Pamola (also known as Pamolai, P-mol-a, Pomola, and Bmola) is a legendary bird spirit that appears in

Abenaki mythology The Abenaki people are an indigenous peoples of the Americas located in the Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Northeastern Woodlands region. Their religious beliefs are part of the ''Midewiwin'' tradition, with ceremonies led by ...

. This spirit causes cold weather. Specifically, according to the

Penobscot The Penobscot (Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewi'') are an Indigenous people in North America from the Northeastern Woodlands region. They are organized as a federally recognized tribe in Maine and as a First Nations band government in the Atlantic p ...

tribal nation, Pamola inhabited Katahdin, the tallest mountain in

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

. Pamola is said to be the

thunder god Polytheistic peoples from many cultures have postulated a thunder deity, the creator or personification of the forces of thunder and lightning; a lightning god does not have a typical depiction and will vary based on the culture. In Indo-Europea ...

and protector of the mountain. The Penobscot people describe him as having the head of a

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 ...

, the body of a man and the wings and feet of an

eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

. Pamola was both feared and respected by the Penobscot nation, and his presence was one of the main reasons that climbing the mountain was considered taboo. The spirit resented mortals intruding from down below. Because of this, the mountain was closed off limits to all below.

Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau (born David Henry Thoreau; July 12, 1817May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading Transcendentalism, transcendentalist, he is best known for his book ''Walden'', a reflection upon sim ...

, of his August, 1846 exploration of the

Penobscot River The Penobscot River (Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 22, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Maine. Including the river's W ...

and Katahdin wrote, "Pomola is always angry with those who climb to the summit of Ktaadn." It was also widely believed that Pamola had taken and held prisoners on his mountain forever. The name is now preserved on ''Pamola Peak'', a summit on Katahdin at the eastern edge of the Knife Edge ridge. The Pamola Lodge of the

Order of the Arrow The Order of the Arrow (OA) is the honor society of Scouting America, composed of Scouts and Scouters who best exemplify the Scout Promise, Scout Oath and Scout Law, Law in their daily lives as elected by their peers. It was founded as a camp fr ...

is an honor camping society of the

Boy Scouts of America Scouting America is the largest scouting organization and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including nearly 200,000 female participants. Founded as the Boy Sco ...

; Pamola's image is commonly used on several of the society's insignia. Roy Dudley, probably the most notable of the early guides on Katahdin, was known for his campfire yarns about Pamola.

References

Further reading