McDermott - Raven

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RAVEN A TRICKSTER TALE FROM
THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST TOLD AND ILLUSTRATED BY
Gerald McDermott HARCOURT, INC.
Orlando Austin New York San Diego Toronto London Copyright 1993 by Gerald McDermott All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission to make copies of any part of
the work should be submitted online at www.harcourt.com/contact or
mailed to the following address: Permissions Department, Harcourt, Inc.,
6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, Florida 32887-6777. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McDermott, Gerald.
Raven: a trickster tale from the Pacific Northwest/told and
illustrated by Gerald McDermott.1st ed.
p. cm.
Summary: Raven, a Pacific Coast Indian trickster, sets out to find
the sun.
ISBN-13: 978-0-15-265661-4 ISBN-10: 0-15-265661-8
1. Indians of North AmericaNorthwest, PacificLegends.
[1.

Indians of North AmericaNorthwest, PacificLegends.]
I. Title.
E99.N77M33 1993
398.2'089970795dc20 91-14563 The paintings in this book were done in gouache, colored pencil,
and pastel on heavyweight cold-press watercolor paper.
The display type was set in Mixage by Central Graphics, San Diego,
California, and in Newtext by Latent Lettering, New York, New York.
The text type was set in Mixage by Central Graphics, San Diego, California.
Color separations by Bright Arts, Ltd., Singapore
Printed and bound by Tien Wah Press, Singapore
This book was printed on totally chlorine-free Stora Enso Matte paper.
Production supervision by Warren Wallerstein and David Hough
Typography designed by Lydia D'moch S R Q P O N M L K Printed in Singapore Along the coast of the Pacific Northwest, as far north as Alaska, Raven is the central character in most Native American myths and tales. A shape-shifter imbued with magical powers, he is at once brave and cunning, greedy and gluttonous. Raven is a trickster on a cosmic scale, mischief-maker, and culture hero, at times wreaking havoc and at others bestowing on humankind the gift of fire, light, or food. To this day Raven is a central figure in the richly imagined tribal arts of the region. He is depicted, along with other important animal spirits, in a highly stylized form on totem poles, carved boxes and utensils, jewelry, weavings, and baskets.

This tale is told with variations throughout all the native groups of the northwest coast. Within its dreamlike setting, Raven balances his heroism and trickery to bring a blessing to the people. G.M. For Trevor, Erin, and Caitlin Raven came. All the world was in darkness. The sky above was in darkness.

The waters below were in darkness. Men and women lived in the dark and cold. Raven was sad for them. He said, "I will search for light." Raven flew across valleys and across mountains. He flew along rivers and over lakes. There was darkness all around.

Then he saw a bit of light far away. He flew and flew and came closer to the light. The light was at the edge of the water. The light came from the house of the Sky Chief, and it was shining. Raven perched high in a pine tree on the shore. He saw a beautiful young girl emerge from the shining house and go to the edge of the water. He saw a beautiful young girl emerge from the shining house and go to the edge of the water.

She was the Sky Chief's daughter. She knelt and drank some water from a woven basket. Raven changed himself into a pine needle. He fell down from the tree and floated on the water. When the girl drank again, she swallowed the pine needle. After a time, the girl gave birth to a child.

The child was small and dark with shiny black hair and tiny black eyes. Who do you think the child was?

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