What is a "wind volcano"?

[khosey1]

I'm a magazine editorial intern, and I'm editing a short piece right now that makes one passing reference to a "wind volcano." The piece ends "...decided the storm was probably due to a wind volcano," which for one, is anticlimactic, and for two, doesn't identify what a "wind volcano" is. Do these in fact exist, and if so, what are they?

 

The piece refers to it in the context of Capt. Juan Mateo Manje and Father Eusebio Francisco Kino exploring northern Sonora and southern Arizona around 1699, and discovering what local Tohono O'odham (Papago) villagers called the "House of the Wind God" in present day Mission San Zavier del Bac (southwest of Tucson, Arizona).

[Tormod]

I must admit I've never heard of a "wind volcano".

[InfiniteNow]

My mind just reverted back to the 7th grade and I thought of a fart joke... Pretty sure that's not what you meant though.

 

 

I tried some various searches, and found nothing. It sounds more likely this is a term someone made up and it just hasn't stuck yet.

 

 

Best of luck.

[khosey1]

I've never heard of it either, nor can I find anyone who has. I may try again to contact the writer and figure out if he may have meant something else, or if there's another term for it.

 

And yes, it does seem to me to fit more properly within the realm of 7th grade humor vernacular. :(

[LOC]

I'm a magazine editorial intern, and I'm editing a short piece right now that makes one passing reference to a "wind volcano." The piece ends "...decided the storm was probably due to a wind volcano," which for one, is anticlimactic, and for two, doesn't identify what a "wind volcano" is. Do these in fact exist, and if so, what are they?

 

The piece refers to it in the context of Capt. Juan Mateo Manje and Father Eusebio Francisco Kino exploring northern Sonora and southern Arizona around 1699, and discovering what local Tohono O'odham (Papago) villagers called the "House of the Wind God" in present day Mission San Zavier del Bac (southwest of Tucson, Arizona).

 

A quick search on "House of the Wind God" turned up something interesting that I believe may explain what "wind volcano" represents.

 

Read the following (it's a portion of a Hopi Legend found HERE):

 

Long, long ago, the Hopis were greatly troubled by the wind. It blew and blew and blew and blew--all the time. The Hopis planted their crops, but before the seeds could begin to sprout, the wind blew the soil and seeds away. Unhappy and worried, all the people made prayer offerings of many kinds. But they accomplished nothing.

 

The old men held councils in their kivas. They smoked their pipes prayerfully and asked one another, "Why do the gods turn such strong winds upon us?" After a while, they decided to ask for help from the "Little Fellows" who were the two little War Gods, two of the five grandsons of Spider Woman.

 

"Why did you ask us to come?" was their first question.

 

"We need your help," answered the old men. "Something must be done to the Wind."

 

"We will see what we can do for you," said the Little Fellows. "You stay here and make many more prayer offerings."

 

The Hopis make many kinds of prayer offerings--as many as there are prayers, and there are prayers for every occasion in life and death. They are reverently fashioned of various types of feathers, carved and painted sticks, and hand-spun cotton yarn.

 

The Little Fellows went first to their wise old grandmother, Spider Woman. They asked her to make some sweet cornmeal mush for them to take along on a journey. Of course they knew who the Wind God was and knew that he lived over near Sunset Mountain in the big crack of the black rock.

 

 

<and later...>

 

Continuing their journey, the two Little Fellows played catch- ball from time to time. On the fourth day they reached the home of the Wind God who lived at the foot of Sunset Crater, in a big crack in the black rock. There he breathed through the crack, as he does to this day. The Little Fellows threw the prayer offerings into the crack and hastily put their old grandmother's sticky cornmeal mush into and over the crack, and thus sealed the Wind God's door. Phew--he became very angry, so angry that he blew and blew and blew, but could not get out. The Little Fellows laughed and laughed and then went home, feeling very proud of themselves and of what they had done.

Reading the story, it's apparent that the Hopi believed the winds originated from the Wind God who lived at Sunset Crater, a volcanic cinder cone.

 

My guess is that "wind volcano" refers to Sunset Crater and the people at the time believed [wind?] storms originated from there.