Thunderbird is a being, or a class of beings, in many North American nations: the Lakota Wakinyan, the Anishinaabe Animikii, and the Kwakwaka'wakw, Haida and Tlingit thunderbird of the Northwest Coast. In the Plains he is associated with thunder, rain and war; on the Northwest Coast he is a giant bird who hunts whales. The traditions do not describe one single pan-Indian figure, and some nations speak of the thunder beings in the plural. The New Age 'Thunderbird' as a spirit guide is a modern composite.
Modern Practice
Thunderbird is honoured with tobacco, cedar and the story, and the practice is the storm protocol: respect, not calling. The regalia and the stories belong to the nations that hold them, and the thunder is greeted rather than used. The first storm is the offering.