Thunderbird

Informant:

Zack was born in Boston Massachusetts and grew up in a house in rural Norwell Massachusetts in a secular family. His father is a musician and his mother a homemaker. Zack is a photographer who works with musicians and has traveled extensively both in his childhood following his father on tour and in his current occupation.

Norwell, Massachusetts

Original Script: “I am from a rural town 45 minutes south of Boston. Idyllic, but not without its dark history. I grew up on a 17-acre woodland just north of a long bend in The North River. Our property had been desirable for some time…European Settlers decided that it would make an ideal place for a military outpost and shipyard, so, they settled it by force. I literally grew up on an Indian battleground. This history came with a plethora of odd occurrences that would happen on our mostly wooded acreage. One time in particular, which I didn’t find out until much later, is actually considered to be Native American folklore. On a particularly hot summer day I was on my knees playing with my Star Wars figurines in the dirt near a tree line. It was midday and the sun was hot and directly overhead. It was quiet and then everything went dark. I cocked my head up to see what had happened to the sun when I saw a massive eagle breach the line of pines that surrounded our yard. Years later I learned of Thunderbirds and their presence in Native American folklore, so I’d like to think that maybe I was allowed to catch a glimpse of one.”

Background Information about the Piece by the informant: The informant grew up in a very rural area where there is a long history of battles and death.

Thoughts about the piece: Like most stories about spirits the setting for this story is the major character and one that is familiar to many, the Indian burial ground. The battles fought in the area and the animistic beliefs of the Native American peoples are expressed here in the form of a Thunderbird.