American Indian Trickster Tales (Myths and Legends)

by Richard Erdoes

  Then the whole tribe rushed to meet Raven and to honor him. The chief of this place invited Raven to partake of a feast. Raven and Lgum went into the chief’s house. He set before them rich food—broiled salmon, whale meat, and seal blubber. There was also a dish of mouth-watering crabapples.

  Raven longed to eat this sweet delicacy, but Lgum told the chief: “My master has been sick lately. Eating these crabapples could kill him.”

  Then the tribe’s chief said to Lgum: “In that case, you may eat them.”

  Raven had to watch as Lgum ate up all the crabapples. He was very angry, but could not do anything about it. So he bided his time.

  Raven took leave of the chief and his tribe. He wandered off, followed by Lgum. Raven walked ahead and his slave walked behind him.

  They came to a deep canyon. It was so deep they could not see its bottom. Raven placed a dried-up skunk-cabbage stalk across the canyon to serve as a bridge. Raven walked across. Lgum was afraid. He said: “This bridge is not very sturdy.”

  “This bridge is very strong,” Raven replied. “It could hold ten like you. It could hold a whale.”

  Lgum walked onto the bridge. When he came to the middle of the skunk-cabbage stalk, it broke and Lgum tumbled down to his death. As he hit the canyon floor, his stomach burst open.

  Raven swooped down after him. He said: “I made this man out of a rotten spruce stick and how has he thanked me? He cheated me and played tricks on me, but nobody cheats Raven and remains unpunished. So there he lies dead on the ground.” Raven saw that Lgum’s open stomach was filled with the best of the codfish, the broiled salmon, and the whale meat. He also saw the sweet crabapples. Raven smiled and ate up the contents of his dead slave’s stomach. Then he flew away, thinking: “What comes next?”

  A LOUSY FISHERMAN

  {Haida}

  Yehl gives himself airs. He imitates the manners of those who are better and nobler than himself. He wants to be like them, but never succeeds.

  Yehl was hopping along the river. He saw many salmon swimming upstream to their spawning grounds. He tried to grab them with his claws, but could not catch a single one. He tried to dive down upon them and spear them with his beak, but could not do it. He is a very bad fisherman. He is a bad provider. His wife is always hungry, but not as hungry as Yehl, who is always ravenous, who can never get enough.

  Yehl said to himself: “Why tire myself out catching these nimble, leaping salmon? It is hard work. Let someone else do it.” He hopped and flew to the river’s mouth, where Eagle has his home. It took him quite a while to get there. He saw Eagle perched on top of a tall pine tree. He pretended not to see him. He pretend to be just accidentally passing by. He sang loudly, “Kaw, kaw, kaw,” in his rasping, croaking voice. Yehl was not a very good singer. He might not be a fine singer, but he was a loud one. He wanted Eagle to notice him. He knew that Eagle was a very generous person who would never let a wanderer pass by him without inviting the stranger to share his meal.

  It went as Yehl had planned it. Eagle heard Yehl’s kawing and croaking. He looked down and saw the raven hopping along below him. “Good day, friend,” Eagle called down from his perch. “Come to the house and have something to eat.”

  “If you insist,” said Yehl.

  They both went into the house. Eagle’s wife was serving smoked salmon. It was delicious. Yehl wolfed down the food. He gorged himself. He stuffed himself so that his belly’s weight made him unable to fly. He could not even hop. He had to take a long rest, digesting all this food, before he could finally take his leave. Yehl had eaten so much that he barely left a mouthful for his hosts, who were too polite to comment upon it.

  Saying good-bye, Yehl wanted to show Eagle what a big fellow he was. “I, too, am a great fisherman,” he told Eagle. “I, too, am generous. I invite you and your good wife to dine with me tomorrow. I shall also invite many friends. It will be a feast to be remembered for years.”

  The next evening the guests arrived, including Eagle and his wife. Yehl’s wife already had a fire going, but the Raven had not caught a single salmon. All day he had tried to get one, without success. “These fish are too fast,” he said to himself, “they leap, and jump, and wiggle. How can one catch fish like these? I need a big, fat, and very slow one.”

  Then Yehl saw a whirlpool forming in the river, and below it a huge, dark fish who seemed not to move at all. “That’s the one for me!” cried Yehl. He dove down with all his might to spear this big salmon with his beak. But as he crashed into that huge, dark fish, it turned out to be a rock! It broke Yehl’s beak and knocked him senseless. He floated down the river and would have drowned had Eagle not seen his mishap. Eagle swooped down, grabbed Yehl by the scruff of his neck, and carried him to safety.

  Back at his house, when Yehl came to, his beak hurt badly and he croaked with pain. His wife tied up his broken beak. The guests departed hungry, without having eaten even the tiniest bit of fish. Eagle remarked: “I don’t think Yehl is as great a fisherman as he claims to be.” Yehl’s sense of self-esteem suffered for a while—but not for long.

  RAVEN LIGHTS THE WORLD

  {Tlingit}

  Raven was there first. He had been told to make the world by his father, but we do not know who this father was or how he looked. There was no light at that long-ago time, a time of beginning. Raven knew that far away in the North was a house in which someone kept light just for himself. Raven schemed, thinking of how best to steal the light to illuminate the world.

  Light’s owner had a beautiful daughter. Raven made himself into a small piece of we know not what. The girl swallowed it and it made her pregnant. When she was about to give birth, her father scooped out a hole in the earth and lined it with moss. Squatting above it, the girl brought forth a baby boy whose eyes were very bright and sparkling. After some time the baby began crawling around. There were some bags hanging on the wall. The baby cried and cried. His grandfather said: “He wants one of the bags. Give him the one at the end, the nearest one.” The baby rolled the bag around. It opened. It was full of stars. The stars flew up into the sky through the smoke hole and settled in their appointed places. That was why that baby was born. It kept crying. So they gave him another bag. Little boy rolled it around and it opened. Out flew moon, ascending into the sky through the smoke hole.

  There was one bag left. It contained daylight. The baby boy kept crying. His grandfather said: “Give him the last one.” The baby seized it and uttered the Raven cry: “Gaah.” It took on the form of Raven and, clutching the bag, flew out through the smoke hole. The baby was Raven who had reborn himself.

  Raven traveled on. He knew that Petrel had a spring that never dried up. Petrel guarded it jealously. He kept a lid on it. He wanted to keep its water for himself. There was, at that time, no water in the world, not a single drop of it. Raven went to visit Petrel. Raven said: “Brother, I have been wandering all day. I am tired. I think I will stay with you overnight.”

  “Well, all right,” said Petrel. He kept an eye on his spring.

  “Let’s go outside and watch the moon,” said Raven.

  “I never go outside,” said Petrel.

  They went to sleep. Raven only pretended to be dozing. As soon as he heard Petrel snoring, he got some dog dung from the outside and smashed it all over Petrel’s buttocks. In the morning Raven told Petrel: “Brother, you have beshitted yourself.” Petrel believed him. He went outside to clean himself with moss. As soon as Petrel was outside, Raven uncovered the spring and drank it dry. He cried, “Gaah,” and tried to fly away through the smoke hole. He got stuck there.

  Petrel built a fire underneath the smoke hole. “You are a thief,” he cried. “I will bum you up.” Up to this time Raven had been white. The smoke and the fire, which singed his feathers, turned him black. He has remained black ever since.

  At last, Raven managed to squeeze himself through the smoke hole. He had not dropped any of the water. He flew through the air and let water fall down from his beak. Thus he
made the oceans and the great rivers. When Raven had only a few drops left he used them to make lakes and ponds. When he had finished he cried, “Gaah.”

  Raven traveled on. The world was still dark, because he had kept his daylight bag closed. He came to a village full of different kinds of beings. Raven opened his bag just a little to give them a bit of light, but they all cried: “Stop, you are blinding us!” Raven got angry and opened the bag all the way. Then sun jumped out and flew up into the sky. His brightness frightened the village people. Those of them who wore scales and seals or otter skins jumped into the ocean. Those with the skins of land creatures ran off into the woods. So now there were sea animals and land animals. Raven cried, “Gaah,” and traveled on.

  Raven found a piece of jade. He made a beautiful ax out of it. Ever since people have made pretty things out of jade. Raven saw Salmon swimming in the water. He called out to the fish: “Brother, come here.” Salmon did not trust Raven. He did not come. Raven said to Jade: “Tell Salmon to come!” Then Raven hid himself. Jade called to the big fish: “You fellow with the slimy back and the filthy gills, come over here!” Salmon swam to the shore. Raven came out of hiding, cried, “Gaah,” and killed Salmon with his jade club.

  Raven flew along with his big fish. He got all kinds of birds, big and small, to perform all sorts of tasks for him. He told them, “Friends, go get some skunk cabbage.” They brought it. “This is a good place for cooking,” Raven told the birds. He put the salmon in a pit lined with skunk cabbage, and put hot coals on top of it. “Get some more skunk cabbage from beyond that mountain. When you come back the fish will be done.” The birds did as they were told. While they were gone, Raven dug up the salmon and ate it. When the birds came back, Raven said, “Let’s dig up the fish and see whether it’s done.” They dug, but there was nothing left but the bones. “How could this have happened?” said Raven. “It puzzles me. But, friends, I will do something for you.” Then Raven gave every bird something different—a color, a crest, a longer or shorter tail, a straight or hooked beak. Then he named them. So now we have all these birds. When he was finished, Raven cried, “Gaah,” and flew off.

  Raven journeyed on. He encountered Bear and Cormorant. “Friends,” he said, “let’s go fishing. I know a place where we can find much halibut.” Cormorant had a canoe. They got in. Raven sat at the stern. “I will steer,” he said, “because I know the spot where the halibut are.” Bear sat in the middle. Cormorant seated himself at the bow, acting as a lookout.

  Bear asked: “What shall we use for bait?”

  “I will find something,” Raven answered. When Bear was not looking, Raven quickly cut off his testicles with one swoop of his copper knife. Bear died instantly. Raven used Bear’s testicles for bait. They caught many halibut. They paddled the canoe back to shore.

  “Brother,” said Raven to Cormorant, “you have a louse crawling on your head. Open your beak wide and I will put the louse in for you to eat.” When Cormorant opened his beak, Raven reached inside and tore Cormorant’s tongue out. He did this so that Cormorant could not tell Bear’s wife what had happened. So from that time on Cormorant cannot speak. He can only make a gurgling sound.

  Raven and Cormorant went to Bear Woman’s house. “Where is my husband?” Bear Woman asked. Cormorant made a gurgling sound. “What is he saying?” Bear Woman asked.

  “He is saying that Bear is making fishhooks by the shore,” Raven answered. Raven had filled a halibut with red-hot, glowing coals. He handed it to Bear Woman: “Here, swallow this whole.” She did. The fire inside her belly killed Bear’s wife. Raven then skinned her. He and Cormorant went back to the shore where Raven skinned the male. Cormorant gobbled. Raven struck Cormorant across the buttocks, saying, “You are a nuisance. Stay away. Swim to the rocks over there.” Ever since, Cormorants have lived on the rocks sticking out from the sea. Raven stayed at that place until he had eaten up all the bear meat. Then he cried, “Gaah,” and flew off.

  Raven came to a place where many people were busy fishing. “What do you use for bait?” he asked.

  “Fat,” they told him.

  “Let me taste it,” Raven begged.

  They gave him a piece. It was delicious.

  Later, whenever the people were fishing, Raven swam under the water and picked off the bait from their hooks. The people felt something tugging at their lines, but when they pulled them in there was nothing on the hooks. They caught no fish. There was one among them who was a clever fisherman. When he felt something tugging on his line he jerked it, quick as lightning. It took Raven by surprise. His nose was caught on the hook. It broke off. The clever man pulled in his line. Raven’s nose was stuck on the hook. “I have caught a wonderful thing,” said the fisherman. He brought the nose to the chief who said, “This is indeed a wonderful thing.”

  Raven came ashore. He pulled his hat way over his face so that no one could see that his nose was missing. He went to one of those people’s houses and asked, “Has someone caught a wonderful thing?”

  They told him, “Our chief has it.”

  Raven went inside the chief’s house. He saw his nose hanging on the wall so that people could admire it. He quickly snatched it up, put it back into place, and flew out the smoke hole, crying, “Gaah.” The people never found out who he was.

  Raven paddled along in his canoe. Mink came to the shore and shouted, “Take me along?”

  “What can you do, friend?” asked Raven. “What can you contribute to our journey?”

  “I can make a big stench,” said Mink.

  “How?” asked Raven.

  “By breaking wind,” was the answer.

  “Show me,” said Raven.

  Mink demonstrated his powers. The gust was so strong it made a hole in the canoe’s side.

  “Better stay away,” said Raven. He plugged the hole and paddled on. He came to a place where an old woman lived. He asked, “Can I stay here overnight?”

  The old woman said, “Yes.”

  While the old woman slept, Raven pulled up her dress and stuck sea urchins all over her buttocks. When the old woman awoke in the morning she cried, “Oh, oh, my backside hurts. It stings. Something sharp is sticking there.” She begged Raven, “Pull it out, please, pull it out!”

  “Will you do me a favor in return?” Raven asked.

  “Whatever you want,” cried the old woman, “only pull the sharp things out of my buttocks!”

  Raven pulled the sea urchins off. “What I want from you in return,” he told the old woman, “is to make the tides ebb and flow. There must be tides. I put you in charge of this.” Then he cried, “Gaah,” and flew off. The old woman started right away to make the tides rise and fall. She has done it ever since. Also, since that time, the older women get, the more black spots they get on their buttocks.

  Raven paddled on. He met Petrel’s canoe. He called out, “Petrel, when were you born?”

  Petrel answered, “Long, long ago, when the Great Whale arose from the ocean.”

  “That is only minutes ago,” said Raven.

  Then Petrel asked, “Raven, when were you born?”

  “Before there was a world,” was the answer.

  “That is only a few seconds ago,” said Petrel.

  They argued. They quarreled. Raven tried to catch Petrel and kill him. Petrel put on his fog hat. Instantly he was wrapped in white mist so that Raven could not find him. “Brother,” Raven shouted, “I won’t hurt you. Let’s stop quarreling. Throw away your fog hat.” Petrel threw it away. Fog came out of it. It hovered above the sea. It swirled around mountains. So, now there was fog. Raven called, “Gaah,” and traveled on.

  Raven came to a place where he saw something bright and flickering in the darkness. He told Chicken Hawk: “Go, get this bright thing for me.” Chicken Hawk picked up the thing. It was very hot and burned half of his beak off. That’s why chicken hawks have such short bills. The thing he brought was fire. “This might be very useful,” said Raven. He distributed fire to all the
people in the world. They were grateful. So, now there was fire.

  Raven traveled on. He saw a huge whale swimming in the ocean, his mouth wide open, sucking up fish. Raven flapped his wings and flew through Whale’s open mouth. He was inside the whale. He caught all the fish Whale was sucking in. He dragged them to the middle of Whale’s belly and made a big fire. He roasted the fish on it. The fire reached up to Whale’s fat, which lined his stomach. Whale cried with pain and died. Whale’s fat had turned to oil. So, now there was oil in the world. Raven now wanted to leave but found that, in his death struggle, Whale had clamped his mouth shut. Raven could not get out. Whale’s body was swept ashore. From inside Whale’s head Raven heard people talking. He shouted, “Let me out, let me out!”

  The people on the shore said to each other, “Someone is crying inside this whale.” They made a hole at the top of Whale’s head. Since then these huge animals have blowholes. Raven got out through this hole on top of Whale’s head.

  The people held a big feast eating whale meat. As soon as the feast was over, Raven told the people, “A great mud slide is coming which will bury your village. Whoever stays here will be killed.” Then all the people ran away, leaving all they owned behind. Raven took possession of these things and flew off with them, crying, “Gaah.”

  Raven went on. He came to a place that was strewn with human vaginas. He gathered them up in a bag and continued on his way. He came to a village. The women there seemed to be very sad. “Why are you so sad?” Raven asked.

  “Because we have no genitalia,” the women complained.

  “I can help you,” said Raven, and distributed the vaginas among them. He showed the women where to put them. The women were very grateful and gave Raven a Chilkat blanket. Raven cried, “Gaah,” and journeyed on.

  Finally Raven made a pole to hold up the world. It was the last thing he made. He saw a man coming out of a house. The man took a little club from a hiding place and said, “Little Club, do you see the fat seal over there, sunning himself on that rock? Knock him dead!” The little club knocked the seal over the head, killing him. The man dragged the seal back to his house and put the little club back in his hiding place. Then he went off on some errand. As soon as the man was gone, Raven came out from behind some trees. He ate up the seal and then made off with the little club. The next day he said, “Little Club, go over to that walrus sunning itself on the shore, and knock him dead!”