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Description
"White raven soared above golden spruce for too short a time" Vancouver Province Headline
"A long, long time ago, Raven was white." That was simply an old story warning children about being compelled by desire. "Driven by his appetite, Raven stole the light and turned black as a result." Just a story, correct? An old Haida story. (1) How could a raven be white? Is that really possible? Let's just see about that....
One day, almost as normal as any other day in the year, a white raven appeared on Haida Gwaii. Seen only by a few at first, it soon became a national attraction. So many people on Haida Gwaii witnessed that visual experience it sparked coverage from the province's leading newspaper. Eventually even BCTV also sent a reporter and confirmed the marvel to the world. But the headline in the newspaper Vancouver Province added another dimension of that story to Haida lore.
When myths coincide with modern day reality, it greatly affects people. Myths affect some for good, some for bad. This story could have gone unnoticed, had it not been for a keen-eyed driver on his way back to Massett. It was just after finishing a day's work in Skidegate. For a moment, Peter thought his eyes were playing a trick on him. Then he rationalized that he was just tired. "It can't be," he thought to himself, and so he concluded, "ahhh, it's just not possible." He continued driving home from Port Clements convincing himself he saw nothing. All the way back, the story old Henry Jones told him so often kept coming to his mind:
Well anyways, I'll make this kind of short, just in parts, the story comes in little parts, eh.
It was always dark. There was no daylight. So Raven was round up that way near Kiusta, and he could see some boys getting lots of oolichans and he wanted some.
"Hey," he said, "how about some oolichan?" (2) "Go on, go away! Youre always telling lies. You better go away."
So then he found out where they kept the moon, the big round one like that. The wealthy ones had it. They had a big huge house. And he had a daughter. So Raven figured the only way he could get in there was to be born. So that's how... |
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