RAVEN'S BARBECUE, Etching. 5 x 7 inch

RAVEN'S BARBECUE, Etching. 5 x 7 inch

Illustrations used in the following books: "The Raven And The Totem", "A Cycle Of Myth" and "In The Shadows Of Mountains"

Raven is a "trickster" in Native American stories and myths, especially in the Northwest region of North America. He's sometimes a hero, a troublemaker, a glutton, a buffoon, a destroyer, or a creator. The Trickster alternately scandalizes, disgusts, amuses, disrupts, chastises, and humiliates (or is humiliated by) humans. With his inherent energies and cunning, he is also a creative force, sometimes in bizarre and outrageous ways, transforming the world. In nature, the raven scavenges for food, and because of this, he represents the most basic instincts. In some narratives, he is the evil antagonist, the “Devil”; he is also the “Creator”, the father of mankind, and a potent conductor of spiritual forces in the form of sacred dreams.

In the original Native American story of The Raven and The Whale, Raven tricks the whale into opening his mouth, by telling him they are cousins, and their throats are exactly alike.  Raven was carrying a bundle of kindling on his back for his barbeque. Once the whale opens its mouth, the raven flies into the whale, lights the fire, and proceeds to cook the whale piece by piece. In this instance, Raven is both a cruel trickster and a glutton.