Haietlik

serpent · Canada · North America

Haietlik, the lightning serpent of the Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka) peoples, is the great ally and weapon of Thunderbird in the whale hunt. Its head is sharp as a knife and its tongue flashes lightning that wounds whales for Thunderbird to take. Whalers carried its skin for luck, and its image appears on canoes and in petroglyphs.

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