Animals have long held symbolic meaning in Native American cultures. Different tribes have their own unique beliefs, but certain animals are commonly associated with concepts like strength, wisdom, stealth, and even death. When looking at animals connected to death in Native American traditions, several key creatures emerge as harbingers of doom, guides to the underworld, or omens of mortality.
Coyote
The coyote holds varying roles across different tribes, but is often tied to death and trickery. For the Crow tribe, the coyote brought death into the world according to their creation story. The crafty coyote convinced a water monster to eat a wooden doll filled with anthills, causing the monster to vomit up real humans who then became susceptible to death. The Zuni and Pueblo tribes also depict the coyote as a trickster character who introduced death. The coyote’s tendency to dig up shallow graves and scavenge on corpses contributes to its association with death and the underworld.
Owl
Perhaps the animal most commonly linked with death in Native American culture is the owl. With their nocturnal habits, eerie calls, and silent flight, owls seem like messengers from the spirit world. For this reason, they are considered harbingers of death across many tribes. Spotting an owl is often thought to signify that someone is about to die. Because owls are active at night when many deaths occur, they are seen as a supernatural presence presiding over the transition between life and death. Tribes including the Apache, Cherokee, and Lakota place great spiritual importance on the owl as an omen of impending doom.
Raven
Another animal strongly tied to death in Native American culture is the raven. With their black plumage, ravens are seen as an ominous sign by many tribes. In stories and ceremonies, ravens often act as a guide for souls traveling to the afterlife. For example, the Heiltsuk tribe of the Northwest coast tells of a raven that leads the first man on a journey to the land of the dead to seek answers about mortality. Tribes like the Tlingit and Nootka also have legends of the raven guiding the sun, which was seen as a symbol of life, through the underworld each night. Their harsh voices and scavenging behavior reinforce the raven’s connection to death.
Butterfly
Not all animals linked with death have dark or ominous symbolism. The butterfly is seen by some tribes as a brightly-colored messenger signaling the transition between life and death. Their metamorphosis from caterpillar to winged adult is viewed as a metaphor for death and rebirth. Because butterflies return seasonally, they represent the cycles of life, death, and reincarnation in legends like the story of the Azure Butterfly told by the Hopi tribe. The Transit of the Dead ceremony performed by the Lenni Lenape to guide souls to the afterlife involves masking tribal members in orange and black to represent butterflies.
Bat
The bat is another creature associated with the realm of spirits and death in Native American legends. As nocturnal flyers, bats inhabit the night world along with ghosts and apparitions in the beliefs of tribes like the Caddo. They were thought to commune with and carry messages from the dead. The association between bats and the underworld also stems from their cave-dwelling habits, as caves were seen as an entryway to the world below. Their upside-down sleeping posture was thought to symbolize the inverted nature of the spirit realm. Sightings of bats were treated as omens of death by tribes including the Seminole.
Snake
One of the most prominent symbols of death and mortality in Native American culture is the snake. Venomous rattlesnakes in particular served as a representation of the danger of moving from the world of the living to the underworld. The Hopi viewed the rattlesnake as a guardian of the exits and entrances between outer earth and the spirit world. The zigzag shape of lightning was even seen as a warning from the Thunderbird that a snake was approaching. More broadly, the snake’s ability to shed its skin was seen as a metaphor for death and rebirth. Snakes that inhabited ruins and burial grounds reinforced their association with the cycle of life in many tribes.
Notable Animals By Tribe
| Tribe | Animal Associated with Death |
|---|---|
| Cherokee | Owl |
| Navajo | Coyote |
| Sioux | Raven |
| Iroquois | Butterfly |
| Apache | Bat |
| Hopi | Snake |
While there are many commonalities, specific animals linked with death vary somewhat between tribes based on their environmental surroundings, cultural practices, and oral traditions. This table shows some of the predominant creatures associated with death and the underworld for selected Native American tribes.
The Significance of Animal Symbols
For Native Americans, animal symbols provided a way to understandabstract concepts like death through familiar elements from the natural world. Linking certain animals to the unknown realm beyond life helped transform death into something more tangible. The animals associated with death shaped tribal ceremonies, stories, and art related tomourning and honoring the dead.
Each creature carried a unique set of meanings based on its habits, traits, and mythology within the culture. For instance, the owl served as a harbinger due to its nighttime activity and haunting vocalizations. The crafty coyote was a sign of danger based on legends of it bringing mortality into the world. These animals provided a bridge between the tangible world Native Americans inhabited and the mysterious afterlife beyond.
The Duality of Animals as Symbols
Importantly, the animals tied to death also embodied dual meanings of ending and renewal. While they warned of mortality, they also represented the continuity between this world and the next. Creatures like the snake and butterfly symbolized the cyclical nature of life and death through their ability to shed their skin or undergo metamorphosis.
The raven, though associated with the underworld, was believed to guide the sun through the land of spirits each night to rise again each morning. So while animals served as harbingers of doom, they also gave hope of rebirth and returning. This duality deepened their significance as spiritual symbols connecting life and death.
Ceremonial Usage of Animal Symbols
Animals linked to death played an important role in cultural practices and ceremonies for mourning and guiding spirits to the afterlife. For example, some tribes’ burial rituals involved painting the death-associated owl on gravesite markers or actual owls placed near the deceased. Tattooing images of animals like snakes and ravens on tribal members was another common way of honoring mortality.
Ceremonial dances would incorporate songs about death-related animals or replicate their movements to connect with the spirit world. Headdresses, masks, and rattles crafted from feathers, fur, or bones of creatures like the owl and coyote were traditionally worn in rituals for the dead. So these animals were not just abstract symbols – they had a tangible presence in Native American culture through their ceremonial usage.
Modern Relevance of Traditional Symbols
While practices and beliefs have evolved, animals connected to death still hold relevance for modern Native Americans. They remain common in oral histories, songs, and art that help preserve tribal heritage. Images of these symbolic creatures continue to appear in legends shared within communities to safeguard traditional knowledge.
Many Native Americans display animal symbols like owls or ravens on gravesites of relatives to honor their otherworldly meaning. Some incorporate shapeshifting animals in funeral rituals and bereavement ceremonies. Use of animal symbols also persists in sacred practices like the Sun Dance for expressing themes of loss and renewal. So despite widespread conversion to Christianity and influence from other faiths, traditional animal imagery maintains significance as part of Native Americans’ cultural identity and connection with the past.
Conclusion
Animals have long served as meaningful symbols of death for Native American cultures. While tribes have their own variations, common creatures such as the owl, coyote, raven, butterfly, bat, and snake frequently represent death and the afterlife across legends, ceremonies, and spiritual practices. Each animal carries a set of unique traits and associations that give deeper meaning to abstract concepts.
These symbols also embody themes of transformation and renewal underlying the grieving process. The enduring resonance of death-related animal symbols, even as cultures change, speaks to their vital role in Native Americans’ connection with mortality and commemoration of ancestors. As visual expressions of intangible beliefs, these animals continue to speak to the bond between this world and the next.
