Tricksters. Haida and Tlingit

I just realized today is the last day of the week of ravens, so I realized I need to do not just the book of Tlingit stories by John Swanton, but also his book of Haida stories, so here they are, both just a click away at the Internet Archive:

Haida Texts and Myths, Skidegate Dialect

Tlingit Myths and Texts

Both books abound in raven stories, and the Internet Archive search feature is a great way to explore all the references to "raven" in the books, as here in the Haida Texst: raven search (click on the image for a larger view), and you can learn more about the Haida people at Wikipedia.

And likewise Tlingit Texts: raven search (click on the image for a larger view), and you can learn more about the Tlingit people at Wikipedia.

So if you want to spend some time really learning about Raven and traditional stories told about him, these two vintage books are a great choice, especially with the Internet Archive search feature to help you navigate!

And yes, you have heard of John Swanton before! He is the same anthropologist who wrote the monumental study of the tales of the Southeastern peoples that I wrote about here: Myths and Tales of the Southeastern Indians (in relation to Mooney's work with the eastern Cherokee).

Tricksters. Tsimshian and Bella Bella

For this week of ravens, I promised that I would say something about the earlier work done by anthropologists who documented the raven stories as they were being told 100 years ago, so that is what I will do with today's post, featuring Franz Boas; I'll have something to say about John Swanton tomorrow.

You can read about the life and career of Franz Boas at Wikipedia. He first visited Baffin Island in Nunavut, Canada in 1883, which is when he decided to dedicate his work as an anthropologist and linguist to the study of cultures beyond Europe. He kept returning to the Pacific Northwest, and he eventually published folklore texts from many peoples of the Pacific Northwest... many of which are tales about Raven. 

For example, his monumental book, Tsimshian Mythology, abounds in raven stories, as you can see from the results of this Internet Archive text search:

Here's the opening of the table of contents: so much Raven!

So too the Bella Bella Tales:

Here's that table of contents:

The stories collected by Boas have often been retold by later writers, but I would urge you to explore the stories as Boas recorded them in order to appreciate the stories in that context, and his books of tales and of texts are just a click away at the Internet Archive!

Tsimshian Mythology

by Franz Boas

Bella Bella Tales

by Franz Boas

Tricksters. Raven Tales.

Carrying on with the raven tales this week, I was so glad to find this book by Peter Goodchild: Raven Tales: Traditional Stories of Native Peoples.

As he explains in the introduction, this was the first book (it was published in 1991) to provide a comprehensive look at the raven cycles of stories in North America since the old work by Boas and Swanton (which I will write about later this week). You can see from this map the coverage; click on the image for a larger view:

Even better, Goodchild provides different versions of the stories to show how the tales take shape across different storytelling traditions, along with a helpful overview in the introduction before the stories begin, plus some contextual information about the different peoples whose Raven tales are included. There is also a concluding chapter speculating about the stories overall.

One thing that is of interest to me, although perhaps not surprising, is that Goodchild has not tried to incorporate trickster / trickster-creator traditions from Africa anywhere in his analysis, but I know there is much to ponder there too! (And yes, the Internet Archive version makes it super-easy to check for any reference to Africa in the text!)

So, lots ot learn and think about in this book, and I will be back with more raven resources tomorrow!

Raven Tales:
Traditional Stories of Native People

by Peter Goodchild

Tricksters. Raven and the Rock

For this week of Raven, I was really excited to see that the Internet Archive has a copy of this book available for borrowing: Raven and the Rock: Storytelling in Chukotka by Kira van Deusen.

Chukotka is located in the far northeast of Siberia, and Kira van Deusen recorded stories there in 1993 and 1994 as told by Chukchi and Yupik storytellers, with a focus on Raven the trickster. This book contains 25 of those stories that van Deusen has translated into English, organized by the individual storytellers, which include both women and men. The storytellers told the stories to her twice, both in their native language (Chuckhi or Yupik) and also in Russian, although some of the younger storytellers spoke only Russian, and two of the elder storytellers did not speak Russian, so their stories were translated by others present at the storytelling event. There are photographs to help give a visual sense to the storytellers' world, and there is also a motif analysis in the back of the book to assist in comparing the stories to one another and connecting them to other storytelling traditions. As van Deusen explains in the introduction, she sees her role as providing context, not in interpreting the stories: "I believe it is important simply to present the stories in context and allow them to speak for themselves."

While some scholars have seen an opposition between trickster and shamanic traditions, van Deusen finds them working in tandem here: "The trickster is an important figure in many magic tales, offering a humorous view of the unpredictability of life and human foibles. Laughter raises energy for shamanic ceremonies, confirming a kind of earthiness in voyages to other worlds."

So, this book is a brilliant opportunity to explore the powers of Raven and also to learn about these indigenous peoples of Siberia, the Chukchi people and the Yupik people. So much to learn from and enjoy here!

Raven and the Rock: Storytelling in Chukotka

by Kira van Deusen

Tricksters. The Children of the Raven.

It's a week of stories about Raven, and since I wrote about Bill Reid yesterday, today I wanted to share this book by Martine Reid, who was Bill Reid's wife (they married in 1981) and, since his death in 1998, she has played a major role in curating his work. The book is Myths and Legends of the Haida Indians of the Northwest: The Children of the Raven.

The drawings from Haida art were done by Nancy Conkle, who is a coloring book artist, and the book is actually intended to be used as a coloring book, but with the texts of the stories too! For example, here is Raven (on the left), a Chief, and Bear. As you can see, each image has information about the provenance of the artwork too:

There are eight stories here, six of them about Raven: The Raven and the First People, The Flood, How Raven Got Fresh Water, The Raven and the Salmon, The Raven and the Ball of Light, How the Raven Lost His Bill, Nanasimgat and the Killer Whales, and The Bear Mother and Father. 

Here's you can see a pipe with Raven and Frog on a Human:

Of course if you want to color the images, you'll need to buy a copy of the book, and there are lots of used copies out there waiting to be colored. I really like the idea of a coloring book that has complete texts of the stories too, and I wish there were more coloring books like this one!

Myths and Legends of the Haida Indians of the Northwest:

The Children of the Raven
by Martine Reid

Tricksters. Raven Steals the Light

After a week of Cherokee tricksters last week, I've decided to go in a different direction this week and look at Raven, one of the great tricksters of the Pacific Northwest, and I thought I would start with this book of stories by Haida artist Bill Reid and Robert Bringhurst: The Raven Steals the Light.

You will find ten stories from the Haida people told in this book, five of which are about Raven, and Bill Reid did the drawings! For example, here are Raven and the first people:

This might be familiar to those of you who have seen Reid's sculpture on the Canadian 20 dollar bill. Here is a photograph of the sculpture at the University of British Columbia anthropology museum:

Robert Bringhurst collaborated with Bill Reid on other projects, as you can read at Wikipedia. Bringhurst's book Story as Sharp as a Knife is dedicated to Bill Reid, who died in 1998 before the book was published in 1999.

A Story as Sharp as a Knife:
The Classical Haida Mythtellers and Their World

So, that's just a start, and I'll be back every day this week more about Raven... who has a Wikipedia article too of course: Raven tales. Enjoy!

The Raven Steals the Light

by Bill Reid and Robert Bringhurst