Small wonder then, that many of the positive traits of owls are seen to belong to more normal-seeming species, such as the Barred Owl of the woodlands, also known as the Hoot Owl, as well as the Short-Eared Owl or Burrowing Owl of the Plains.īoth the Otoe and the Ioway had a Hoot Owl Clan for instance, and the Ioway name for that clan, Mankoke, is the same as the Ioway word for the Barred Owl. They also utter disturbing cries at night, which have been described by some as screeching and by others as wails.
First, they come in two color phases, red and gray, and of course, red is often seen as a spiritually powerful color among many tribes. Screech Owls, although much smaller than the Great Horned Owl, also have ample claims to their weird behavior. Occasionally it utters sounds resembling the half-choking cries of a person nearly strangled, and it is sometimes attracted by a campfire and will fly over it, shrieking as is goes. The calls of the Great Horned Owl can also be especially disturbing to some. The Great Horned Owl is one of the largest owls, and can take much larger prey than other owls, such as opossums and skunks, instead of the usual mice or voles, for instance. They locate their prey in the darkness, flying on noiseless wings, and communicating with other owls through their distinct-sounding hootīecause many tribes associate night with death and the underworld, it is no surprise that some tribes often associate nocturnal owls with death and the underworld as well. Second, like most owls, the Great Horned Owl is active mainly at night, unlike most other birds, which are active in the day. So the tufts or horns on these owls likely connect them to underworld powers. Horned water serpents are just one example, which are seen as chief of the underworld powers by many tribes.
First, they have tufts or horns on their heads, and horns are often signs of spiritually powerful beings for many tribes. There are a number of reasons why these two owls, the Great Horned Owl and the Screech Owl, might be seen as particularly powerful. In fact, some tribes believe that individual examples of these owls may not even be real birds at all, but instead are actually transformed witches as described above, or as in some other tribes, the unquiet spirits of the dead. Therefore, whenever owl feathers were worn by an individual, it often meant that they were a medicine person with healing abilities.Īmong many tribes, two of the owls with tufts on their heads, the Great Horned Owl and the Screech Owl, are often seen as the most uncanny and most dangerous of owls. The holy people believed that the owl had very soft and gentle ways, similar to the softness of an owl's feather, and these ways were taught to them in the healing ways. Holy men or holy women among many tribes frequently sought out spiritual help from real owls in their healing practices. It was believed that only the holy people, or medicine men, had the special knowledge to tell them apart. Many of these witches, it was believed, would change into the form of an owl so that they could fly silently through the night to cast spells on people while they were asleep and vulnerable to spiritual forces, or at the very least, spy on people and learn their weaknesses.īecause the average tribal member did not have the knowledge to distinguish a real owl from one that was actually a witch that had shape-shifted into the form of an owl, all owls were avoided in general for safety's sake. These “witches” or medicine people that practiced “bad medicine” were believed to have the ability to shape-shift or transform themselves into an animal, such as a bird. Some tribes called them “witches” or the equivalent of a witch in their particular language. Traditionally, many tribes believed, (and some individuals still hold these beliefs), that certain medicine people (both male and female) could be drawn to that part of spiritual power that would do harm to other people. In this post we'll cover “What does an owl symbolize?”, we'll learn about the Great Horned Owl feathers, we'll dive into the owl's spiritual meaning, and we'll answer the age-old question, “Are owls bad luck?” Owl Meaning and Symbolism in Native American BeliefsĪmong many tribes, the owl is to be both feared and embraced. Please keep in mind that this is only a partial sample of some of the wide variety of traditional beliefs concerning owls.
Therefore, I can offer the following information I’ve learned over the last 30 years or more, from many different tribal elders.
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