‘Gaasyendietha’ - HSC: Folklore

I realised I never posted this guy after sculpting him up months ago, so here he is! Done during our HSC group challenge for folklore in our given countries. I decided to go with a lesser known Canadian serpent!

Sometimes also known as the meteor dragon, originates from Seneca mythology in the regions of the Canadian great lakes, Lake Ontario in particular. It is said that the great serpent was delivered to this world from a meteorite and with it came its ability to fly through dark stretches of sky towards the heavens on a fiery trail and shapeshift into other beings. For instance, in the tale "Ganyadjigowa", Gaasyendietha took the form of an old man to kill the story's hero (the mudhen).
The descriptions of the serpent echo the fright of the fishermen during sightings, with a length of 45 meters, the width of a barrel, huge eyes like fire, an enormous jaw, and giant fins on a body moving like a caterpillar.
For the sculpture itself, I chose to mix elements of a native lake ontario lake sturgeon, beadwork inspiration, meteorites, and an interpretation of a shifting humanoid/dragon-like form.