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Native Pathways to Education
Alaska Native Cultural Resources
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Yup'ik RavenMarshall Cultural Atlas

This collection of student work is from Frank Keim's classes. He has wanted to share these works for others to use as an example of Culturally-based curriculum and documentation. These documents have been OCR-scanned. These are available for educational use only.

 

 

 

 

 

When Raven Was Killed

 

Raven had played so many tricks on mankind for so long that one day a great chief decided to kill him. The chief invited Raven to visit him and when the black bird wasn't watching, he quickly threw him into a large skin bag which he tied tightly shut so that the troublesome bird would not escape.

Then, with the large bag over his shoulder, the man began to climb a very high and steep mountain which was close by the village. It was very dark inside of the skin bag so Raven could not see anything. He asked the man what he was doing, but the chief ignored him.

As the chief climbed higher and higher, Raven spoke out again.

"Where are you taking me?" he asked.

The chief just kept on climbing.

"I can tell that you are climbing a mountain," insisted Raven. "Why are you carrying me there? What are you going to do to me?"

The man ignored him still and continued to climb.

Raven warned the chief that he would be sorry if he killed him, saying that bad things would befall his people.

When the chief was on top of the mountain he threw the bag with the Raven over the side. As it fell, it struck the side of the steep cliff and ripped open. Raven was torn to pieces by the jagged rocks as he crashed to the ground far below. The chief had killed Raven!

When the chief returned to his village, he showed the people the pieces of Raven so that they knew what he had done. All of the men called him a great chief for killing the mischievous trickster. For several days the villagers were happy and they celebrated.

Finally, though, some people started to notice that all of the water was gone. They went to the river, but it was dry. They went to a lake, but it was empty. There was no water to be found! Then the people began to get thirsty. They knew that they could not live long without water.

The people asked why the water had vanished and a shaman told them that it was gone because the chief had killed the Raven. Now the villagers were not happy that Raven was dead and they wanted him back before everyone died.

The shaman told the chief that he had to put Raven back together. The chief took all of the pieces of the dead bird and put them together again. When he was finished Raven came back to life! He jumped up and started to fly away, but he first asked the chief why he had brought him back to life.

"All of the water has gone," the chief replied, "and only you can return it."

Raven flew up higher and then spoke to the man, "Look around you, there is water everywhere."

The chief turned and saw that the lake was full and that the river ran deep and fast again. As Raven disappeared in the distance, the chief promised never to try to kill Raven again.

Because of his powers and role in their heritage, Natives do not kill ravens.

When Raven Was Killed  

Dotson' Sa, Great Raven Makes The World

Raven Steals The Light

When Raven Was Killed

How Raven Killed The Whale

Raven and Mink

Raven Lost His Eyes

- Miska Deaphon, Nikolai Nwch'ihwzoya'

Raven and Goose-Wife

Profiles
of
Raven's
Family
Raven's
Yupik
Stories
Student Encounters
Raven's
Yupik
Stories
Original Student Folktales
Raven's
Yupik
Stories
from our community
Other
Raven
Yupik
And
Inupiat
Tales
Raven's
Athabaskan
Tales
Raven's
Stories
from
S.E. Alaska
More
About
Raven

 

Christmastime Tales
Stories real and imaginary about Christmas, Slavik, and the New Year
Winter, 1996
Christmastime Tales II
Stories about Christmas, Slavik, and the New Year
Winter, 1998
Christmastime Tales III
Stories about Christmas, Slavik, and the New Year
Winter, 2000
Summer Time Tails 1992 Summertime Tails II 1993 Summertime Tails III
Summertime Tails IV Fall, 1995 Summertime Tails V Fall, 1996 Summertime Tails VI Fall, 1997
Summertime Tails VII Fall, 1999 Signs of the Times November 1996 Creative Stories From Creative Imaginations
Mustang Mind Manglers - Stories of the Far Out, the Frightening and the Fantastic 1993 Yupik Gourmet - A Book of Recipes  
M&M Monthly    
Happy Moose Hunting! September Edition 1997 Happy Easter! March/April 1998 Merry Christmas December Edition 1997
Happy Valentine’s Day! February Edition 1998 Happy Easter! March/April Edition 2000 Happy Thanksgiving Nov. Edition, 1997
Happy Halloween October 1997 Edition Edible and Useful Plants of Scammon Bay Edible Plants of Hooper Bay 1981
The Flowers of Scammon Bay Alaska Poems of Hooper Bay Scammon Bay (Upward Bound Students)
Family Trees and the Buzzy Lord It takes a Village - A guide for parents May 1997 People in Our Community
Buildings and Personalities of Marshall Marshall Village PROFILE Qigeckalleq Pellullermeng ‘A Glimpse of the Past’
Raven’s Stories Spring 1995 Bird Stories from Scammon Bay The Sea Around Us
Ellamyua - The Great Weather - Stories about the Weather Spring 1996 Moose Fire - Stories and Poems about Moose November, 1998 Bears Bees and Bald Eagles Winter 1992-1993
Fish Fire and Water - Stories about fish, global warming and the future November, 1997 Wolf Fire - Stories and Poems about Wolves Bear Fire - Stories and Poems about Bears Spring, 1992

 

 
 

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Last modified August 23, 2006