Athabaskan Athabaskan is the language family of several contiguous dialects spoken by various peoples in
Western Canada and the
American West. They can be further subdivided into the
Northern,
Pacific Coast, and
Southern Athabaskan language sub regions. These groups lived in one of the three Athabaskan regions.
Cahto The
Cahto are an
indigenous Californian group of
Native Americans. The Cahto lived farthest south of all the Athapascans in California, occupying Cahto Valley and
Long Valley, and in general the country south of
Blue Rock and between the headwaters of the two main branches of
Eel River. The
Cahto language is one of four
Athabaskan languages that were spoken in northwestern California. Most Cahto speakers were also bilingual in
Northern Pomo.
Creation story One version of the Raven creation story is that of the Cahto in California. In one variant, Raven is taught by his father, Kit-ka'ositiyi-qa, to be a creator, but Raven is unsatisfied with the result. He creates the world but is unable to give it light or water. On hearing that light could be found hidden in a far-off land, Raven decides to travel there and steal it. In the house of light, he finds a young woman living with her father and plays the first of many tricks. He turns himself into a speck of dirt, slips into her drinking water, and is swallowed. The daughter becomes pregnant and she gave birth to an unusual and fussy child who cries constantly and demands to touch one of the bundles which has been stored hanging from the walls. The child is given one of the bags to quiet him, but when he tires of playing with it, he lets it go, and it floats away from him and disappears through the
smoke hole. Once it reaches the sky the bundle comes undone and scatters stars across the sky. When the child cries to have it back again he is given the second bundle to play with and lets it float away through the hole in the ceiling, thus releasing the moon. It all happens again with the third and last bundle, which flies away and becomes sunlight. After bringing light to the whole world, Raven too flies out through the smoke hole.
Tahltan Locally among the
Tahltan people, their customs and livelihoods varied widely as they were often widely separated and would have to endure varying conditions depending on their locality. In Tahltan culture it was believed that some of their ancestors had knowledge that others did not from times before a great flood. Some of these ancestors used that knowledge for the good of the people, while others used it for evil and to the disadvantage of others. Raven is considered to be the protagonist hero against these evil ancestors. In Tahltan stories, Raven is referred to as Big-Crow (''Tse'sketco
or tceski'tco
, "big raven" - from tceski'a'', "raven"). The Inuit say that Raven was born out of the darkness. He was weak and lost. As he began travelling aimlessly experiencing the world, he realized that he was the Raven Father, Creator of All Life. Once he realized who he was, he gathered up his strength and flew out of the darkness to a new place which he called earth, but he was still alone, so he decided to create plants. As he flew around exploring this new world, he came upon a man whom the legend claims was the first of the Inuit. Raven fed the man and taught the man to respect the world around him. Soon after, a woman came to be and Raven taught the both of them how to cloth themselves, build shelter, and make canoes to travel the water. As the two bred and spawned children, Raven cared for their children and educated them as he had done before.
Haida 's
Raven and the First Men (1980),
UBC Museum of Anthropology, depicts a scene from the Haida creation myth. The Raven represents both the creator and trickster figures, common to many mythologies. The
Haida people can trace their traditional territories to the
Haida Gwaii archipelago in
British Columbia and to the southern reaches of the
Alaskan Panhandle. To the Haida, Raven was the Bringer of Light and before Raven the world was nothing more than a gigantic flood. Raven was the Maker of Things, as well as the Transformer, Magician and Healer. Raven was bored of the world being nothing but water and decided to fly as the waters receded. Once Raven became hungry, land was formed so he could land and find food. It was at this point he noticed strange sounds coming from a gigantic clam shell. Confused as to the sound, Raven decided he would begin singing to the clam shell in response to its sound, hoping to calm it with his pleasant sounds. Raven did this because he was a beautiful singer. Finally, a small creature emerged from the clam shell. It had long black hair, a round head, brown smooth skin and two legs like Raven but no feathers. This was the first of the First People. When he got bored with them, he considered returning them to their shell, but opted instead to find female counterparts of these male beings. The raven found some female humans trapped in a
chiton, freed them, and was entertained as the two sexes met and began to interact. The Raven felt responsible and very protective of them, thus many Haida myths and legends often suggest the raven as a provider to mankind and combine the roles of the creator and the trickster. There are other versions that tells of a different creation. When the earth was only sky and water with a single reef that rose out of the water where all of the great beings lived with the greatest of them living at the highest point on the reef and the weakest of them living at the bottom. But Raven flew above them all and could never find a place to land. For that reason he decided to travel to the sky country where he met the Chief's daughter who had recently had a child. While it was dark, Raven possessed the baby and intended to take its place as Raven Child. Other Haida stories include:
Heiltsuk (Bella Bella) The
Heiltsuk were formerly known as the Bella Bella people and lived along the central coast of British Columbia. To the Bella Bella Raven was known as the Real Chief or He'mask.as. Raven is revered by them as a benevolent figure. He helps people, but he is also a trickster spirit whose unreflected behaviour gets him into trouble.
Kwakwakaʼwakw Another story of the Kwakiutl or
Kwakwakaʼwakw of British Columbia who exposed boys' placentas to ravens to encourage future prophetic visions, thereby associating the raven with prophecy, similar to the traditions of
Scandinavia.
Miwok The
Miwok are segregated into three distinct groups: the
Coast Miwok, the
Lake Miwok, and the
Plains and Sierra Miwok (Interior) which make up the majority of the overall population. The Miwok territory is defined by the
Maidu to their right, the
Yokuts to the left, and the
Washoe and
Mono behind them. The Interior Miwok
faction live primarily on the western side of the
Sierra Nevada above the lower
San Joaquin Valley. The Sierra territory of the Miwok extended from the
Cosumnes River on the north to the
Fresno River on the south but the other boundaries that are shared with the Yokuts,
Wintun, and Maidu have always been a matter of controversy. Among the Northern Miwok of what is now
Central California the story of Raven begins with a world covered in water except for a single mountain top where people had gathered during the flooding of the world. As the waters receded the people tried to come down from the mountain but the land was so soft with mud that those that tried would sink into the ground. Wherever a person sank, a raven would come and stand on that spot. One raven at each hole. Once the ground hardened the raven turned into a person, explaining why Miwok are so dark.
Nuu-chah-nulth The
Nuu-chah-nulth, who speak a southern
Wakashan language known as
Nuu-chah-nulth, are also known commonly as the Nootka.
Ojibwe The
Ojibwe are also known by other names including
Anishinaabe which is the name of their language,
Ojibwe, or
Algonquin. The
Saulteaux or Plains Ojibwa, also known as Bûngi Indians, live on the
Long Plains Reserve in Manitoba.
Puget Sound Another raven story from the
Puget Sound region describes the "Raven" as having originally lived in the land of spirits (literally
bird land) that existed before the world of humans. One day the Raven became so bored with
bird land that he flew away, carrying a stone in his beak. When the Raven became tired of carrying the stone and dropped it, the stone fell into the ocean and expanded until it formed the firmament on which humans now live.
Pima The
Pima are in
Arizona.
Quileute The
Quileute are a
Native American people in western
Washington state in the United States, currently numbering approximately 2000. Their language belongs to the
Chimakuan languages family. The native name for Raven among the Quileute is Báyaḳ (
By-yuhk). Quileute Indians were the southernmost group along the Pacific Coast whose mythology included several stories of the Raven. Though the Quileute's primary protagonist was not the Raven, but Kweeti, whose stories can be very closely related to similar stories of the
Tlingit involving the Raven. look the way they do; others pursued children to be generous rather than selfish, or to be true to themselves and work hard rather than trying to take shortcuts. In their stories Raven is often punished, or must witness suffering by the people whom he cares for as a result of his trickery.
Shishalh Stories from the
Shishalh or Schelt include:
Tlingit Tlingit territory is in Southeast Alaska. Most of their territory is in present-day Canada. The Tlingit have many names for raven, the most common being Yéil. Other names are Yéil Tl’éetl’i, g̱uneit, gidzanóox’ and yéilk’. The mythological origin of his name is that he was given it by the tide woman. An etymological relation in Tlingit is to the verb “Yéil” which denotes trickery, lies, and mimicry. In
Tlingit culture, there are two different raven characters which can be identified, although they are not always clearly differentiated. One is the creator raven, responsible for bringing the world into being and who is sometimes considered to be the individual who brought light to the darkness. The other is the childish raven, always selfish, sly, conniving, and hungry. When the
Great Spirit created all things he kept them separate and stored in cedar boxes. The Great Spirit gifted these boxes to the animals who existed before humans. When the animals opened the boxes all the things that comprise the world came into being. The boxes held such things as mountains, fire, water, wind and seeds for all the plants. One such box, which was given to
Seagull, contained all the light of the world. Seagull coveted his box and refused to open it, clutching it under his wing. All the people asked Raven to persuade Seagull to open it and release the light. Despite begging, demanding, flattering and trying to trick him into opening the box, Seagull still refused. Raven became angry and frustrated, and stuck a thorn in Seagull's foot. Raven pushed the thorn in deeper until the pain caused Seagull to drop the box. Then out of the box came the sun, moon and stars that brought light to the world and allowed the first day to begin.
Theft of water Raven continued using such trickery to bring water and stamp people, animals and other features in the world with certain characteristics. Many versions of Raven's theft of water are told but all centre on Raven's trickery against the owner of water. In one version Raven leads its owner to believe he has soiled his bed in his sleep and threatens to shame him unless he shares his water with Raven. In another version Raven puts ash on his tongue to fool the owner to believe his extreme thirst is unquenched. Instead of drinking the water Raven collects it in a seal's bladder hidden under his clothes and flees with all of it.
Tsimshian To the
Tsimshian, Raven, was known as Txamsem or
ganhada or the Clever One and was accompanied by a brother named Lagabula or Lazy One. The two had been born in a kelp patch and adopted by a Chief's wife and a magical being from the region of
Prince Rupert Harbour. At the time of their birth things such as daylight did not yet exist; only dusk. Some records contradict this stating that they were of Gispaxloats origin, born of a Gispaxloats Chief who married a beautiful princess. Among their journeys, they travelled to a mountain at the head of the
Nass River. Txamsem, who could transform into anything, and often took the form of a human or bird, turned himself into a pine needle and was consumed by the daughter of the Chief who guarded daylight. She then gave birth to him as a baby and the baby cried incessantly to play with daylight. As soon as it was given to the baby in the form of a playful ball, he transformed back into Raven and flew away with it. He travelled back up the Nass River with daylight and released it; immediately lighting up the river and allowing it to spread all over the world. The most prominent
culture hero for many of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest is Raven. There are numerous stories, widely distributed which focus on the Raven myth and his adventures to satisfy his insatiable desire to obtain whatever he wants. The plot of most Raven tales, tell of how Raven is able to use force or trickery to obtain or motivate someone else to relinquish an object he desires. Throughout his many stories, Raven claims daylight, water, fire, the oceans waves, the olachen, salmon, the soil, and even the weather. Through the Raven tales, people are able to explain why their surrounding environment was the way it was by linking the Raven or his companions as the cause for why various things in the world come about. Some stories account for the creation of dangerous animals which were transformed from inanimate objects(No 61. p 572), others suggest that men, animals and objects could be turned to stone.(nos89-93). While other stories suggest how names were attributed to important landmarks, and how significant geographical features came about. There is a vague mention that Raven was the ancestor of the
Raven Clan, but there are no other direct references between Raven and the ancestry of the Indian people. ==Modern adaptations==