Pamola Piasa Rain Bird Raven (mythology) Roc (mythology) Thunder god Timeline of pterosaur research References Sources External links First Nations culture Kwakwaka'wakw mythology Legendary birds Legendary creatures of the indigenous peoples of North America Mississippian culture Mythological birds of prey Native American culture Native American religion Northwest Coast art Thunder deities