Raven: A Trickster Tale from the Pacific Northwest
by Gerald McDermott
Description:
Publisher's description (Voyager Books, 1993): The Raven came to a world covered in darkness, where men and women lived in an area of dark and cold. The Raven felt bad for the people living in the dark and resolved to search for the light. The Raven flew across mountains, rivers, and valleys until finally, he saw light. He had arrived at the house of the Sky Chief, which was shining brilliantly in the horizon. The Raven snuck into the house of the Sky Chief by turning into a pine-needle and fell into the water of the Sky Chief's beautiful daughter. The daughter drank the water and unknowingly swallowed the Raven. Time passed and she soon gave birth to a child, that bore a striking resemblance to the Raven. The Raven used his child disguise to locate and secure the Sun, stealing it from the Sky Chief and returning to the land of darkness. The Raven threw the Sun into the sky, where it stayed filling the area a bright light. People feed the Raven today as a way to say thanks for bringing light to them.
Resource format: Picturebook
Age recommendation: Pre-K - Grade 3
Keywords: Raven, Sky Chief, trickster story, Northwest Coastal Indigenous
Year of publication: 1993
Publisher information: Voyager Books
Teaching and Learning Ideas
Our team collaborated with new teachers, alumni of the Werklund School of Education’s Bachelor of Education program, to create teaching and learning plans for texts in this website. With audiences ranging from Pre-Kindergarten to Post-Secondary, lesson plans across this resource address a wide range of school subject areas, inclusive approaches, and Indigenous education topics, such as the revitalization of Indigenous languages. As this website was designed with Undergraduate Programs in Education instructors, as well as teachers in mind, connections to UPE courses have been flagged on each lesson plan. These lessons are intended as a starting place for educators, to help you envision ways in which you might bring Indigenous literatures, as well as ways of knowing, being, and doing, into your teaching contexts. Please adapt, use, and share these lessons in ways that are generative for your teaching practice. We offer our sincere thanks to the dozens of new teachers who gifted us with these creative ideas!
Raven: A Trickster Tale from the Pacific Northwest Grades K-3 Lesson
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