Author Topic: The Raven  (Read 1118 times)

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The Raven
« on: 14 May, 2010, 08:27:48 pm »
This is why the Raven is revered by the elders of many tribes.

One day long ago the Raven looked down from his nest high up in the air, and he saw that all was not well. The rain was cruel and blew away the scratches that the braves made in the ground so they could not find their way to the hunting places. The wind blew away the scent so that the braves could not find animals to hunt. The children were wandering, and mothers kept them close to their skirts for fear that they would roam and never find their way home.

The Raven flew far and wide, and in a faraway village he saw that the chief had a wonderful Totem inside his tent, but the chief kept it hidden so no one knew. The Totem was called 'GPS'.

The raven flew to his tree, and turned himself into a pine needle. He fell from the tree, and in this disguise he was wafted by the breeze, and carried down into the river. He floated through the rapids, guiding himself toward the distant village. When he saw the chief's wife washing clothes he drifted towards her, and when she bent down to get water to drink she scooped up the pine needle and swallowed it with the water.

Soon after she returned to the village the chief's wife discovered that she was pregnant, and after time gave birth to a baby boy. The boy [who was of course the Raven in disguise] lay in the chief's tent at night but would not settle, he cried and cried through the days and nights. The chief's wife despaired, she implored the chief to help comfort the boy. But the chief himself could not make the boy sleep, not even with his fine collection of beads and feathers and other beautiful things. Like his wife he began to despair, and eventually he gave the boy the wonderful Totem to play with.

At once the Raven turned back into his real form and flew up through the hole at the top of the chief's wigwam [or igloo, in the Innuit version of this story], taking the wonderful Totem with him. When returned to his homeland the Raven swooped down to the braves in the nearby village and gave them the Totem. At last the braves could find animals to hunt, and the women made a great feast to celebrate the arrival of GPS. The children sang as they played, far from their mothers skirts, happy in the knowledge that they could get safely home.