Motif
Etiology of Raven’s black color
etiology_of_raven_s_black_color
A motif of the Cosmic Origin and Creation family. Every row below is a tagged passage; each rests on a quote in its source text.
3 occurrences
2 traditions
native american northwest coast (2) · arctic inuit (1)
native american northwest coast
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Tlingit Myths and Texts FOOTNOTES: / FOOTNOTES: / FOOTNOTES: / MYTHS RECORDED IN ENGLISH AT WRANGELL; lines 4379-4479 confidence: high
Petrel, keeper of fresh water, owns a spring; Raven steals a mouthful, drops it to make the great rivers, says the water will not overflow the world, and is turned black by smoke when spirits hold the smoke hole.
Raven is said to have formerly been pure white and to have turned black after being held in the smoke while escaping with Petrel’s water.
read in the book → -
Tlingit Myths and Texts TLINGIT MYTHS AND TEXTS / JOHN R. SWANTON / INTRODUCTION / MYTHS RECORDED IN ENGLISH AT SITKA; lines 468-557 confidence: high
Petrel calls on smoke-hole spirits to catch Raven; Raven sticks there while Petrel burns pitchwood beneath him, and smoke changes Raven from white to his present color, but Raven does not drop the water.
The passage explains that Raven was formerly white and that smoke from Petrel's fire made him the color he has today.
read in the book →
arctic inuit
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Across Arctic America: Narrative of the Fifth Thule Expedition CHAPTER VII / WITH NO EDITORS TO SPOIL / THE OWL THAT WOOED A SNOW BUNTING / THE RAVEN AND THE LOON; lines 3478-3491 confidence: high
Raven begins and finishes; loon is displeased with the pattern, spits over raven, makes it black all over, and the tale says all ravens have been black since.
The tale explains that loon spat over raven and made it black, after which all ravens have been black.
read in the book →