Storytelling Week 9: New Life

The Powerful Raven

Once upon a time I the almighty Raven was the only creature to live in the land. The land was a barren wasteland. I was quite lonely and that was when I decided it was time to bring someone else into the world.

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Now I had a very special gift….I could transform from human to raven whenever I pleased. This was a gift that I greatly appreciated. It came in handy when I went to the ground to plant vines. These vines were normal, well, most of the time anyway. Every once in a while the vine would produce a pod and the pod would grow a human. I hadn’t seen this happen in years, though, so it was nothing worth getting your hopes up about.

I had a feeling about today however. It felt very special. So I decided to plant some vines and see if anything would come of them. I planted them near the river’s edge and hoped that they would flourish being next to the water. I carefully placed the seeds in the hole I had dug and then gently positioned soil on top of them. I cupped my hands together and gathered some water from the river and put it on the seeds. I decided to let them sit for a few days and I flew off.

I gave it a few days and on the fourth day something began to stretch out its arms and legs from the pod on the vine. I was ecstatic that something had grown but suspicious of what it was.  I decided it was time to investigate. I approached it and flapped my wings to turn back into a human. He was astonished by my ability and confused as to who I was. I then asked him, “Where did you come from?” He answered, “That hanging pod over there." I told him how I had planted that pod on the vine and really hoped one of them would produce life.

I explained to him how there were no other creatures living in the land. I also described how if he followed me to the river I could create other creatures.  We ventured to the river and I grabbed some clay. I shaped that clay into a fish. I then gently placed the fish into the water and it began to swim away. I explained how it would multiply and we would have an abundant amount in just a few days. I was so excited to have someone else here on the land to share this food with.

Next I formed the deer out of the clay and explained that they would move quickly so nobody could kill them. They would bring a lot of life to the land and would multiply quickly too. He was astonished by the power I had and asked that I do one more thing. He explained how he was very lonely and that he would appreciate if I could create a companion for him. I said, “Of course!” I formed a female out of the clay and told him that they would keep each other company for the rest of time. They loved each other and helped make the land prosper. I was so happy with my creations!

Author's Note: I am retelling the story of Raven’s Creation. This story is from the Alaskan Legends unit and it is about the culture of the Inuit (Eskimo). For this storytelling task this week I preferred to stick pretty close to the original story. I did decide to change who the voice was telling the story. I decided to tell it from the Raven’s point of view. I think that telling it from this point of view was a beneficial choice because he was the main character in the original. Another advantage to telling it from the raven's voice is that he is the main creator of everything. Without the raven, there would be no life, so he played a key role. In the original story the raven used the clay to make mountain sheep, reindeer and caribou. I changed the animals that the raven changed the clay into just to add a different detail to the story. The deer was similar to the mountain goat and reindeer but just a different animal. I wanted to also make an animal that would be able to escape any danger and be able to flourish quickly. Also in the original story the raven was surprised when a human came out of the pod. I changed this to having the raven anticipate it. This story was overall very interesting to me because the raven held all the power in creation and through creating this man he was then able to begin a whole society.

Bibliography: Myths and Legends of Alaska Katharine Berry Judson (1911). Raven's Creation.

Essay Week 9: The Raven

The Raven

This week I read the story Alaskan Legends. I really enjoyed the stories because they were so different from anything I’ve ever read before. I think it is really beneficial to read stories from other cultures because they advance your knowledge. I also think that it is beneficial because when we read other cultures history and learn about their culture we become more tolerant and accepting to others.

One of the most interesting stories that I read this week was Raven's Creation. This story was about how a raven was the only being in the land and then a man was born of the pea pod he created. The raven observed the man for some time and then he came down and spoke with him. He showed him that he could also transform in to a human being. Once he was a human being he showed the man that he could create things from clay from the river. He grasped it in his hands and created several forms of deer and also mountain goats. Then finally he showed all of these things and the man was feeling lonely so the raven had a solution. The raven then made a woman out of clay for the man to keep him company and to be together forever.

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 One common theme that was seen in most of the stories in this unit was a raven. I thought that this was very interesting and curious as to of why the raven was so prominent. I decided to go look up the symbolism of a raven. I thought that it must be a very important animal to the Alaskan culture since it was seen so much in the stories. Most of the information that I found was talking about how ravens symbolize ill things. I think that is interesting because it represents bad things but they spoke of it so much.

Week 9 Reading Diary: Alaskan Legends

This week I am retelling stories form Alaskan Legends.

In the story Alaska Raven's Creation there was a raven that could transform from human to raven whenever he wanted to. There was also a man that was born and came from a pea pod that the raven created. They became friends and the raven showed the man that he could make food from the clay, then the final thing he did was make a companion for the man. He sculpted a beautiful woman from clay and they lived together.

In the story Alaska: The Flood there was a raven that noticed that people near the water were being ungrateful. So he decided to wish upon them a great rise in the tide. The water rose and rose and he had to take a ladder to the bottom of the ocean to find answers. He left the eagle in charge of the tide and asked him to let him know when the tide had gone back down.

In the story Alaska: Raven and the Seals there was a raven that came across a new beach where a man lived. He convinced the man that they would become friends. Then he decided to eat the man and eat all the seals on the beach. He then hunted seals in the water and cooked them on the beach. A stump wanted some of the food so he went and sat on the hole the seals were being cooked in. The raven was so sad that he couldn’t eat the seals and cried because he was so hungry.

In the story Alaska: Raven and Marmot there was a raven that was being mocked. He went and stood in front of a marmot’s home so he could not enter. He told the marmot that he was going to have to eat him. The marmot agreed but first wanted the raven to dance. Then the raven danced again and fell dizzy so the marmot ran past him in to his home and laughed at the raven.

In the story The First Woman there was a man who traveled far away to take a woman back to his land. He snuck in a home and grabbed a woman but then her husband awoke and the two men were fighting over her. They pulled her in half and each land had one half of her. The land with the top half carved her bottom half out of wood. She was good at sewing needlepoint. The land with the bottom half carved the rest of her body out of wood and she was good at dancing.

In the story The Ghost Land there is a man who travels through a forest and looks for a wife. Once he travels along the river he returns home to this father. He tells his father of how he has found his wife so his father lays out fur coats for his wife. She comes in but they see nothing so he realizes that she was a ghost.