Chapter 21

Raven: A Native
American Trickster
 Raven’s Place in
Native American Belief
• According to Native American beliefs, all beings
are appreciated according to their individual
capabilities.
• There is no single supreme deity or a group of
chosen gods with extraordinary powers.
• Extraordinary beings like Raven emphasize the
importance of a symbiotic relationship between
humans and nature.
• Raven is an outrageous trickster as well as a
culture hero.
 Geography of Raven
• Prominent throughout a broad area of
northwestern North America and
northeastern Asia.
• People whose ancestors crossed the
Bering Strait on a land bridge between
Siberia in Asia and Alaska in North
America.
• In North America: Haida, Tlingit,
Tsimshian, and Kwakiutl peoples.
 Comparison of Tricksters
Raven
Origin Unknown. May be a self-made creature.
Motivation His own reasons – perhaps just the fun
of the trick or his appetites.
Method Complex plan. Uses social conventions
(grandfather–grandson relationship) to
achieve his end.
Effect Some creatures are happy, and some
are afraid. Raven doesn't seem to care.
Result Gets things for humans through trickery.
Raven’s act is accepted as part of his
nature.
Moral We admire a strong spirit.
Prometheus
Son of the gods Iapetus and Clymene.
Wants to help mankind.
Steals by stealth – like an ordinary thief.
People have an easier life than Zeus
intended. This pleases Prometheus.
Gets things for humans through trickery.
Prometheus is severely punished by the
gods.
Do not break the rules of the gods.
 Raven’s Nature as a Trickster
• Shape-changer
• Transformer
• Not anthropomorphic
 How the Raven Stories
Were Collected
• John R. Swanton, an anthropologist who lived
with the Tlingit during the first decade of the
twentieth century, collected two versions from:
– Katishan, chief of the Kasq!aque’dé of Wrangell in the
southeastern part of Alaska in January 1904,
assumed less familiarity on the part of his audience.
His version seems to explain everything from the very
first sentence, and gives the story a historical
perspective whenever possible.
– Another, unnamed storyteller at Sitka in April 1904
performed for the benefit of listeners more familiar
both with the Raven myth and with other stories that
explain the origins of bodies of water, various
animals, and the reputation of Petrel.
 Raven Myth from Sitka
• Raven causes his own birth – Girl swallows dirt and
becomes pregnant with him.
• Raven steals light – Cries to play with the stars, then
moon, then sun, then lets them escape into the sky
through the smoke hole in his grandfather’s house.
• Raven steals water for his world – Tricks Petrel and
steals water from him; is trapped in the smoke hole;
turns from white to black. Water falling from his mouth is
turned into rivers and creeks.
• Raven turns people into animals – Threatens people
catching eulachon with exposing them to daylight. When
he does, they turn into animals.
 Raven Myth from Wrangell
• At the beginning of things, there was no daylight and the world lay in
blackness.
• Raven-at-the-head-of-Nass (Nas-ca’ki-yel), the principal deity, lived
with his daughter.
• In his house were all kinds of things including sun, moon, stars, and
daylight.
• Nas-ca’ki-yel created the Heron as a very tall and very wise man
and after him the Raven, who was also a very good and very wise
man at that time.
• Nas-ca’ki-yel’s daughter tried and failed to have children. She
followed Heron’s directions and gave birth to Raven after swallowing
a small, smooth heated stone. Therefore Raven’s name was really
Itca’k!, the name of a very hard rock, and he was hence called
Ta’qlik!-ie (Hammer-father). This is why Raven was so tough and
could not easily be killed.
 Raven Myth from Wrangell, 2
• Heron and Raven both became servants to Nas-ca’ki-
yel, but he thought more of Raven and made him head
man over the world.
• Raven felt very sorry for the few people in darkness,
turned himself into a hemlock needle in some water;
Nas-ca’ki-yel’s daughter swallowed it and became
pregnant.
• Nas-ca’ki-yel made some people out of leaves, not rock,
and so they were mortal.
• Raven cries for the things in his grandfather’s house and
then lets them go up into the sky, as in the story from
Sitka.
 Raven Myth from Wrangell, 3
• Raven turns people into animals by exposing them to
daylight while they are fishing for eulachon, as in the
story at Sitka.
• Raven steals fresh water from Petrel, as in the story from
Sitka.
• Raven teaches the people to bring back fire.
• “Raven (Yel) went about among the natives of Alaska
telling them what to do, but Nas-ca’ki-yel they never saw.
Raven showed all the Tlingit what to do for a living, but
he did not get to be such a high person as Nas-ca’ki-yel,
and he taught the people much foolishness.”