I sent some of the discussion regarding Shawnee and Daniel Boone to Fred 
Shaw (aka Neeake, Shawnee Storyteller) and asked for his thoughts. 
Steve,
       I sent your message to a Shawnee elder is who well-versed in our 
language.  He does not know of such a word as "kind messenger" as applied 
to a bird.  He said that the raucous call of the blue jay often was taken 
as a warning, but that doesn't fit the bird being unusual in the area. 
      One thought that I have is that it may have been an introduced 
species.  For instance, honey bees were called "white men's flies" and 
were seen as a sign of impending trouble since it meant that the settlers 
were moving into the area.  Could that be true of an introduced bird from 
England that was moving into the area?  Hence, another warning that the 
world was being changed, and not in our favor.
       I wish I could be of more help.

  Fred

______________________________________________________________________

Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.

You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]