Week 11 Story: The Raven Names the Animals
NOW Raven went among the
animals of the tundra, speaking with them, and recognizing their strengths and
differences. To the reindeer he said, "You are sizable, yet clumsy.
Forever you will be roaming with your nose among the weeds." The Raven
then gave the reindeer two great branches on top of his head, "You will
use these branches to defend yourself. From now on, you shall share a special
relationship with the trees." That is why reindeers make their homes among
the forest.
Raven said to the seal,
"You will live among the rocks along the sea and provide meat for
man." Therefore, seals are the main food of the People.
Then, Raven said to the
killer whale, "Whale, you will be a great wealth of knowledge for the
People. Many men will search for you to know your truths." From then on,
men sought after the killer whale to experience its knowledge.
Raven came next to the
great grey wolf, "Wolf, there are too many of you and you are too
vicious." Raven took hold of the wolf and split him into two pieces. The
first half he made into a fox and the second into a smaller wolf. The fox he
made cunning, but the wolf he made dependent upon its pack. "Wolf and fox,
you will be enemies," and from that point they were enemies.
Raven approached the
halibut in the sea. "Fish, you will be the people of the see." And
thus, Raven made the halibut numerous within the waters.
To the white bear Raven
said, "You will be king on the ice. But you must live alone." From
that time forth, the polar bear lived alone on the ice, but everything he saw
was his domain.
And like this Raven went
through all the animals in the kingdom and gave them each their name and their
task.
Author’s Note: I am using the
format for the story, “The
Naming of the Bird”. In this story the Raven names and designates tasks to
different birds, I expanded this story to include all of the animals in Alaska.
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| Sea Lion. Web Source: National Geographic |
I think the idea that one thing gave all the animals a set of rules to abide by. It's just crazy enough to be a real life myth! I am really wondering if any of the animals were dissatisfied with their assignments, but perhaps the raven is wise enough to avoid any of that. Also, who told the raven what to do? Was it he himself, or was there another power that gave him direction. This is a great metaphor for human existence and how no one is truly sure what happened at the beginning, and eventually it all comes down to asking the right questions.
ReplyDeleteI love animal stories! I was so excited to read this one and I was not disappointed at all. I think it is awesome that you expanded this story to include animals and not just birds. It is crazy to think that the raven just said what the animals would be and how they would act and that is what happened. I enjoyed this story because it allowed for a lot of creativity to be included! Overall, really great job!
ReplyDeleteHi Haley, I really like the way you extended the original story. I think the most interesting animals that the raven assigned were the killer whale and the wolf/fox. I wonder where you got the inspiration for these roles? I've never known whales to be a source of knowledge but that's a neat concept. Nice job on this story!
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