Reading Notes: Alaskan Legends, Part A

Raven is a shapeshifter: an animal and a human, but neither. He is a villain and a savior, and a god and an annoyance. His contradictory nature probably comes about as a result of the many, many stories about him. I'd love to read something that explores him more closely as a character. He's symbolic of many humanlike qualities, and very quirky.

According to Wikipedia, "Raven and eagle are known by many different names by many different peoples and is an important figure amongst written and verbal stories. His tales are passed down through the generations of story tellers of the people and are of cultural and historical significance. It's important to note that Native myths such as the Raven Tales, as opposed to tall tales and little stories for children, are not entertainment and are cultural property of the clan or individual that the story originates from." This explains many of the shorter stories. They seem random to a modern-day American reader, but that's because we can't relate to the daily life experiences of a Native American child to whom stories like this would be told.

Also of interest, noted on Wikipedia: "It is customary that others should not tell stories that are owned by another clan, especially if they do not live in the same area" (Giese, Paula (1996). "Who Owns the Stories — A Letter to Eldrbarry").

This raises questions. Should I try retelling any of these myths, or should I make a different story in a similar style to avoid encroaching on others' cultural property, so to speak?

I'm considering the idea of writing a story that features Raven as the main character, but that also pulls elements from several different stories in the collection. For the most part, those stories would be "Raven's Marriage" and "The Naming of the Birds." By the time these stories take place, Raven has detatched himself from human civilization despite all his work to help it. He seems to prefer the company of animals--or bird shapeshifters like himself, rather. These birds are sapient and shift back and forth between human and avian like he does, but they don't seem to associate with humans at all.

In "Raven's Marriage," Raven finds himself in want of a wife. For all his travel and mischief, he's lonely--or maybe he just wants a new target to bother. After some searching among the other birds, he finds a family of geese, including a young female goose. They are married for a matter of days, before the family of geese' large wings leave Raven unable to keep up with them and he is left behind.

I like the image of the dark-feathered Raven being visually contrasted with a white bird. A goose isn't exactly the ideal counterpart for a raven. Geese aren't very mysterious. However, Wikipedia gave me this: "The Sioux tell of how a white raven used to warn buffalo of approaching hunters. Eventually an angry shaman caught the bird and threw it into a fire, turning it black."

Sources:
Myths and Legends of Alaska, edited by Katharine Berry
Wikipedia: Raven Tales 

Image:
"The Raven" via Flickr