Skip to main content

Take Off the Mask... || Reading Notes: Alaskan Legends Part A


And become human...

  • I've always been a fan of these stories where it's not just an animal personified as a man, but where there is an actual transformation back and forth.
  • The fact that the story says that Raven pulls his beak up and down like taking off or putting on a mask is really cool.
  • In this first story, Raven is really a helpful person and a seemingly benevolent creator of so many things.
  • He takes the time to tell Human about all of the animals that he is creating and what each of them is good for.
  • I find the fact that flies and mosquitoes were made to make the Earth more "cheerful" woefully ironic.
  • A-mi-kuk. Can't have a good story by the ocean without a good sea monster.
  • I'm really curious about the variations that Raven mentions that I can't seem to find a good real life companion for. Such as the sea fox or the dog walrus.
  • Reindeer with sharp, dog-like, teeth with an appetite for human flesh? Sounds like a good horror story to me.
  • So Man seems to have a greater perspective then the rest of "mankind" and works well with Raven. I like this two-man team.
    • Especially since it appears that Raven's creation of Man was entirely accidental.
  • "So Raven's brother thought a long time. Then he died." What a roller coaster.
  • Interesting origin for the "lesser" ravens that live on the Earth. Not like the original Raven.
  • ANOTHER, rain/flood story that involves the death of many. Again sent by a god. Why is this so omnipresent in every culture?
  • So I guess there are different iterations of Raven. But his true origins seem a mystery? It is said that he has/had a mother.
  • Burial feasts also seem to be a cross-cultural phenomenon.
  • I wonder if all birds in these Alaskan legends have the ability to "push up their beak like a mask" and become human.
  • This later Raven seems more the trickster. Unconcerned for the lives of the people he meets.
  • Also, Raven falls into the broad category of tricksters who ultimately end up being tricked multiple times.
  • An interesting explanation for the inconstant cycle of day and night that people in the far North would experience. They may have times of the year when the days are incredibly long and other times of the year when the nights are incredibly long.
  • So Raven is still higher than Eagle in some ways.
Raven Man



Bibliography:
By: Katharine Berry Judson

Photo Credits:
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Comment Wall

And Then They Rested... Let's Discuss! Welcome to my discussion board! My storybook is linked above as "And Then They Rested...". Enjoy and thanks for the feedback! Photo credits: Let's Discuss!
23 comments
Read more

Hobbies, Hopes, and... I'm Out of H Words || An Introduction

Everyone keeps telling me to change my major... Welcome to the blog! My name is Rhys and I am a senior Psychology major! When I'm not scrambling to complete my degree, I work as a 3D printing student specialist for OU Libraries and as a lab assistant for the OU Visual Neuroscience Laboratory.  I'm looking forward to graduating this summer after a study abroad trip to Scotland.  Move In Day! When I'm not at work or school, I spend my time entertaining a variety of hobbies including programming, circuit building, 3D art, animation, and design, 3D printing, video production, visual effects, and cooking! I spend quite a lot of time working on all of these things, which has led to a running joke among my family and friends that I declared the wrong major.  3D World Animation I'm always looking to learn new skills. I honestly love learning and school. In fact, I plan on pursuing a career in academia as a psychology researcher. Essentially, I plan on never ...
20 comments
Read more

Week 9 Story: The Dreams of Sun Wu Kung

Asleep. I've been asleep for so long. Years? Decades? Centuries? I cannot tell. What else can I do trapped beneath a mountain? I sleep. And I dream. I dream of my life before this imprisonment. I dream of the day that I emerged from a stone, high atop the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits. I dream of the simple life that I had among my ape brethren. Of the days of joy before they made me their king. I remember the day that I became the King of the Monkeys. I remember the great waterfall and the secret cavern behind it. I wish I knew back then where my ambition would lead me. Most often I dream about immortality. I dream of the fateful day when I decided that I would not be constrained by the mortality of a living being. I remember it clearly. Too clearly. It always brings me pain. I remember how, on that day, I witnessed the deaths of my friends for the first time. I saw the pain and misery on their families' faces. That day I made a vow to become imm...
3 comments
Read more