An elderly couple and their daughter welcome a bead-rich stranger, who demands removal of their dog, only to reveal himself as the Raven in disguise. When rain dissolves his lime coating, the daughter ties his tail, escaping his cheat. Later, deceiving villagers with moss rafts, the Raven regains his beak by tricking an old woman. The tale warns against appearances and cunning deception.
Source:
Athabascan Myths
by Frank Russell
The American Folklore Society
Journal of American Folklore
Vol.13, No.48, pp. 11-18
January-March, 1900
► Themes of the story
Trickster: The Raven repeatedly uses guile and disguise to deceive the family and villagers.
Moral Lessons: The tale warns listeners about trusting appearances and the danger of deceit.
Illusion vs. Reality: The story highlights the tension between the Raven’s human guise and his true form.
► From the same Region or People
Learn more about the Gwichʼin (Loucheux) people
The common raven, Corvus corax americanus, is quite abundant at McPherson and throughout the Loucheux country. It is usually called the “crow” by the whites in the far north, but the true crow, C. americanus, is not found in the Loucheux territory, the northern limit of its distribution being the mouth of the Liard River.
There once lived an old couple who wished to see their only daughter married to a rich man. When any one arrived at their camp, the old man sent his son down to the landing to see if the stranger was provided with the necessary bone beads upon his clothing, in order that he might be received according to his rank. One day the boy came running in, saying that some one had come whom he would like to have for a brother-in-law, for he had a great number of fine beads. The mother went down to the river bank, and saw a richly dressed stranger, whom she also thought would make a suitable husband for her daughter. She noticed that the shore was wet and muddy, so she procured some bark and tore it into strips for the stranger to walk upon. He was invited to enter their tipi and was seated next the girl. A dog was tied in the corner of the lodge, and the visitor said, “I cannot eat while that dog is in here;” so the woman, thinking the man must be a very great personage to be so particular, took the dog away into the forest and killed it. The next morning as she went for wood, she noticed that the earth around the body of the dog was marked with bird tracks, and that its eyes had been picked out.
► Continue reading…
When she returned to the camp she told what she had seen, and insisted upon having all present take off their moccasins that she might see their feet, as she had heard of the Raven deceiving people by appearing in the human form. The stranger, who was really the Raven, took his moccasins off, and slipped them on so quickly that his feet were not noticed. The girl had promised to marry him, and he insisted upon having her go away with him at once, as he feared that his true character would be discovered. He arranged to return in a few days, and took his bride down to his canoe. As soon as they set off down the river it began to rain. The Raven was seated in front of the woman, who noticed that the falling rain was washing out something white from his back; this made her suspicious, and she determined to escape from the canoe. Reaching forward, she succeeded in tying the tail of the Raven’s coat to a cross-bar of the canoe. She then asked to be set ashore for a minute, saying that she would come right back. He told her not to go far, but she started to run for home as soon as she got behind the trees. The Raven also tried to get ashore, but his tail was tied, and he could not succeed in his human form; so he resumed the form of the raven and cried out to the girl, “Once more I cheat you,” then he caw-cawed and flew away.
When the girl reported this to her mother the old woman asked her what she meant, and the girl answered that the rich son-in-law was the Raven, who had come to them dressed in his own lime, which the rain had melted, and so exposed the trick.
The Raven was always cheating the people, so they took his beak away from him. After a time he went away up the river and made a raft which he loaded with moss, and came floating down to the camps upon it. He told the people that his head was sore where his beak had been torn off, and that he was lying in the moss to cool it. Then he went away for two or three days, and made several rafts; as the people saw these coming down the river, they thought that there were a large number of people upon the rafts, who were coming to help the Raven regain his beak; so they held a council and decided to send the beak away in the hands of a young girl, that she might take it to an old woman who lived all alone at some distance from the camp. The Raven concealed himself among them and heard their plans, so when the girl came back he went to the old woman, and told her that the girl wished to have the beak returned. The old woman suspected nothing and gave him his beak, which he put on and flew away, cawing with pleasure at his success. The supposed people that had been seen upon the rafts proved to be nothing but the tufts or hummocks of bog moss which are commonly known as tetes de femmes.
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Dreamtime Whispers 