Part 3

The geese settled close together in the water. Raven flew slowly up, gasping for breath. He sank down upon their backs. When Raven had his breath again, he put his hand on his breast. He said, "I have an arrow here from an old war. It pains me greatly. That is why I fell behind."

After resting, the geese rose from the water. They flapped slowly along. Raven flew with them. After a while, Raven began to fall behind. He grew more and more tired. At last the geese looked back. Father Goose said, "He must be tired. We will wait." So the geese sank down together in the water, while Raven flew slowly up to them and sank down upon their backs.

Raven said, "I have an arrowhead which pierced my heart in an old war. That is why I fell behind." Raven's wife put her hand on his breast. She could feel it beating like a hammer; she said she could not feel an arrowhead.

So the geese rose again from the water. They flapped slowly along. But Raven's wings were very tired. Before long he fell behind again. Again the geese waited for him.

Then the Geese Brothers began to talk among themselves. They said, "We do not believe he has an arrowhead in his heart. How could he live?"

Now this last time when they rested, they could see the far-off shore. Father Goose said to Raven, "We will not wait for you again. We will not rest again until we reach the shore."

So the geese rose from the water and flapped slowly along. Raven's wings seemed very heavy. The geese flew nearer and nearer the shore; but Raven flew nearer and nearer the waves. As he came close to the water he shrieked to his wife, "Leave me the white stone. Throw the white stone back to me." It was a magic stone. Thus Raven cried. Then he sank down into the water, but the geese had reached the land.

Raven tried to rise from the water. His wings would not spread. Raven drifted back and forth with the waves. The white caps of the surf buried him. Only once in a while could he get his beak above the water to breathe. Then a great wave cast him on the shore. Then he struggled up the beach. He reached some bushes where he pushed up his beak. Thus he became a small, dark-colored man. Then he took off his raven coat and mask. He hung them on a bush to dry. Raven made a fire drill out of dry wood and made a fire. Thus he dried himself.

RAVEN AND THE SEALS

_Tsimshian_

As Raven travelled along, he came to a house where a man lived near the edge of the water. Raven said to him, "I will be your friend."

The man said, "That is good."

Now the beach in front of the house was full of seals. Raven ate them all during two nights. He ate all the seals in front of the house. Then he was hungry again.

Raven killed the man. Then he used his canoe and harpoon. Raven used those. He speared four seals. Then he returned to the shore. He took the seals out of the canoe and began cutting wood. Then he built a fire and placed stones in it in order to heat them. Afterward he put the seals on a pile of hot stones. He cooked the four seals and covered them with skunk cabbage leaves.

Raven then raised the cover and took out a seal. He ate it. Then he stretched out his hand and took another seal.

Now there was Stump sitting nearby. Raven held the seal in his hands and said to the stump, "Don't you envy me, Stump?" Then he went into the woods. At once Stump arose and sat down on the hole in which the seals were steaming. The seals were right under Stump. Then Raven returned, carrying leaves of skunk cabbage. When he saw Stump sitting on his seals, he cried. He was much troubled because he was hungry. Then he took a stick and dug the ground. He cried all the time he was digging. He found a little bit of meat and ate that. But he could not do anything. He cried all the time because he was so hungry.

RAVEN AND PITCH

_Tsimshian_

Raven went travelling through the woods until he came to the house of Little Pitch. Little Pitch was rich, and invited him in. When Raven had eaten enough, he slept. When he awakened, he said they would go to catch halibut.

Little Pitch was willing, but said, "It is not good for me to be out after sunrise. I must return while it is still chilly. I shall have enough by that time."

Raven said, "I shall do whatever you say, Chief."

Little Pitch said, "Well!"

Then they started for the fishing place. They fished all night. When the sun rose Little Pitch wanted to go ashore.

Raven said, "I enjoy the fishing. Lie down in the bow of the canoe and cover yourself with a mat."

Little Pitch did so. After a while Raven called, "Little Pitch!"

He answered, "Heh!"

After a while Raven called again, "Little Pitch!"

He answered again in a loud voice.

Again after some time, Raven called again, "Little Pitch!"

Then Little Pitch's answer was very weak because the sun was getting warm.

Now Raven hauled up his line and paddled home. He pretended to paddle hard, but he only put his paddles into the water edgewise. Again he called, "Little Pitch!"

"Heh!" Little Pitch replied, but his voice was very weak. The sun was getting still hotter. Then Raven knew that Little Pitch was melting.

Behold! Pitch came out and ran over the halibut in the boat. Therefore the halibut is black on one side.

Then Raven took the pitch and mended his boat with it.

RAVEN'S DANCING BLANKET

_Tsimshian_

One day Raven put on the shaman's blanket of his grandfather. Then he went away; he strayed off. He was very poor and he tore his dancing blanket. Then he caught ravens. He used anything to kill the ravens. Then he took the skins of the ravens and tied them together. Then he walked about in them, dressed very well.

Now he saw a good shaman's blanket like the one he had before. He tore his raven's blanket. He took the dancing blanket that hung before him. Behold! it was not a shaman's blanket. It was only the lichens on a tree. Now he saw it was only lichens. He sat down and wept. He took his old raven's blanket and tied it together. Then once more he went on, weeping with hunger.

RAVEN AND THE GULLS

_Tsimshian_

Raven did another thing. He induced the olachen to come to Nass River. He said to them, "Go up on both sides of the river." They did so. Then Raven's canoe was quite full of fish. He had not used his rake, but the whole shoal of olachen jumped into his canoe.

Then he camped at Crab-apple place. He clapped on the top of the stone. Then very slippery became the top of that stone that the olachen should not be lost. He put olachen on spits to roast them.

Raven called, "Little Gull!"

Then many gulls came. They ate all the olachen of Raven. They said, "_Qana, qana, qana, qana!_" They talked much while they ate all the olachen of Raven.

Then Raven was sad. Therefore he took the gulls and threw them into the fireplace. So the tips of their wings have been black, ever since that day.

THE LAND OTTER

_Tlingit_ (_Wrangell_)

Raven said to Land Otter, "You will live in the water just as well as on land."

Raven and Land Otter were good friends, so they went halibut-fishing together. Land Otter was a good fisherman. Raven said to Land Otter, "You will always have your house on a point where there are breezes from all sides. Whenever a canoe with people capsizes, you will save the people and make them your friends." That is how the Land Otter Man was created: because Raven told this to Land Otter.

If people who are taken away by Land Otters are brought back by their friends, they become shamans. It was through the Land Otters that shamans were first known. Shamans, by means of Land Otter spirits, can see each other, even though others cannot.

RAVEN AND COOT

_Athapascan_ (_Upper Yukon_)

A long time ago, Raven wanted all the birds to look well, so he painted them. Raven painted Coot last. Then Coot began to paint Raven, who wanted many bright colors. So Coot painted Raven with bright colors with one hand, but in the other hand he hid charcoal. When Raven looked away, Coot quickly blackened all the bright colors with charcoal. Then Raven was angry and he chased Coot. But Coot ran too quickly, so Raven threw white mud at him,--white mud which spattered over Coot. Therefore Coot had white spots on his head and back. But Coot flew away and left Raven all black.

RAVEN AND MARMOT

_Eskimo_ (_Bering Straits_)

Once Raven was flying over a reef near the seashore, near seabirds that were perched on the rocks. Seabirds cried to him, "Oh, you offal-eater! Oh, you carrion-eater! Oh, you black one!" Raven turned and flew far away crying, "_Qaq! qaq! qaq!_" He flew far away across the great water until he came to a mountain on the other side.

Raven saw just in front of him the hole of Marmot. Then Raven stood by the door watching, until Marmot came home, bringing food. But Marmot could not enter his hole because Raven stood in the way. Marmot asked Raven to stand to one side. Raven said, "No. They called me 'carrion-eater.' Now I will show them I am not. I will eat you."

Marmot said, "All right; but I have heard that you are a very fine dancer. Now, if you will dance, I will sing. Then you can eat me, but let me see you dance before you eat me."

Raven agreed to dance. Then Marmot sang,

"Oh, Raven, Raven, Raven, how well you dance! Oh, Raven, Raven, Raven, how well you dance!"

Raven danced. Then they stopped to rest.

Marmot said, "I like your dancing. Now I will sing again, so shut your eyes and dance your best."

So Raven shut his eyes and danced clumsily around. Marmot sang,

"Oh, Raven, Raven, Raven, what a graceful dancer! Oh, Raven, Raven, Raven, what a fool you are!"

Because Marmot, with a quick run, had darted between Raven's legs and was safe in his hole.

When Marmot was safe in his hole, he put out the tip of his nose and mocked Raven. He said, "_Chi-kik-kik, chi-kik-kik, chi-kik-kik!_ You are the greatest fool I ever saw. What a comical figure you cut when dancing! I could hardly keep from laughing. Just look at me--see how fat I am. Don't you wish you could eat me?"

Raven, in a rage, flew far away.

THE BRINGING OF THE LIGHT BY RAVEN

_Eskimo_ (_Lower Yukon_)

In the first days, the sun and moon were in the sky. Then the sun and moon were taken away and people had only the light of the stars. Even the magic of the shamans failed to bring back the light.

Now there was an orphan boy in the village who sat with the humble people over the entrance way of the kashim. He was despised by every one. When the magic of the shamans failed to bring back the sun and moon into the sky the boy mocked them. He said, "What fine shamans you must be. You cannot bring back the light, but I can." Then the shamans were angry and beat that boy and drove him out of the kashim. Now this boy was like any other boy until he put on a raven coat he had. Then he became Raven.

Now the boy went to his aunt's house. He told her the shamans had failed to bring back the light, and they had beaten him when he mocked them. The boy said, "Where are the sun and moon?"

The aunt said, "I do not know."

The boy said, "I am sure you know. Look what a finely sewed coat you wear. You could not sew it that way if you did not know where the light is."

Thus they argued.

Then the aunt said, "If you wish to find the light, go far to the south. Go on snowshoes. You will know the place when you get there."

The boy put on his snowshoes and set off toward the south. Many days he travelled and the darkness was always the same. When he had gone a very long way he saw far in front of him a ray of light. Then the boy hurried on. As he went farther the light showed again, plainer than before. Then it vanished for a time. Thus it kept appearing and vanishing.

At last the boy came to a large hill. One side was brightly lighted; the other side was black as night. Close to the hill was a hut. A man was shovelling snow from in front of it. The man tossed the snow high in the air; then the light could not be seen until the snow fell. Then the man tossed the snow again. So the light kept appearing and disappearing. Close to the house was a large ball of fire.

The boy stopped and began to plan how to steal the ball of light.

Then the boy walked up to the man. He said, "Why do you throw up the snow? It hides the light from our village."

The man said, "I am not hiding the light. I am cleaning away the snow. Who are you? Where did you come from?"

The boy said, "It is so dark at our village I do not want to stay there. I came here to live with you."

"All the time?" asked the man.

"Yes," said the boy.

The man said, "All right. Come into the house with me." Then he dropped his shovel on the ground. He stooped down to lead the way through the underground passage into the house. He let the curtain fall in front of the door as he passed, because he thought the boy was close beside him.

Then the boy caught up the ball of light. He put it in the turned-up flap of his fur coat. Then he picked up the shovel and ran away toward the north. He ran until his feet were tired. Then he put on his raven coat and flew away. He flew rapidly to the north. Raven could hear the man shriek behind him. The man was pursuing him. But Raven flew faster. Then the man cried, "Keep the light; but give me my shovel."

Raven said, "No, you cannot have your shovel. You made our village dark." So Raven flew faster.

Now as Raven flew, he broke off a little piece of the light. This made day. Then he went on a long time in darkness, until he broke off another piece of light. Thus it was day again. So as Raven flew to the village he broke off the pieces of light. When Raven reached the kashim of his own village he threw away the last piece. He went into the kashim and said to the shamans, "I have brought back the light. It will be light and then dark, so as to make day and night."

After this Raven went out upon the ice because his home was on the seacoast. Then a great wind arose, and the ice drifted with him across the sea to the land on the other side.

Thus Raven brought back the light. It is night and day, as he said it would be. But sometimes the nights are very long because Raven travelled a long way without throwing away a piece of the light.

DAYLIGHT ON THE NASS RIVER

_Tlingit_ (_Wrangell_)

When Raven had grown quite large he walked down the bank of the Nass River one day, until he heard the noise people were making in the darkness as they fished for olachen. Now all the people in the world lived at one place on the Nass River. They had heard that Raven-at-the-head-of-Nass had something called "daylight." They were afraid of it and talked about it a great deal.

Raven shouted to the fishermen, "Why do you make so much noise? If you make so much noise I will bring the daylight here."

Eight canoe-loads of people were fishing there. They said, "You are not Nas-ca-ki-yel. You are not Raven-at-the-head-of-Nass. How can you have the daylight?" They kept on making much noise.

Then Raven opened the box and daylight shot over the world like lightning. They made still more noise. So Raven opened the box wide and there was daylight everywhere.

Then the people were frightened. Some ran into the woods and some jumped into the water. Those that had clothes of fur seal skins jumped into the water; they became seals. Those which had clothing of bear skins, marten skins, and wolf skins, ran into the woods and turned into grizzly bears, martens, and wolves.

THE NAMING OF THE BIRDS

_Tlingit_ (_Wrangell_)

Now Raven went around among the birds, teaching them. He said to Grouse, "You are to live in a place where it is wintry. You will always live in a place high up so you will have plenty of breezes." Then Raven gave Grouse four white pebbles. He said, "You will never starve so long as you have these four pebbles."

Raven also said to Grouse, "You know that Sea-lion is your grandchild. You must get four more pebbles and give them to him." That is why the sea-lion has four large pebbles. It throws these at hunters. If one strikes a person, it kills him. From this story it is known that Grouse and Sea-lion understand each other.

Raven said to Ptarmigan, "You will be the maker of snowshoes. You will know how to travel in snow." It was from these birds that the Athapascans learned how to make snowshoes, and how to put the lacings on.

Raven came next to Wild Canary, that lives all the year around in the Tlingit country. He said, "You will be head among the very small birds. You are not to live on the same food as human beings. Keep away from them."

Then Raven said to Robin, "You will make people happy by your whistle. You will be a good whistler."

Then Raven said to Kun, the Flicker, "You will be chief among the birds of your size. You will not be found in all places. You will seldom be seen."

Raven said to Lugan, a bird that lives far out on the ocean, "You will seldom be seen near shore. You will live on lonely rocks, far out on the ocean."

When Raven came to Snipes, he said, "You will always go in flocks. You will never go out alone." Therefore we always see snipes in flocks.

Raven said to Asq-aca-tci, a small bird with yellow-green plumage, "You will always go in flocks. You will always be on the tree tops. That is where your food is."

Raven said to a very small bird, Kotlai, the size of a butterfly, "You will be liked. You will be seen only to give good luck. People will hear your voice, but seldom see you."

Then to Blue-jay Raven said, "You will have very fine clothes. You will be a good talker. People will take colors from your clothes."

Then Raven said to Xunkaha, "You will never be seen unless the north wind is going to blow." That is what the name Xunkaha means.

To Crow, Raven said, "You will make lots of noise. You will be great talkers." That is why, when you hear one crow, you hear a lot of others right afterward.

Raven said to Gusyiadul, "You will be seen only when warm weather is coming. Never come near except when warm weather is coming."

To Humming-bird Raven said, "People will enjoy seeing you. If a person sees you once, he will want to see you again."

Raven said to Eagle, "You will be very powerful and above all birds. Your eyesight will be very good. It will be easy for you to get what you want." Then Raven put talons on the eagle and said they would be useful to him.

Thus Raven taught all the birds.

THE ORIGIN OF THE WINDS

_Tlingit_

Now Raven went off to a certain place and created West Wind. Raven said to it, "You shall be my son's daughter. No matter how hard you blow, you shall hurt nobody."

Raven also made South Wind. When South Wind climbs on top of a rock it never ceases to blow.

Raven made North Wind and on top of a mountain he made a house for it with ice hanging down the sides. Then he went in and said to North Wind, "Your back is white." That is why mountains are white with snow.

DURATION OF LIFE

_Tlingit_ (_Wrangell_)

Raven-at-the-head-of-Nass tried to make human beings, at the same time, out of a rock and out of a leaf. But he created human beings out of the leaf first. Then Raven showed a leaf to people. He said, "You see this leaf. You are to be like it. When it falls off the branch and rots there is nothing left of it."

That is why there is death in the world. If men had come from the hard rocks there would be no death. Years ago, when people were getting old, they would say, "It is unlucky that we did not come from the rock. We are made from leaves; therefore we must die."

GHOST TOWN

_Tlingit_ (_Wrangell_)

Once Raven came to a large town which was deserted. Every one seemed to have died. Raven entered the largest house, but he felt some one continually pushing him away. Yet he saw no one there. It was a ghost house. The place was called Ghost Town.

Raven then loaded a canoe with provisions from the empty houses and started to paddle away. He did not notice that a long rope was fastened to the stern of the canoe and to a tree on the shore. When Raven had paddled the length of the rope, the canoe was pulled right back to the beach. All the provisions were carried back to the houses. Yet Raven could see no one. Then a ghost dropped a large stone on Raven's foot. This made him very lame.

HOW RAVEN STOLE THE LAKE

_Haida_ (_Queen Charlotte Islands_)

After Raven had made the crows black because they had eaten his salmon--crows had always been white before that, they say--he met some people with feathers on their heads and gambling-stick bags on their backs. They said, "What is the matter?"

Raven said, "Oh, my father and mother are dead."

Then they started home with him. These were the Beavers, they say. They were going out to gamble, but turned back on account of him.

The next morning they put their gambling-stick bags upon their backs and started off again. Raven flew around behind a screen. Lo, a lake lay there! In a creek flowing from it was a fish trap. The fish trap was so full of salmon it looked as if some one were shaking it. There were plenty of salmon in it and in the lake were very small canoes passing each other. Several points of land were red with cranberries.

Raven pulled out the fish trap, folded it together, and laid it down at the edge of the lake. Then he rolled it up with the lake and house, put them under his arm, and pulled himself up into a tree that stood close by. They were not heavy for his arm. He had rolled the lake up just as though it were a blanket. Raven sat in the tree half-way up.

After a while some one came. His house and the lake were not there. After he had looked about him for some time, he looked up. Lo, there sat Raven with their property!

Then the Beavers went quickly to that tree. They began cutting it with their teeth. When it began to fall, Raven went to another one. When that began to fall, he went to another. After the Beavers had cut down many trees in this way, they gave it up. They then travelled about for a long time, they say. After a long time, they found a lake and settled down on it.

Then after Raven had travelled around for a while with the lake, he came to a large open place. He unrolled the lake there. There it lay. He did not let the fish trap or the house go. He kept them to teach the Seaward (mainland) people and the Shoreward (Queen Charlotte Islands) people, they say.

THE KILLER WHALE

_Haida_

A long time ago, a canoe-load of Indians were out seal-hunting. The weather was calm and the sea was smooth. Then a killer whale kept near the canoe and the young men threw stones at it. They hit the fin of the killer whale with several stones. Then the whale went to the beach. Soon the men in the canoe saw a smoke rising from the beach. They went to see who was there. When they reached the shore, there was not the Skana, the killer whale, but a man cooking some food.