Wankwijo is the Pueblo Goddess of the wind. Also known as Old Wind Woman, she is said to live in the Sandia Mountains of New Mexico. Her hot breath whips through the mountains and can bring illness, but she can be appeased with offerings of cornmeal and turkey feathers. Wankwijo’s name is also seen as Wakwiyo.

Tukwinong Mana is the Hopi Goddess of clouds. She is the kachina who appears in the Shalako Ceremony, a dance that occurs after the last harvest of the year. Tukwinong Mana carries a tray of cornmeal divided into four colors, representing the clouds of the four directions. Her legs and hands are smeared with mud from the spring of the village where the dance occurs. As the representative of the clouds, she listens to and answers prayers for rain. Her name, which means “cumulus cloud girl,” is also seen as Tukwunag Kachin-mana.

I was poking around the web earlier today, looking to replace my old “Broom Parking Only” sign, and I came across a couple of websites that talk about “found” Goddesses.  Since I am a committed worshipper, I absolutely love The Charge of the Goddess Caffeina and the description of the prayers of her priests, such as “Grande Latte Skinny No Foam.” Check them out when you have a chance!

Hayicanako is the Tlingit Goddess of natural order. She is a giantess who lives in a mountain, where she holds up a column that supports the earth. When she gets hungry, she loses her concentration and the column starts to quiver, causing earthquakes. Her hunger can be fed by her worshippers throwing fat into their fires. Another version says that earthquakes happen when Raven jostles her arm and tries to make her lose her grip. Hayicanako’s name, which means “Old Woman Underneath Us,” is also seen as Hayicanak.

Hongak is the Seneca Goddess of geese, in particular the Canada goose. When her husband Hagowanen, the hunter God, was captured by the evil spider spirit Djieien, Hongak gave their son Othegwenhda an amulet made of flint which contained her spirit. She told him to place it between his belt and his body, and while it was there, he would be able to change into any form that he wished. With it to aid him, he was able to kill Djieien and rescue his father.

Unk is the Lakota Goddess of passion and water. She was created by Maka, Goddess of the Earth, to be her companion. Maka was a very petty Goddess and she imparted this nature to Unk. She also made her very beautiful, so beautiful in fact that she became jealous of Unk. They quarreled and Maka finally cast Unk into the waters. Unk complained to Skan, the creator God, and he gave her dominion over the waters. She schemed against Maka and gave birth to two sons, Iya (Evil-one) and Gnas (Demon). Through their manipulations and trickery, Unk eventually came to have everything in her domain that Maka had in hers—animals, plants, birds, and reptiles.

Old Woman of the Sea is the Salinan Goddess of water, particularly the ocean and its power. The Salinan tribes of California told a flood story as follows: At the beginning of the world, Eagle was chief among the animals. Old Woman of the Sea was jealous of his power and plotted against him. One day, she came on to the land with her basket, which held the sea. She poured the water out, covering almost all of the land—everything was covered except for the top of one mountain, where all the animals gathered. Eagle asked Puma to give him some of his whiskers, from which he made a lariat. Eagle lassoed the basket away from Old Woman of the Sea. Without her basket, Old Woman of the Sea died and the water stopped rising. Eagle then had Kingfisher dive down into the water and fetch some mud, from which he formed the world. Eagle then formed humans out of elderberry branches; when he breathed on them, they came to life and became the Salinan people.

Flower Woman is the Yaqui Goddess of prophecy. A Yaqui myth tells of the time just before the Spaniards came to North America. A tribe called the Surem lived in the Sonoran desert. One day, a tree began to shake and make strange noises, but no one could understand what it said. A young woman came forward and told the people that the tree was telling them that the world was about to change, that a new people would come and bring new beliefs and new ways. Some of the people did not like Flower Woman’s message, and chose to leave the tribe and live underground. The rest of the people stayed and became the Yaqui, who merged the newcomers’ ways with their own.

Yolkai Estsan is the Navaho Goddess of the earth and the seasons, and is also known as White Shell Woman. She is the sister of Changing Woman, who is also known as Estsanatlehi. The two sisters were born from carvings of women, Yolkai Estsan from white shell and Estsanatlehi from turquoise. After their creation, they were left on a mountain top alone. After several days, they became lonely and Estsanatlehi noted that they only things that they saw moving on the mountain were the sun over their heads and the water of a waterfall below them. She speculated that perhaps they were people like themselves and said that she would go to greet the sun the next morning, and told Yolkai Estsan to greet the waterfall.

A few days later, Yolkai Estsan noticed a strange feeling in her belly. The waterfall had made her pregnant, as the sun had impregnated Estsanatlehi. Their sons, Monster Slayer and Born of Water, were known as the Hero Twins, and it was they who rid of the world of monsters. Yolkai Estsan eventually married Klehanoai, the Moon-Carrier. She is associated with the East just as her sister Estsanatlehi is associated with the West.

Awaeh Yegendji is an Iroquois Goddess known as Mother Swan. She is a wise old crone who lives in the forest with her three beautiful daughters. Worried that she will have no one to care for her in her old age, she urges her daughters to seek worthy mates. All three attempt to seduce Big Earth’s son, and he eventually chooses both the eldest and the youngest to be his wives.

Tootega (pronounced TU-te-gah) is the Inuit Goddess of boats and sea travel. She appears as a little old woman, and she has the ability to walk on the water.