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DRAGONFLY SYMBOLISM: AMONG THE CHEYENNE AND DAKOTA
American Indians of the Northern Plains often depicted animals with special powers on their clothing, shields, horses and tipis, in hopes of sharing some of their special qualities. The dragonfly possessed multiple attributes that appealed to the people. It's always a good omen when a dragonfly lands on a tipi cover; a sign that life giving water is nearby. The dragonfly held wide meaning for the American Indians of the Plains, especially the Cheyenne and Dakota. However, the Cheyenne did not consider dragonflies as insects. In their classification of the cosmos they "consider dragonflies and butterflies to be birds, both hatched from nymphs" (Moore, 178). This article will offer a brief overview of dragonfly symbolism among the Cheyenne and Dakota.
Modern biology classifies dragonflies in the order Odonata which includes both damselflies and dragonflies, often nicknamed "mosquito hawk" because of their voracious appetite for mosquitoes and blackflies. Dragonflies have been traced on earth some 300 million years to the Carboniferous era, and "giant dragonflies with the wingspan of a hawk were dinosaurs' contemporaries" (Brody, 7). The dragonfly possesses 3608 vision, can take off at 35 miles per hour; they weave, hover, and can fly backwards. Incredibly, each of their four wings can operate independently under direct muscular control. This maneuverability has made the dragonfly a superb feeding machine. "They are as close to being the perfect predator as anything on earth. When you're that good, there's no pressure to change" says Dr. Donald G. Huggins, an aquatic ecologist at the University of Kansas (Brody, 10). There are more than 4,950 species throughout the...
