Cascadia Megathrust Earthquakes in PNW Indian Legend Pages from: Ruth Ludwin, University of Washington Dept. of Earth and Space Sciences

Earthquake and flood references are common in Native oral traditions all along the Cascadia margin from Yurok territory in northern California to Kwakwaka'wakw territory at the northern end of Vancouver Island. Some stories are literal, and clearly refer to recent historical happenings. Other stories refer to earthquake or tsunami effects metaphorically. The battle between the Thunderbird and Whale is a famous First-Nations story from the coast of Washington and British Columbia that appears to be related to great subduction zone earthquakes on the coast of Cascadia. References to Thunderbird (or analagous wind figures) and to whale (or analogous water figures) are found in connection with shaking and flooding all along the Cascadia coast.

• Dating the 1700 Cascadia Earthquake - Great Coastal Earthquakes in Native Stories (PDF), 2005, R. S. Ludwin, R. Dennis, D. Carver, A. D. McMillan, R. Losey, J. Clague, C. Jonientz-Trisler, J. Bowechop, J. Wray, and K. James, Seismological Research Letters, V. 76, No. 2, pp. 140-148.
• 1999 Draft Article, submitted in final report for USGS Grant # 1434-HQ-97-GR-03166
• Thunderbird and Whale - A synthesis of several Quileute and Hoh legends
• Printable PDF file - Published in April 2002, in TsuInfo Slightly updated, but without the stories
• Legends referred to in the article
• More Legends that could be related
• Links to still more Legends that could be related
• Geologic Evidence of Cascadia Subduction Zone and its magnitude 9+ 1700 earthquake

• SUMMER 2006 - National Science Foundation Chautauqua Field Course for Teachers UWA-03: Pacific Northwest Earthquakes: Evidence in Native Myth and Tradition RUTH LUDWIN, University of Washington August 3-6, 2006 in Northwestern Washington and Seattle, WA

• Thunderbird and Whale totem art

• Early (1891) articles by James Deans on Haida totem culture

• Exploring ancient traditions - Scientists are using new techniques to confirm ancient knowledge, and they are not above wild speculation!

• Links to other web pages about Thunderbird and Whale iconography, also two other sea creatures that may be related to this myth; the Wasgo of the Haida Peoples, and the Sisiutl of the Kwakiutls.

• References