Long ago, a raven and a yellow-billed loon agreed to make each other more beautiful. The raven painted the loon with spots, stripes, and a yellow bill. Then the loon started painting the raven black. A man came along so the loon didn’t finish painting the raven. To this day the raven is black.

Welcome to Field Notes, I’m Shelley Woods, a sophomore at Dillingham High School. Today I will be talking about the many Eskimo tales that revolve around the raven. My first story was a tale from the Togiak area and explains the color of the raven. The following story comes from the Bethel area and gives examples of the behavior of the raven.

One day, Raven was flying and saw an old house. He was curious, so he went and looked inside the house and found Mink. Raven asked Mink to marry him. Mink agreed and became Mrs. Raven. One day, Raven went hunting. But, before he left, he told Mink to make some akutaq. It gets dark early in the fall and Mrs. Raven couldn’t see very well in the dark. She heard a voice and the voice told her to put some akutaq on the porch or else she would be eaten alive. She was scared so she put the bowl of akutaq outside. A little while later, the bowl was thrown back inside at her. The dish was licked clean. Soon after that, Raven came home. Mrs. Raven asked him if he wanted anything to eat. He said no and that he had met a hunter on the way home and the hunter gave him food. A few days later Raven went hunting again. Again, he told Mrs. Raven to make some akutaq and to make it very good. When evening came, Mrs. Raven heard the voice again. The voice said “Hey, if you don’t give me some akutaq, I’ll eat you alive!” Mrs. Raven thought the voice sounded like Raven so she decided to go and find out for sure. She took a piece of coal from an old fire and threw it outside. The voice on the porch said “Ow, ow, ow.” After a few minutes, Raven came in with his hand over his eye. When Mrs. Raven asked him what happened, he said that when he was trying to get wood he got some into his eye. When he took his hand away, his eye was full of charcoal. She then said to him “You’re the one that has been eating my akutaq! Get out. I never want to live with you again.” Raven then left.

These Eskimo tales are based on the characteristics and behaviors of ravens. The reputation that ravens have made for themselves give way for the Eskimo tales made about them. Some more positive than others.

Even though ravens eat our garbage, harass our animals, and scratch the paint on our cars, we respect them. Ravens are clever and almost mystical. In many ways ravens are appreciated and honored by our culture through ancient native tales. I hope you have enjoyed these stories. For Field Notes, I’m Shelley Woods.