Editing Roadrunner (section)

== Indigenous lore ==

The [[Hopi]] and other [[Pueblo]] tribes believed roadrunners were ''[[Medicine man#Cultural context|medicine]]'' birds, capable of warding off evil spirits. The X-shaped footprints of roadrunners were seen as sacred symbols, believed to confuse evil spirits by concealing the bird's direction of travel. Stylized roadrunner tracks have been found in the rock art of ancestral Southwestern tribes like the Mogollon cultures. Roadrunner feathers were used to decorate Pueblo cradleboards for spiritual protection. Among Mexican Indian and American Indian tribes, such as the [[Pima people|Pima]], seeing a roadrunner is considered good luck. While some Mexican tribes revered the roadrunner and never killed it, most used its meat as a folk remedy for illness or to boost stamina and strength.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.native-languages.org/legends-roadrunner.htm|title=Native American Indian Roadrunner Legends, Meaning and Symbolism from the Myths of Many Tribes|website=www.native-languages.org|access-date=2017-06-26}}</ref>

Central American Indigenous peoples have various beliefs about the roadrunner. The [[Chʼortiʼ people|Ch’orti’]], known to call it t’unk’u’x or mu’, have taboos against harming the bird.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hull |first1= Kerry|last2=Fergus |first2=Rob |date=1 December 2017 |title=Birds as Seers: an Ethno-Ornithological Approach to Omens and Prognostication Among the Ch'Orti' Maya of Guatemala|journal=Journal of Ethnobiology|volume=37 |issue=4 |pages=617 |doi= 10.2993/0278-0771-37.4.604|s2cid= 89743087}}</ref> The [[Chʼol people|Ch'ol]] [[Maya peoples|Maya]] believe roadrunners possess special powers, calling it ajkumtz’u’ due to its call, which is believed to induce tiredness in listeners.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Hull | first=Kerry | title=Ethno-ornithological Perspectives on the Ch'ol Maya | journal=Reitaku Review |volume=17 |pages=42–92 | date=2015-08-03 | url=https://www.academia.edu/2039186 | access-date=2019-09-02 }}</ref>

The word for roadrunner in the [[O'odham language]] is {{lang|ood|taḏai}}, which is the name of a transit center in [[Tucson, Arizona]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~mathiotm/Mathiot/Volume%20I.pdf|title=TOHONO 'O'ODHAM-ENGLISH DICTIONARY|website=University at Buffalo}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.transit.wiki/Tohono_Tadai_Transit_Center|title=Tohono Tadai Transit Center - Transit.Wiki|website=www.transit.wiki|date=29 June 2012 |language=en|access-date=2017-06-26}}</ref> In the O'odham tradition, the roadrunner is also credited with bringing fire to the people.