Gaoh, Ga-oh or Gǎ-oh is a wind spirit and

giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''wiktionary:gigas, gigas'', cognate wiktionary:giga-, giga-) are beings of humanoid appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''gia ...

of the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

Huron Huron may refer to: Native American ethnography * Huron people, who have been called Wyandotte, Wyandot, Wendat and Quendat * Huron language, an Iroquoian language * Huron-Wendat Nation, or Huron-Wendat First Nation, or Nation Huronne-Wendat * N ...

and

Seneca Seneca may refer to: People, fictional characters and language * Seneca (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname : :* Seneca the Elder (c. 54 BC – c. AD 39), a Roman rhetorician, writer and father ...

people. Gaoh was described as a

cannibal Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecology, ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is also well ...

and a giant who could uproot trees. He takes the form of a solitary old man. Gaoh is subservient to the

Great Spirit The Great Spirit is an omnipresent supreme life force, generally conceptualized as a supreme being or god, in the traditional religious beliefs of many, but not all, indigenous cultures in Canada and the United States. Interpretations of it v ...

, and in

Iroquois mythology The History of the Haudenosaunee includes the creation stories and folktales of the Native Americans who formed the confederacy of the Five Nations Iroquois, later the Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy. Historically, these stories were recorded ...

he is subservient to

Adekagagwaa Adekagagwaa is a Haudenosaunee sun deity. He is also associated with summer. Adekagagwaa was said to have control over several weather gods, including Gǎ-oh Gaoh, Ga-oh or Gǎ-oh is a wind spirit and giant of the Iroquois, Huron and Seneca pe ...

. Gaoh is mostly a benevolent spirit, but can be restless and violent, and would create

storms A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm) ...

. Depending on the myths, he either lives in a house in the sky, or a mountain cave called "the House of Winds." From his home, he controls the seasons, and also winds of the four

cardinal directions The four cardinal directions or cardinal points are the four main compass directions: north (N), south (S), east (E), and west (W). The corresponding azimuths ( clockwise horizontal angle from north) are 0°, 90°, 180°, and 270°. The four ...

: Ya-o-gah,

Bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats ...

of the north wind, Da-jo-ji,

Panther Panther may refer to: Large cats *Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis'' **''Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards ***Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in Sout ...

of the west wind, O-yan-do-ne,

Moose The moose (: 'moose'; used in North America) or elk (: 'elk' or 'elks'; used in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest extant species of deer and the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is also the tal ...

of the east wind and Ne-o-gah,

Fawn A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family (biology), family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, a ...

of the south wind. Some versions of the myths describe the winds as the guardians of Gaoh's home, while others describe the winds being locked up in his home, who were to be released once Gaoh receives the order from the Great Spirit. In the

version of the myth, Gaoh is chained to a rock, and winds would blow when he attempts to break free. Once he is tired and resting, the winds would become quiet.

References

{{NorthAm-myth-stub Iroquois mythology Gods of the indigenous peoples of North America