In a village by a river, a Raven woman befriends a young girl who offers her hospitality and fine clothes. An old Raven man, living in the communal kashime, becomes enamored with the Raven woman. After being rejected by the household, he takes her away to a distant mountain, where they build a home and prosper. A young man later joins them, becoming their adopted son, and eventually brings a wife to live with them.
Source:
Ten’a Texts and Tales
(from Anvik, Alaska)
by John W. Chapman
The American Ethnological Society
Publications, Volume 6 (ed. Franz Boas)
E.J. Brill, Leyden, 1914
► Themes of the story
Love and Betrayal: The Raven man takes the Raven woman as his wife, suggesting elements of romantic bonds and potential challenges within their relationship.
Journey to the Otherworld: The couple’s departure to a distant place and the establishment of a new home can be interpreted as a venture into an unfamiliar or symbolic realm.
Family Dynamics: The introduction of a young man who becomes their son and brings a woman to live with them touches upon themes of familial relationships and structures.
► From the same Region or People
Learn more about Koyukon people
Once there was a Raven woman walking along by a river; and she came to a big village, and found a young girl, who asked her to her house and gave her something to eat. In the same village there lived a rich man; and when the people were hungry, they went to him, and he gave them whatever they needed. The young woman went to him and got some fine clothes for the Raven woman. In the same village there lived an old Raven man, who had no house, and staid in the kashime all the time. One night he said to himself, “I should like to go into the house where the Raven woman lives:” so he went in there, and took the Raven woman for his wife. And the next morning, when the people in the house got up, they saw the Raven man, and told him to leave the house.
► Continue reading…
He began to cry, and to say, “I like this woman very much. Why do they tell me to go out?” Then he went out sadly, and went to the kashime. The next night he went into the same house, and took the woman outside, and they went far away together; and when they reached the foot of a high mountain, they made a house and caught plenty of fish.
One day they saw a young man coming; and he said to them, “I will be your son;” and they agreed, and he worked for them. After a while he went away; and when he came back, he brought a woman with him, and they lived there always.
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Dreamtime Whispers 