 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Northwest Coast Indian Raven Mask Lesson Plan
Compiled by Rebecca L. Hull
America, Northwest Coast, Kwakiutl peoples
Raven Mask
Wood and pigment
The Ulfert Wilke Colelction, purchased with funds from Friends of the Art Museum
Museum # 1981.016.002
History of the Raven Mask
Raven was the chief god and culture hero. He is credited with teaching the people how to fish, build their houses, etc. In myth he is the creator of the earth and people. He is also the Trickster who perpetrates practical jokes on people. For this reason, the people were very careful when they prayed to the Raven. They used precise terms to specify exactly what they wanted so that confusion (and the occasional practical joke) might be avoided.
Raven is the original organizer, playing roles of trickster, transformer, teacher, catalyst and chief spirit. He is also a relentless schemer and practical joker, lustful, impulsive, cunning, shameless and without remorse.
Full of magical, supernatural power, Raven could turn himself into anything at any time. He could live beneath the sea, ascend into the sky or make anything happen by willing it to be so. His legendary antics were often motivated by insatiable greed and he loved to tease, cheat, woo and trick.
All too often, however, the tables would turn on the hapless Raven. Raven is also an important totem figure of prestige and is one of the two main crests of the Haida.
The Kwakiutl Raven Mask represents Raven from the North End of the world. This mask is part of the Hamatsa or ?annibal?society. As part of the Hamatsa ceremony, members of the society would perform the story of the Raven coming to the village to steal a novice (a young man of the Raven clan not yet initiated into one of the shaman societies) and teach him to be a ?annibal.? In order to become a full-fledged member a man must dance a total ceremonial cycle of twelve years.
This mask is only part of the costume that would have been worn during the ceremony. Usually the member would wear long wings composed of feathers to simulate the bird in flight. He would have a bare chest and a grass skirt as well. Unfortunately, the mask is the only thing that remains of the costume today.
Courtesy of the National Museum of Natural History
Northwest Coast Indian Hat
Raven Mask Lesson Plan
Written by Tiya Karaus
Objectives:- Students will construct a hat in the style of the Kwakiutl. The hat will contain shapes common to the Kwakiutl and be painted with only black, red, and green or blue paint.
- Students will identify common features of Northwest Indian art, including common materials, shapes, animals, and colors used in the artwork.
State core links:
Standard 4:
Student will interpret and apply visual arts in relation to cultures, history, and all learning.
Objective 2:- Connect various kinds of art with particular cultures, times, or places.
- Collaborate in small groups to describe and list examples of major uses or functions of significant works of art over various periods during our nation's history; e.g., philosophy or religion, utility and use, documentation or history, ornamentation or decoration, self-expression.
- Create a work of art that reflects a positive part of past or present American culture.
Materials:- Brown paper grocery bag (one per student)
- Scissors
- Pencils
- Scratch paper
- Crayons
- Tempera paints (black, red, green)
- Brushes
- Shape template
- Glue
- Hole punch
- Yarn
Initiations:
Read a Raven myth aloud to students (see attached stories). Ask students to think about how each of the characters in the myth would move. The Indians of the Northwest Coast told stories through dance and movement.
To the Kwakiutl and other Northwest Tribes, Raven was a central figure in myth. He appears as the creator, teacher, and trickster. Ask students to spend five minutes journaling about a practical joke they have played or one they would like to play.
Discussion:
Northwest Indian tribes who live along the coasts of Oregon, Washington, and Southeast Alaska developed a unique art form common to all tribes despite their geographical isolation from each other. Most of the elements of the art are constant throughout the tribes. Wood was the primary material used for construction of artwork. It was carved and painted in many forms, including masks, totem poles, boxes, and dishes. Black is by far the most common color, followed by red, blue-green, and occasionally white and yellow. The pigment was made from items found in nature such as lignite, charcoal, and graphite (black), ochers, cinnabar (red), copper materials (greens and blue), until the tribes began trading with white settlers. To make these colors permanent, salmon eggs and cedar bark were chewed and then spit into a paint dish with the pigments. This mixture was painted on the wood with brushes made of porcupine hair.
The shapes in the artwork were also fairly uniformed and standardized. (A list of the common shapes and body parts they represent is attached.)
Animals were depicted by emphasizing their most prominent features. A list of Northwest animals and some of these features from Robert Bruce Inverarity's Art of the Northwest Coast Indians follows:- Raven: Long straight beak
- Eagle: Curved beak with tip turned downward
- Hawk: Curved beak with tip turned inward; generally touching the face.
- Beaver: Big teeth; round nose; scales on tail; stick held in forefeet.
- Frog: Wide toothless mouth; flat nose; no tail
- Bear: Large mouth with prominent teeth; protruding tongue; standing ears; large paws.
- Sea lion: large teeth; round nose; eye near nose; small ear.
- Wolf: long snout; many teeth; ears slant backwards.
- Killer whale: long and large head; round eyes; large nostrils; blow hole; big mouth set with teeth; dorsal fin.
- Sea monster:bear's head; paws with flippers; gills and body of killer Whale; several dorsal fins.
The above information can be used to lead a discussion and view attached examples of Northwest Indian art from Bill Holm's Northwest Coast Indian Art: An Analysis of Form.
Project:- Ask students to choose a Northwest animal design for a hat. Using the shape template, have students sketch out their design on scratch paper. The hat will be made in two parts, a large cone shape and a bill. The head or face of the animal will be on the cone shape and a beak or paws on the bill shape. Students will only be using black, red, and green paint on their hats. It is helpful to have students color their rough drafts with crayons as a reference for painting.
- Cut and construct pieces of the hat. Directions with diagrams are attached. Keep in mind that the hat should be laid flat to paint and only glued once all decoration is complete. (The paint can get messy if not allowed to dry completely. Extending this project over several periods or days will help allow paint to dry and lead to a neater finished project.)
- Assemble hat by gluing the cone shape, as well as the bill to the underside of the cone. Joints may be reinforced with staples. Tape can also be used, especially to reinforce the holes for the yarn to be tied. A second cone shape glued into the hat will make it ever sturdier.
Assessment: Northwest Indian Hat Rubric
Extremely neat appearance. 5 points
The hat is very neat in appearance. 4 points 3 points
The hat is pretty neat. 2 points 1 point
The hat is not neat in appearance. 0 points
High-quality Northwest Indians Shapes were used. 5 points
Northwest Indian shapes were used. 4 points 3 points
Mostly Northwest Indian shapes were used. 2 points 1 point
No Northwest Indian shapes were used. 0 points
Good use of red, black and green. 5 points
Only black, red, and green were used. 4 points
Only two of the three colors were used. 3 points
Only one of the colors was used. 2 points
A color other than black, red, or green was used. 1 point
Two colors other than black, red, or green were used. 0 points
Hat is complete and high in quality. 5 points
Hat is decorated and assembled. 4 points 3 points
Hat is either decorated or assembled. 2 points 1 point
Hat is neither decorated nor assembled. 0 points
Total: 20 points
Sources:
From Raven's Roost
http://www.eldrbarry.net/rabb/rvn/roost.htm -- © 2000 Barry McWilliams
Raven, Mouse Woman and the myths and legends of the Pacific Northwest.
Gail Robinson, Raven the Trickster and Coyote are delightfully written collections of stories of these two Northwest Tricksters.
Christie Harris: One of my favorite authors - and prolific - her books include The Trouble with Adventurers, The Trouble with Princesses, Once Upon a Totem, Once More Upon a Totem, Mouse Woman and the Mischief Makers, Mouse Woman and the Muddleheads, Mouse Woman and the Vanished Princesses. But alas, they are out of print, so look at your local library or used bookstore. One, however, for which she is noted, is in print -Raven's Cry - it is a novel about the coming together of the Haida and European cultures and a tribute to a vanished way of life. The illustrations are by Bill Reid - a noted Haida artist.
Myths and Legends of Haida Indians of the Northwest : The Children of the Raven by Martine Reid (wife of the late Bill Reid) has drawings with Haida legends interspersed, a good book to introduce children to native artwork and styles.
Anne Cameron has published several Raven stories individually as well as her Daughters of Copper Woman (her stories came from a storyteller on Vancouver Island named Klopimum, which means "keeper of the river of copper") and Dzelarhons: Myths of the Northwest Coast, (Dzelarhons was the "Frog Woman"). Both these volumes contain stories which focus on feminist issues. She has a book forthcoming, Loon and Raven Stories.
Mary Giraudo Beck: Heroes and Heroines in Tlingit-Haida Legend, and Shamans and Kushtakas: North Coast Tales of the Supernatural. Mary Beck has a keen ability to relate the stories and myths to the life and culture of the Tlingit and Haida peoples. I highly recommend her book - Potlatch - which helps us understand the traditions of this important aspect of Northwest culture by describing the ceremonies and customs of the various kinds of potlatches as they were observed in the nineteenth century. She gives Raven stories told in their ceremonial contexts.
Robert Ayre, Sketko the Raven
James Wallas and Pamela Whitaker, Kwakiutl Legends
Vi Hilbert (Narrator), Coyote and Rock And Other Lushootseed Stories: (The Parabola Storytime Series), an audio cassette of stories.
Vi Hilbert, Haboo: Native American Stories from Puget Sound. Her efforts to keep the Lushootseed language alive have included the passing on of these Skagit stories.
Fran Martin, Raven-Who-Sets-Things-Right
Ronald Melzack, Raven, Creator of the World
Norman Lerman, Once Upon An Indian Tale
J. Houston, Eagle Mask
For older readers:
Peter Goodchild, Raven Tales: Traditional Stories of Native Peoples (1991). A thorough study of the Raven cycles of myths in both the old and new worlds, this paperback has probably the best summary of the Raven cycles of tales. He also covers the Old World raven tales and offers some theories as to their origins.
Dale De Armond, Raven. This book was illustrated with woodcuts, and has the Raven cycle of tales in their more traditional form.
Bill Reid and Robert Bringhurst, The Raven Steals the Light contains ten Haida stories - some of the most significant myths - told and illustrated by Bill Reid, an outstanding Haida artist who is noted for his monumental sculptures as well as carvings and drawings. The Black Canoe: Bill Reid and the Spirit of Gwaii by Robert Bringhurst describes the making of a sculpture by Bill Reid for the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C. A revised edition of Bill Reid by Doris Shadbolt has recently been published by The University of Washington Press.
Robert Bringhurst has some new books on Reid and the Haida. Solitary Raven : Selected Writings of Bill Reid has writings by Bill Reid both during his time as a radio journalist, and essays from the time when he was on the verge of returning to his people and art. This book collects, for the first time, the most important of these widely scattered writings: seminal statements on the art of the Northwest Coast, on the role of the Native American artist in a multicultural world, and on the quintessential role of both the artist and the environment in the survival of human culture. A Story As Sharp As a Knife: The Classical Haida Mythtellers and Their World are Bringhurst's renderings of the verbal masterpieces of classical Haida storytellers. They are truly astounding, as it is his reconstruction of the facts surrounding their collection by American anthropologist John Swanton.
Bill Holm, a student of Bill Reid, has written Northwest Coast Indian Art: An analysis of Form, a volume which has been an important part of the rebirth of this Native American art style. You can seen some his own work at the Burke Museum at the University of Washington in Seattle. If you are travelling in the Puget Sound Region and would like a guide to the Native American Art in the area, get a copy of Northwest Coast Native and Native Style Art: A Guidebook for Western Washington, by Lloyd Averill and Daphne Morris. Besides a lengthy chapter on the forms and "language" of Northwest Coast art, and locations where you can view it, the book also gives information about the artists and tribes in the region. If you are travelling in the Pacific Northwest and would like to visit the Indian Reservations, Native Peoples of the Northwest by Jan Halliday and Gail Chehak, prepared in cooperation with the Affiliated Tribes of the Northwest Indians, lists directions for more than a 1,000 things to see and do with Native people from all 54 tribes in Western Montana, Idaho, Northern California, Washington, Oregon, Alaska and British Columbia, Canada.
For more on the Northwest Indians and their life, customs and art:
Hilary Stewart has drawn for us vivid portraits of North coast life and art - her books are full of drawings and descriptions of how they made use of the natural resources of the Northwest. Her fascination with unearthing those cultures during a summer archeological dig on the Katz River in 1971, led her to a career of bringing to life a marvelous way of life. I love to browse through her books. Cedar: Tree of Life shows how they built their homes, seagoing canoes and even made their clothing from the abundant cedar forests. Indian Fishing: Early Methods illustrates how they fished the rivers using wooden hooks and fishing line made of kelp, and even hunted whales at sea in their wooden canoes. Stone, Bone, Antler and Shell: Artifacts of the Northwest Coast - a new revision of her first book - helps us understand how they made use of the other natural resources of the Pacific Northwest. All of her books give you a sense of how well the first peoples had adapted to their environment and made use of its bounty, which left them time to produce wonderful art.
Looking at Totem Poles teaches us how to understand and read the stories found in the carved poles so characteristic of the Pacific coasts. A companion, Looking at Indian Art of the Northwest Coast, helps us appreciate the beauty of what continues to be a major art form. I found this volume quite helpful while designing my Raven storytelling screen. Bill Holm's Native American-inspired paintings are in Sun Dogs and Eagle Down: The Indian Paintings of Bill Holm.
Understanding Northwest Coast Art: A Guide to Crests, Beings and Symbols is a dictionary of the beings that are the subjects of Northwest art. It was written by Cheryl Shearer and published in 2000.
Viola Garfield? and Linn Forest? The Wolf and The Raven: Totem Poles of Southeastern Alaska is back in print. A survey of totem poles gathered by the U.S. Forest Service and placed in natural settings near Ketchikan, Wrangel and Sitka, it was written in 1948 and revised in 1961. It describes the characters and includes numerous stories about them in the text.
Aldona Jonaitis - The natural history museums have preserved most of our artifacts of Pacific Northwest life, and this noted scholar has published a number of illustrated volumes, including Chiefly Feasts: The enduring Kwakiutl Potlatch and From the Land of The Totem Poles: The Northwest Coast Art Collection of The American Museum of Natural History. Both are available in paperback and are lavishly illustrated with colorful pictures of carved poles and dance masks and other artifacts.
Alas, most of the carvings and poles of the Northwest have been collected and there are more totem poles in the museums than in Native American villages. Franz Boas, one of those collectors, studied and saved for us much about a way of life that was swiftly being lost. An anthology of his writings is found in A Wealth of Thought: Franz Boas on Native American Art, edited by Aldona Jonaitis. It has several very instructive chapters on the styles of animal forms used in the Northwest Coast art and weaving. Douglas Cole has narrated how this happened in his book Captured Heritage: The Scramble for Northwest Coast Artifacts which tells about the competition among the museums to gather artifacts and knowledge. Were they saving or stealing a culture?
A new book on the Peoples of the Northwest Coast : Their Archaeology and Prehistory by Kenneth M. Ames and Herbert D. G. Maschner is an excellent book covering the various tribes of the Northwest coasts.
Several recent "coffee table paperbacks" have been published by the University of Washington Press. A Time of Gathering : Native Heritage in Washington State by Robin K. Wright presents the cultures of the region around Puget Sound. Northern Haida Master Carvers, also by Robin Wright, highlights for the first time the distinctive achievements of several of the most important Northern Haida artists and analyzes the art-historical developments and stylistic changes in pole carving. This book traces the making of monumental poles from the days of first white contact to the present, illuminating the variations in style that resulted from historical, cultural, and individual circumstances, with a particular focus on the Edenshaws and their artistic heirs.
Kwakiutl Art by Audrey Hawthorn covers the cultures of the central British Columbian coasts.
Haida Monumental Art : Villages of the Queen Charlotte Islands by George F. MacDonald, Richard J. Huyda, and George MacDonald includes a large number of photographs as well as site plans and detailed descriptions of 15 villages and several smaller sites. Images of the Haida's cedar houses and totem poles were captured by photographers who traveled to these then-remote villages during the last quarter of the 19th century.
The Great Canoes : Reviving a Northwest Coast Tradition by David Neel - The cedar canoe was central to the lives of the Northwest Coast's first peoples and in the mid-1980s the great canoes began to be built again. This book, by Kwakiutl photographer David Neel, explores the rebirth of the Northwest Coast canoe. Neel combines 70 of his most spectacular photographs with words
from elders, builders, paddlers, chiefs and young people documenting the impressive canoe gatherings of the last few years.
Native Visions : Evolution in Northwest Coast Art from the Eighteenth Through the Twentieth Century by Steven C. Brown, Paul MacApia (Photographer) will take you through the development of the various styles of Northwest Coast art.
Mythic Beings : Spirit Art of the Northwest Coast by Gary Wyatt connects the artwork to the mythological beings of the inter-related but distinct earth, sky and water realms.
Haida Art by George F. MacDonald illustrates the definitive collection of Haida art - the holdings of the Canadian Museum of Civilization.
Down from the Shimmering Sky : Masks of the Northwest Coast by Peter MacNair, Robert Joseph and Bruce Grenville is about the costumes of the Pacific Coastal peoples, in particular their masks.
The Chilkat Dancing Blanket and The Raven's Tail by Cheryl Samuel discusses their weaving and colorful dancing blankets.
Many of the early paintings on bentwood boxes, paddles, or house front boards have rotted, faded, or been obscured by a patina of oil, dirt, and wood smoke. The Transforming Image : Painted Arts of Northwest Coast First Nations was written by Bill McLennan, University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology Curator. He developed a technique of photographing the pieces with infrared film to bring out the original lines of design, then transferring them, with the help of artists, onto Mylar sheets and sometimes onto boards like the originals in order to bring the original designs back to life.
Northwest Coast Indian Painting: House Fronts and Indian Screens by Edward Malin deals with the art form applied to houses. It has both extensive text and numerous photographs. He also has books on Totem Poles of the Pacific Northwest Coast and A World of Faces: Masks of the Northwest Coast Indians.
Want to try making art yourself? Learning by Designing Pacific Northwest Coast Native Indian Art, vol.1, and Learning by Doing Northwest Coast Native Indian Art by Karin Clark and Jim Gilbert from Raven Publishing will help get your started.
And if you are interested in carving, Carving Totem Poles and Masks by Alan Bridgewater and Gill Bridgewater might be a good beginning.
See also:
Gerber, Indians of the Northwest Coast
Philip Drucker, Indians of the Northwest Coast
Variations:
This project is best suited for students fourth grade and above. Adaptations for younger students include cutting common Northwest Indian shapes out of construction paper to be glued on by students. Paper plates can also be used to create a mask rather than a hat.
Extensions:
Performing Arts: With the hats constructed, students are ready to perform Raven myths in small groups. Myths may either be adapted to play form or read expressively aloud by a narrator while the characters tell their parts through movement. To complete the costume, a blanket can be draped over the student's shoulders like a cape and secured with a safety pin.
Language Arts: Myth writing is a natural extension for this lesson. Focus students on natural phenomena that can be explained through myths. Why are there rainbows? Why do leaves fall off the trees? Why do animals hibernate?
The character of the trickster is common in myths of other cultures. Collect and read trickster myths from other cultures.
Social Studies: This lesson is an excellent introduction to a unit on Northwest Indian tribes. These tribes developed unique political, economic, and social structures.
Raven and the Man that Sits on the Tides
A Telling by Eldrbarry
(http://www.eldrbarry.net/rabb/rvn/rvn.htm)
Long ago the oceans had no tides and the shores no shallows. Raven knew there was lots of food in the sea - oysters and clams, mussels and crabs. But how to get to it? He was lazy and preferred getting into mischief. Raven wondered, "If only there was a way to move the water out of the way, so I could gather food from the sea!"
Raven knew nothing about the sea, but he knew the Fog Man did. He would find the Fog Man and ask him. Raven started asking around. He asked the sandpipers, and like a single bird, the flock darted and swooped this way and that, but Raven could not figure out which way they wanted him to go. Raven asked the gulls, but they seemed to be lost souls endlessly searching themselves. Raven asked the cormorants, perched like lonely sentinels on the offshore rocks, but they didn't know where the Fog Man was to be found either.
Finally Raven decided to look far to the north, where the fogs came from. He searched until one day he saw an island bouncing from wave to wave, like a raft free of its moorings. On it was a wrinkled old man with a long straggly beard. When he saw the Raven coming, he snatched up his hat and pulled it down on his head. Fog began to pour out from under its brim, hiding the fog man and his island.
Raven swooped down and snatched off his hat. "What, do you throw a fog in a friend's face?"
"Hey, Raven! Give me my hat, I've fog to make," he cried.
Raven asked: "Why do you make fog anyway?"
"It's my job. It's what I do, I'm the Fog Man."
"Well, do you know how the sea can be moved away from the shore?"
"I don't know; please give me my hat, the sun is getting too warm."
"Do you know someone I could ask?"
"Go ask the Man who sits on the Tide."
"What is the tide? And why does he sit on it? Where do I find him?"
The Fog Man pleaded: "Please leave me my hat, and go to where the sun sleeps."
Raven laughed "I'll just take your hat. It's time we had a sunny day"
Leaving the Fog Man cursing on the shore, Raven flew towards the setting sun. For many days, he pursued the sun and was just about to give up his search when he spotted a solitary Rock crag, with sea birds swooping around its head and shoulders. Raven was about to ask the birds, when the crag yawned, then it blinked. What looked like a rock, was a giant man, sitting in the water. Three times Raven asked him: "Have you seen the man who sits on the tide?" with no answer.
On the fourth the Giant roared "I AM THE MAN WHO SITS ON THE TIDE!!" His breath blew Raven back several miles.
Avoiding his mouth, Raven shouted in his ear. "Do you know the secret of how to move the sea aside?"
"I KNOW MANY SECRETS, BUT I CAN'T REMEMBER THEM."
"Well, maybe if you told me one, it would jog your memory."
"GO AWAY, I CAN'T REMEMBER ANY."
"Well, what is the tide, and why do you sit on it?"
"IT'S MY JOB, IT'S WHAT I DO. I AM THE MAN WHO SITS ON THE TIDE."
Curious, Raven tried to see what he was sitting on. "Maybe if you stood on it."
"NO, I HAVE ALWAYS SAT ON THE TIDE - IT'S WHAT I DO!"
"Come on, get up."
"GO AWAY, YOU BOTHER ME."
Raven began circling him. Raven spotted an exposed portion of his "backside" and got an idea. Flying up high in the sky, he pointed his sharp beak right at it and dropped like hawk, jabbing the giant real good. With a mighty roar, the giant rose up and started howling in pain, jumping around and holding his "backside." But his wail was drowned out by the sound of a hundred waterfalls, as the sea poured into a large hole where he had sat. The giant danced around in pain. The sea was almost all gone, leaving sand and floundering fish as far as the eye could see. Finally, rubbing the "tender spot," the giant sat down. As he did the sea spurted up and refilled to its former water line.
Raven knew the giant's secret. "So that's what the tide is, now if we can just teach him some new habits."
Raven perched on his shoulder and with his most persuasive trickster voice suggested: "From now on, how about taking a little stretch twice a day - just a short one, so the people can gather food from the sea."
"NO, SITTING IS WHAT I DO, I AM THE MAN WHO SITS ON THE TIDE. I HAVE ALWAYS DONE THIS AND ALWAYS WILL. IT'S MY JOB."
"Come on, everybody needs a break now and then, just a short stretch twice a day?"
"GO AWAY, YOU'RE UPSETTING ME."
"I know, it's my job. It's what I do. I am the Raven. I upset things. I upset the darkness when I stole the sun and put it in the sky. I upset the cold when I stole fire from Owl and gave it to the people, and now I will upset you twice a day."
As Raven began circling for another jab, the giant roared "WHY, I CAN SWAT YOU LIKE A MOSQUITO! YOU ARE NO BIGGER TO ME THAN A MINNOW TO A WHALE." He began to swing his arms wildly at the circling Raven. Giant waves were formed. As the two struggled, Raven trying to jab the giant, the giant trying to crush the Raven, a great storm struck the shores, and they say that this was when Mountain Goat first tasted salt and why sea shells are found in the mountains.
Trying as hard as he could, Raven could not get near a tender spot on the Giant. Then Raven remembered Fog Man's hat. Raven pulled the hat down on his head. Fog began pouring out, thicker and thicker. A fog bank enveloped the Giant. He looked around, trying to spot Raven, but all he could see was Fog. Then, "YEOWWW!" Raven jabbed him good. For a little while, he jumped and danced around, then settled back on his spot.
meanwhile as the waters receded, Raven was able to gather food from the seashore. The waters were shallow enough to fish, and there were oysters and clams and mussels and crabs. The sandpipers and gulls and cormorants found plenty to eat. Then, as the giant had settled down, the waters returned to their former level. Raven began to visit the giant twice a day at different times to catch him by surprise, upsetting him each time. Sometimes he used Fog Man's hat, or came in the dark of the moon. And as the tide went out and came in, there was plenty of food to eat.
Finally, one day, as the Raven was about to pull on the fog man's hat, he saw a surprising sight. All by himself, without Raven's reminder, the Giant stood up, stretched, looked around and after a bit, sat down. Raven was puzzled. He disguised himself as a sea bird and flew to the giant's shoulder. "Why did you just stand up and sit down?"
"IT'S MY JOB. IT'S WHAT I DO. AS LONG AS I REMEMBER IT'S WHAT I HAVE DONE. I AM THE MAN WHO MAKES THE TIDE GO OUT AND COME IN."
And as Raven flew off, relieved he would have to upset the Giant no longer, he laughed. "I am the Raven. I upset things. It's my job. It's what I do!"
Raven Myth
Time was, there were no people on earth. The first man still lay inside the pea pod.
Four days passed, and on the fifth day, he pushed with his feet. He broke through the bottom of the pod and fell to the ground. When he got up, he had become a grown man. He looked at everything and himself, his arms and legs, his hands; felt his neck. The pod that had held him still hung on the vine with a hole in its bottom.
The grown man walked a little away from the pod where he had started. The ground under him felt as if it were moving, too. It was not firm, but soft.
The way it moved under him made him feel sick. He stood still, and slowly a pool of water formed at his feet. He bent down and drank from the pool. It felt good the way the water went from his mouth down inside of him. It made him feel better.
He stood up again, refreshed. Next, he saw something. It was a dark thing flapping along, and it was coming. Then it was there before him. It stood looking at him.
It was Raven. Raven lifted one of his wings and pushed his beak up to his forehead. He raised it like a mask. And when he moved his beak up, Raven changed into a man. He walked all around the first man to get a good look at him.
"Who are you?" Raven asked, at last. "Where did you come from?"
"I came from the pea pod," said the man, pointing to the vine and the broken pod.
"I made that vine!" said Raven. "I never thought something like you would come from it. Here, this ground we're standing on is soft. I made it later than the rest. Let's go to the high ground. It's hard and thick."
Man and Raven went to the high ground, and it was quite hard under them.
"Did you have anything to eat?" Raven asked.
Man told him about the wet stuff that had pooled at his feet.
"Ah, you must have drunk water," Raven said. "Wait here for me."
He drew the beak-mask down and changed once more into a bird. Raven flew up |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
