Others – Raven

Linguist , building on the work of biologist , has argued that ravens are one of only four known animals (the others being , , and humans) who have demonstrated , the capacity to communicate about objects or events that are distant in space or time. Subadult ravens roost together at night, but usually forage alone during the day. However, when one discovers a large carcass guarded by a pair of adult ravens, the unmated raven will return to the roost and communicate the find. The following day, a flock of unmated ravens will fly to the carcass and chase off the adults. Bickerton argues that the advent of linguistic displacement was perhaps the most important event in the evolution of human language, and that ravens are the only other to share this with humans.

Raven Tales are the traditional human and animal of the . They are also found among -speaking peoples and others. Raven stories exist in nearly all of the throughout the region but are most prominent in the tales of the , , and people.

Raven and eagle are known by many different names by many different peoples and are important figures among written and . Raven’s tales are passed down through the generations of of the people and are of cultural and historical significance. From some storytellers’ perspective, such as the Raven Tales, as opposed to tall tales and little stories for children, are not entertainment and can be the of the clan or individual that the story originates from. It is customary that others should not tell stories that are owned by another clan without their permission, and efforts should be taken to learn whether or not a particular story is owned before sharing it.

While each culture’s stories of the Raven are different, there are even those that share the same title; certain attributes of Raven remain the same. The Raven is always a able to take the form of human, animal, even inanimate objects. He is a keeper of secrets, and a often focused on satisfying his own for whatever he desires. His stories tell of how worldly things came to be or offer suggestion to children on how to behave. Raven’s creative nature shows itself through circumstance rather than intent, through the desire to satisfy his own needs, rather than any principles. Raven is both the protagonist among the stories of some groups, and the antagonist of others; he is a hero and an amusement.

Locally among the people, their customs and livelihoods varied widely as they were often widely separated and would have to endure varying conditions depending on their locality. In Tahltan culture it was believed that some of their ancestors had knowledge that others did not from times before a great flood. Some of these ancestors used that knowledge for the good of the people, while others used it for evil and to the disadvantage of others. Raven is considered to be the protagonist hero against these evil ancestors.