Growing up in Grafton, Illinois, situated between the Mississippi River and the limestone bluffs carved from it eons ago, the legend of the Piasa Bird is well known. There is even a rendering of the Native American bird on a bluff wall on the National Scenic Byway (or as we like to call it, the River Road). The “Piasa” is a birdlike monster as large as a calf, with horns like a deer, red eyes, a human face, the body covered with green, red and black scales, and a tail so long it passed around the body. The creature was given its name by the Illini Indians, “The Piasa,” a bird that devours men. Well, I thought about legends, and how some have a basis of truth or religious belief attached to their stories. That got me to thinking about all the bedtime stories, campfire recollections, and folklore of the area, including the Piasa Bird. Now, wouldn’t it be cool if there really was some truth to the shifter tales we read about? So, I picked one area, Native American legends, and focused on that for my research. I learned about power animals or “spirit guides” that many tribes believe…