Spirit Fire and Lightning Songs: Looking at Myth and Shamanism on a Klamath Basin Petroglyph Site

Robert J. David's Spirit Fire and Lightning Songs makes a major contribution to the steadily growing body of research in the western United States that prioritizes indigenous voices, myth, and neuropsychological models to provide a fresh and innovative approach to decolonizing the past. As a Klamath Tribal member, David's scholarly and engaging writing style lends itself to the retelling of KlamathModoc myths and the interpretation of how these myths convincingly relate to rock art at 4Mod22, a complex Klamath Basin petroglyph site in Northern California near the former Tule Lake. David's work at 4Mod22 highlights three distinctive classes of rock art: iconic motifs, residual markings, and geometric figures. Information provided by a combination of KlamathModoc ethnography and myth suggests that these distinctive rock art categories denote two patterns of ritual use that include shamans' consultations with their spirit familiars, and shamanic power quests.