The Legend of White Raven Spirit, from The Creator

At the beginning, when the Earth was fresh and new, the Great Spirit, Creator sent down His Raven to enjoy this new creation. As Raven soared down from cloud to cloud he began to take the color of the snow crystals that touched his wings, each crystal being different, like the creation on the earth. The Creator told him, you will be like the snow flakes you have gathered on your wings, a part of everything new, everything that I have created. You will be for all people. As White Raven soared in the clouds the cool air rushed under his wings, he was singing and shouting songs of praise to his Creator.

One day he wanted to touch and feel the ground and taste the earth below. He wanted someone to keep him company, but he knew when he landed he would soil his feathers having to settle on the ground below. So the Creator, wishing to please this special one, created a special spirit mate for White Raven, a White Buffalo where he could land and rest. Now there were many of these new Buffalo but only one as white as the snow. They moved about and covered many lands. White Raven found his spirit mate, the White Buffalo below and would ride on his back, resting and smelling the sweetness of earth, making many pleasant sounds in thanks for his new home. Now he could help White Buffalo and his brothers and sisters find good places to roam for food.

Every day White Raven would fly high into the air soaring around, spotting fine places of grass for his brother. When he would look down, he could see White Buffalo as bright as the mornings sun among the others earth colored ones. White Buffalo could be found easily and then led to the good eating places. He would sing to the White Buffalo, "Come here, come here, come here, the grass is good, good, good, then laugh". They would fly, and run, and play, and eat, and enjoy all that was given to them.

Then came a time when the Creator put new creatures on the Earth. They were called humans and walked on two legs. The humans were the color of the earth, the place where they came from, and were very smart. They would sing and make fires to The Creator in thanks for their life and the beauty He had given them. But the human became very hungry and asked the Creator what they should do. The Creator pointed them to the White Raven and told them, "I gave to the White Raven the White Buffalo, so he could guide him to places where his brothers and sisters could eat the good grasses. Now I will give you any buffalo except the White one, to fill your lodges and stomachs and keep you warm so you and your families will never go hungry and never be cold. But remember without the White Buffalo it will be hard to see the others and hunt because they are like you, the color of the Earth.
The humans did what they were told, and after a hunt would first thank the Great Spirit, then the buffalo for his spirit, food and skin for warmth and protection. All things were very happy and gave thanks every day.

One morning, White Raven woke up from a good sleep on the soft back of White Buffalo, and stretched his wings. Flying high into the air looked for a nice place for his brother to eat for the day. While high above the hills he saw a different kind of human, although they looked the same he could feel their hearts were not the same as the others he had known. The new humans were thoughtless caring only for themselves and killed many animals that they could not eat or use for their families. White Raven talked to the Great Spirit asking what are these humans doing, they do not thank You or the ones whose spirit they send to You. They gather up much that they cannot take or use and it goes to waste. The Great Spirit said He was unhappy with these ones.

On that very day, one of the new humans saw the beautiful White Buffalo who was not paying attention to the ground, but looking up in the air to follow White Raven to a new area to eat and play. The new human crept up on White Buffalo and took his life and spirit, not following the command of the Creator. Then the new human did not thank The Creator or the White Buffalo for this spirit, food or skin, leaving much of the body there to rot in the sun.

This made The Creator very sad and angry. He began to cry from the clouds and sent sharp streaks of bright anger to the ground.. White Raven was very sad, his spirit mate had been taken from him and he had no place to stand or sleep any longer. White Buffalo's brothers and sisters ran off causing a great rumbling that went to the heavens and began to shake the earth and the clouds. The Creator let His tears begin to fall from the clouds showing His sorrow. White Raven cried and yelled as he circled his spirit mates lifeless body from high above.

As the days past and the tears continued, White Raven began to tire since he no longer had his place to rest. The streams began to overflow and the seas and the lakes rose to a point where there was very little dirt left. After many days, exhausted and soaked with rain, White Raven landed on a small piece of muddy ground. The dirt splashed up on his body and wings. He tried to move about but he got more and more discolored with the mud . He began to change color to black as the mud spread all over his body, flopping around trying to get back into the air. A day or two passed and White Raven now was completely black and covered with mud. The water had risen to a point where the only piece of ground left was being covered with the rising flood. Far away White Raven saw an old man and his family floating towards him in a large canoe and he cried out "here, here, come, here, come here!"

The Elder noticed him and came over to him and picked him up.. The elder was very kind and wise, he fed him and dried him off. Now by this time the entire earth was covered with water and the tears had stopped. The Creator now would mourn silently.

White Raven told the elder of his journey and what had happened to him and his friend, White Buffalo. Elder told him that The Great Spirit had spared him from the great rains to look for anything good, but there was much evil in the world and there was not much to save. The elder explained that again, along time in the future not only will there be good on the earth but evil also. When this time comes the Creator will have to again cleanse the earth of this evil.

White Raven was now strong enough to fly back into the heavens. As he left the elder and his family he thanked him for his kindness and began to soar back to The Creator. The Creator told the elder he would He would create only black Ravens, to remind all peoples of the evil that man can create. The Creator at a the time in the future when the earth is filled with evil will again send His White Raven. This time he will not turn to black or be soiled, but remain forever the color The Creator had given him in the beginning.  One will see White Raven and he will give this message to many Nations and to all who will listen to him and what he says about The Creator. This one will be giving a warning to all, of bad times that are coming. White Raven will again have the soft white back of his spirit mate to rest on, and everyone should listen to his warning;" Return to the Creator, give Him songs of praise. Burn fires that will let their smokes rise up to Him as a pleasing smell. Put away your evil ways and desires, putting The Creator as the Way to follow, so He will be pleased with us."

White Raven then soared up towards the Great Spirit, into the clouds. The snow crystals began to cleanse the feathers of White Raven as he flew through the clouds going ever higher until he again became as he was in the beginning, The Way, The Creator had meant him to be.  So we must all be waiting and looking for this time that is in the future. For the return of the White Raven. 

This time will come to turn to the Great Spirit again. We will still try our evil ways, destroying what He has done for us. Will we do the things that we were meant to do in the beginning. Love The Creator, live in peace with all, love The Way The Creator loves us, and treat everyone as He treats us. This is what is written, this is The Way it must be.

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RAVEN

This version of the legend comes from J.R. Swanton's 1909 collection Tlingit Myths and Texts.

No one knows just how the story of Raven really begins, so each starts from the point where he does know it. Here it was always begun in this way...
When Raven was born, his father tried to instruct him and train him in every way and after he grew up, told him he would give him strength to make a world. After trying in all sorts of ways, Raven finally succeeded. Then there was no light in this world, but it was told him that far up the Nass was a large house in which someone kept light just for himself.
Raven thought over all kinds of plans for getting this light into the world and finally he hit on a good one. The rich man living there had a daughter, and he thought, "I will make myself very small and drop into the water in the form of a small piece of dirt." The girl swallowed this dirt and became pregnant. When her time was completed, they made a hole for her, as was customary, in which she was to give birth, and lined it with rich furs of all sorts. But the child did not wish to be born on those fine things. Then its grandfather felt sad and said, "What do you think it would be best to put into that hole? Shall we put in moss?" So they put moss inside and the baby was born on it. Its eyes were very bright and moved around rapidly.
Round bundles of varying shapes and sizes hung about on the walls of the lodge. When the child became a little larger, it crawled around back of the people weeping continually, and as it cried it pointed to the bundles. This lasted many days. Then its grandfather said: "Give my grandchild what he is crying for. Give him that one hanging on the end. That is the bag of stars." So the child played with this, rolling it about on the floor back of the people, until suddenly he let it go up through the smoke hole. It went straight up into the sky and the stars scattered out of it, arranging themselves as you now see them. That was what he went there for.
Some time after this he began crying again, and he cried so much that it was thought he would die. Then his grandfather said, "Untie the next one and give it to him." He played and played with it around behind his mother. After a while he let that go up through the smoke hole also, and there was the big moon.
Now just one thing more remained, the box that held the daylight, and he cried for that. His eyes turned around and showed different colors, and the people began thinking that he must be something other than an ordinary baby. But it always happens that a grandfather loves his grandchild just as he does his own daughter, so the grandfather said, "Untie the last thing and give it to him." His grandfather felt very sad when he gave this to him. When the child had this in his hands, he uttered the raven cry, "Ga", and flew out with it through the smoke hole. Then the person from whom he had stolen it said, "That old raven has gotten all of my things."
Journeying on, Raven was told of another place where a man had an everlasting spring of water. This man was named Petrel (Ganù'k). Raven wanted this water because there was none to drink in this world, but Petrel always slept by his spring, and he had a cover over it so as to keep it all to himself. Then Raven came in and said to him, "My brother-in-law, I have just come to see you. How are you?" He told Petrel of all kinds of things that were happening outside, trying to induce him to go out and look at them, but Petrel was too smart for him and refused.
When night came, Raven said, "I am going to sleep with you, brother-in-law." So they went to bed, and toward morning Raven heard Petrel sleeping very soundly. Then he went outside, took some dog manure and put it around Petrel's buttocks. When it was beginning to grow light, he said "Wake up, wake up, wake up, brother-in-law, you have defecated all over your clothes." Petrel got up, looked at himself, and thought it was true, so he took his blankets and went outside. Then Raven went over to Petrel's spring, took off the cover and began drinking. After he had drunk up almost all of the water, Petrel came in and saw him. Then Raven flew straight up, crying "Ga".
Before he got through the smoke hole, however, Petrel said, "My spirits up the smoke hole, catch him." So Raven stuck there, and Petrel put pitch wood on the fire under him so as to make a quantity of smoke. Raven was white before that time, but the smoke made him of the color you find him today. Still he did not drop the water. When the smoke-hole spirits let him go, he flew around the nearest point and rubbed himself all over so as to clear off as much of the soot as possible.
This happened somewhere around the Nass, and afterwards he started up this way. First he let some water fall from his mouth and made the Nass. By and by he spit more out and made the Stikine. Next he spit out Taku river, then Chilkat, then Alsek, and all the other large rivers. The small drops that came out of his mouth made the small salmon creeks.
After this Raven went on again and came to a large town where were people who had never seen daylight. They were out catching eulachon in the darkness when he came to the bank opposite, and he asked them to take him across but they would not. Then he said to them, "If you don't come over I will have daylight break on you." But they answered, "Where are you from? Do you come from far up the Nass where lives the man who has the daylight?" At this Raven opened his box just a little and shed so great a light on them that they were nearly thrown down. He shut it quickly, but they quarreled with him so much across the creek that he became angry and opened the box completely, when the sun flew up into the sky. Then those people who had sea-otter or fur-seal skins, or the skins of any other sea animals, went into the ocean, while those who had land-otter, bear, or marten skins, or the skins of any other land animals, went into the woods becoming the animals whose skins they wore.
Artist: Michael Kemp

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Crow Necklace and His Medicine Ceremony

There was a party of Gros Ventre Indians who went out for a hunt From Knife River where the old camp was, and while they were hunting, the Assiniboins came and attacked the hunters. Some getaway and were saved. A young man among them looked for his sister and could not find her. So he trailed them to their camp. This man was an Assiniboin who had been a little boy captured by the GrosVentre and made a slave.

Sister

Artist:  Susan Seddon Boulet

The girl called him brother but was not really related to him. When all was quiet at night he went through the camp to look for his sister. He came to a big teepee and heard talking. Looking through a hole, he saw two men wounded whom he recognized as his own brothers. Now he had shot two Assiniboin in the conflict (and he recognized these two as the ones he shot).  Drawing his robe over his head, he entered and sat down beside their father, who was his father too. The wounded men told their father to fill his pipe and smoke with the stranger. The boy had not forgotten his own language, so he spoke to the old man and said, "Father, it is I." When he told what had happened to him, the father put his hands about his neck and fainted; the mother did the same. When he told them it was he who had shot the two brothers, they all laughed over it. He told them that he was looking for his sister, and the wounded men advised the father to call in the chiefs and tell them about her.

Smoke

Artist:  Susan Seddon Boulet

So the chiefs arranged not to move camp for four days, but to have a feast and call together all the slaves taken from theirs Ventre and let them eat. Then they had a dance called the Scalp-Dance, but the sister was not there. According to the old custom, slaves are supposed to belong to the tribe by which they are captured, so the slaves too got up and danced with them. All the slaves knew the young man. They called him "Crow Necklace.

Crow Necklace

Artist: Susan Seddon Boulet

“Before the four days were passed he said to the slaves, "Go steal some moccasins and dry meat and one of these nights we will run away." On the last of the four nights, they were all prepared. They stole sinew and cut pieces of Buffalo hide from the tents for moccasins. It was storming when they left - young women, old, and children, the young women carrying the children on their backs -and they ran North instead of East in the direction from which they came. Coming to a dry lake, they laid down in the deep grass and the snow covered them. Meanwhile, the Assiniboin discovered their absence and tracked after them but could not find them. They came to the lake but, seeing nothing of them, went home except one who stood looking. Crow Necklace crept up and killed him and took his scalp.

Scalp

Artist;  Susan Seddon Boulet

That night they went until daylight, traveling North-East until they came to another dry lake thick with grass. There they stayed allay. Four days they traveled in the night and hid all day. By this time they were up at the headwaters. From there they came around toward the Missouri River and came out at a place we call "Timber Coulee." At that time it was full of timber. Crow Necklace was about to push down an old tree which had an Owl's nest on top. An old Owl said, "Don't push that tree or my young ones will get cold. We are the ones who have helped you get around to your home again. It ill be best for you to go back to your own tribe: there you will find chief's daughter waiting to marry you." So when they wanted him to marry some of the women he refused and said, "No! The young ones are my sisters and the old ones are my mothers. The Owl directed him, “After leaving this place, go directly to the Short Missouri to camp, then on to Wood-Trap (right across the river West from here).Here all the Spirits will set traps to catch all kinds of wild animals for you to eat. When you get there, build a tipi out in the bush. Go inside and do not go out, and they will bring you meat themselves." So they did this - fixed up nice and went in. Outside they could hear the noise of butchering going on around them.

Owl

Artist: Susan Seddon Boulet

When the noise ceased they went out and found meat cut up or wrapped in hides and laid up on scaffolds. The Owl told Crow Necklace that they were now not far from the tribe - at the next move they would reach home. The next day they moved until they came to a high hill. Crow Necklace fixed up a skull and painted their faces black. Astley approached, they saw a woman crying on top of a hill and someone pointed her out to Cow Necklace; it was his sister. He called to her, and when she saw him she fainted. Then the whole camp came out to meet them and everybody made much of Crow Necklace. Herold the story of their adventures and brought food for them to eat.

Artist Unkown

All the hides he had asked to have tanned in order to make Medicine after he got back home. Among them was a White Buffalo hide. Softer he had married a chief's daughter as had been foretold, he made Medicine in order to understand all the mysterious beings and leave out none of them. And that cost him everything he had prepared - a hundred moccasins, a hundred robes, and a hundred blankets- everything in hundreds.

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Boy Stolen by Thunderbird

Artist:  Susan Seddon Boulet

Many, many years ago, a young Winnebago Indian Orphan-Boy lived in a small village with his grandmother. He found a friend about his own age. One day, they hunted for hickory wood to make bird arrows, which they used for hunting hawks. Orphan-Boy captured a young pigeon hawk and took it home. Soon, it became his pet bird.

Sometime later, Orphan-Boy put a little tobacco in a bundle and tied it around the hawk's neck. It disappeared for a few days, then returned without the tobacco bundle. Again, Orphan-Boy tied another bundle of tobacco around his pet's neck. It disappeared again, but returned to Orphan-Boy as it had before.

When the pet hawk became fully grown, Orphan-Boy suggested that it might want to go away and make a life for itself. So he tied another tobacco bundle around the pigeon hawk's neck, thanking him for staying with him for so long a time. Immediately, the bird flew away and never returned to Orphan-Boy.

Another day, Orphan-Boy and his friend hunted for dogwood to make pointed arrows. They accidentally became separated in a low fog. From above, however, a bad Thunderbird saw Orphan-Boy and swooped down, seizing him in his claws. The huge bird carried him away to its home in the high mountains.

For a long, long time the friend looked for Orphan-Boy. Finally, he gave up searching far and wide. But every day, he faithfully returned to the place where Orphan-Boy had disappeared, mourning still for his lost companion.

When the bad Thunderbird reached its mountainous home, he and his friends tied Orphan-Boy down to the floor. Their purpose was to hold him there until nothing remained in his stomach. Then they planned to devour him.

Little pigeon hawk decided to go and have a look at Thunderbird's prisoner. Imagine his surprise to find that Orphan-Boy, his kind friend, was the prisoner.

Little pigeon hawk left and decided to hunt for some young birds and roast them. Later, he returned, putting some of the meat under his wings and secretly dropping it into Orphan-Boy's mouth. Every day little pigeon hawk brought meat for Orphan-Boy until the Thunderbirds became suspicious of pigeon hawk.

The next day, the bad Thunderbirds decided to exclude little pigeon hawk when he came to visit Orphan-Boy. One Thunderbird pushed him toward the door, but little pigeon hawk accidentally on purpose fell close to the fire and scorched some of his feathers. He made a great noise and commotion, running to his big brother, Big Black-Hawk, who was Chief of the Thunderbirds.

"What can the matter be, little brother?" asked the Chief. Little pigeon hawk told his big brother the whole story from the beginning. When the Chief heard all, he became very angry.

Immediately, he went to the place where Orphan-Boy was still held down to the floor. The Chief scolded the bad Thunderbirds for their wrongdoing. Because they had pushed little pigeon hawk too close to the fire, the Chief announced they could no longer keep Orphan-Boy as their prisoner. Chief Big Black-Hawk cut the ropes and took the freed young boy home with him.

Every day, little pigeon hawk brought roasted bird meat for his friend Orphan-Boy, helping him to regain his strength. Later, Orphan-Boy made a bow and some arrows and took little pigeon hawk hunting with him.

Before winter weather arrived, Chief Big Black-Hawk informed his little brother that it would be better for Orphan-Boy to return to his own people.

"He does not belong up here with the Thunder Spirits, and I do not think Mother Earth Spirit will approve of it," said the Chief.

Little pigeon-hawk took Orphan-Boy back to the very place from where he had disappeared a long time ago. That evening, Orphan- Boy's old faithful friend came as usual to that place and found Orphan-Boy had returned! How surprised and delighted both boys were to see each other again. Orphan-Boy told his old friend everything that had happened to him since he had been kidnapped by the Thunderbird.

A Thanksgiving feast was prepared by the grandmother for both families to celebrate the happy homecoming of the boy stolen by the Thunderbird. From that time forward, Orphan-Boy and his faithful friend had many happy hunting times together, trying never to be separated again.

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