Reading Notes: Alaskan Legends, Part A

Raven (Tyler Quiring on Unsplash)

The story that caught my attention from Part A of the Alaskan Legends unit was "Raven's Marriage," an Eskimo story from Bering Straits.  The story is about Raven, who is single and lonely without a wife.  He tries to get the attention of several females from other species, such as a goose, a Black Brant, and a duck, but none of them want to marry him.  Then he sees a family of White-Front Geese who land nearby him.  Raven has the ability to push his beak upward to turn into a young man, which he does.  The family of geese does the same thing, and Raven is attracted to the daughter.  So he gives her a white stone to wear on a necklace, and they all turn back into birds and fly away.  The geese are impressed with Raven's casual style of flight.  Raven is the first to tire, and he suggests that the group stops for the night.  The next morning, the geese want to leave very early.  The group continues to travel for a couple days under these conditions--waking early and going without much food.  Raven quickly becomes tired of this journey, and he begins to fall behind.  At first, the geese family waits for Raven.  Because he is ashamed of his exhaustion, Raven makes up an excuse that he has an arrowhead lodged in his heart that slows him down and causes him pain.  But when the group can see the shore that is their destination, the geese no longer wait for Raven, leaving him behind.  As Raven falls behind and is approaching the water, he calls out to his wife for the white stone, which is magic, but his wife does not hear him.  So Raven ends up in the water, almost drowning.  But he makes it to the shore, where he takes off his raven cloak and mask so they can dry.

If I were to retell this story, I think I would be most interested to tell it from the perspective of Raven, in first-person.  I have been enjoying playing with different perspectives this semester as I retell mythology and folklore, so it might be good to continue with that trend.  There are several moments in the story where I am curious about what Raven is thinking as he has his experiences--for example, whenever he is tired and falling behind, or whenever he calls out to his wife at the end.

Bibliography: "Raven's Marriage," Alaskan Legends unit, Katharine Berry Judson.