Raven Brought The Light

In a time when darkness covered the land, a boy named Weget is born who is destined to bring the light. With the gift of a raven's skin that allows him to fly as well as transform, Weget turns into a bird and journeys from Haida Gwaii into the sky. There he finds the Chief of the Heavens who keeps the light in a box. By transforming himself into a pine needle, clever Weget tricks the Chief and escapes with the daylight back down to Earth. Vividly portrayed through the art of Roy Henry Vickers, Weget's story has been passed down for generations. The tale has been traced back at least 3,000 years by archeologists who have found images of Weget's journey in petroglyphs on the Nass and Skeena rivers. This version of the story originates from one told to the author by Chester Bolton, Chief of the Ravens, from the village of Kitkatla around 1975.

"This new edition of a collaboration between one of the finest living artists in North America and one of Canada’s finest poets includes a new introduction by the distinguished anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss. Ten masterful, complex drawings by Bill Reid and ten tales demonstrate the richness and range of Haida mythology, from bawdy yet profound tales of the trickster Raven to poignant, imagistic narratives of love and its complications in a world where animals speak, dreams come real, and demigods, monsters, and men live side by side."--Abebooks.com viewed Oct. 24, 2022.

Raven gives the sun, the moon, and the stars to the people of the world by tricking the great chief who is hoarding them in three boxes.

Raven, the trickster, wants to give people the gift of light. But can he find out where Sky Chief keeps it? And if he does, will he be able to escape without being discovered? His dream seems impossible, but if anyone can find a way to bring light to the world, wise and clever Raven can!

A long time ago, Raven was pure white, like fresh snow in winter. This was so long ago that the only light came from campfires, because a greedy chief kept the stars, moon, and sun locked up in elaborately carved boxes. Determined to free them, the shape-shifting Raven resourcefully transformed himself into the chief's baby grandson and cleverly tricked him into opening the boxes and releasing the starlight and moonlight. Though tired of being stuck in human form, Raven maintained his disguise until he got the chief to open the box with the sun and flood the world with daylight, at which point he gleefully transformed himself back into a raven. When the furious chief locked him in the house, Raven was forced to escape through the small smokehole at the top — and that's why ravens are now black as smoke instead of white as snow. This engaging Tlingit story is brought to life in painterly illustrations that convey a sense of the traditional life of the Northwest Coast peoples. About the Tales of the People series: Created with the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), Tales of the People is a series of children's books celebrating Native American culture with illustrations and stories by Indian artists and writers. In addition to the tales themselves, each book also offers four pages filled with information and photographs exploring various aspects of Native culture, including a glossary of words in different Indian languages.

Originally published: New York: Summit Books, 1989.

Cloudwalker, describing the creation of the rivers, is the second in a series of Northwest Coast legends by Roy Henry Vickers and Robert Budd. Their previous collaboration, Raven Brings the Light (2013), is a national bestseller. On British Columbia’s northwest coast lies the Sacred Headwaters—the source of three of British Columbia’s largest salmon-bearing rivers. These rivers are the source of life for all creatures in the area. But what gave life to the rivers themselves? Astace, a young Gitxsan hunter, is intent on catching a group of swans with his bare hands. He is carried away by the birds’ powerful wings and dropped in the clouds. With only a cedar box of water Astace wanders the clouds, growing weaker, stumbling and spilling the contents. When he finally returns to earth he discovers lakes, creeks, and rivers where there were none before. The Gitxsan rejoice at having him home, and name the new river they live alongside Ksien—“juice from the clouds.” Roy Henry Vickers’ vibrant artwork, including 18 new prints, accompany this new retelling of an ancient story—readers of all ages will be captivated.

Love is eternal, crossing time spans. To escape recent betrayal and loss, Irish archaeology student, Bríd Ní Laoghaire seizes the chance to be a last minute replacement on a dig in a remote Chinese desert and discovers a dangerous secret that links her to an ancient past. An Alaskan Tlingit Indian, John Sheldon, leads the team, and their incredible discoveries arouse hostility in the Chinese officials sent to observe the dig. As more items are examined, Bríd begins to have startling visions that link her to the past which complicate the growing attraction between her and the emotionally troubled John. How could she be connected to a people that lived 3500 years ago? Meanwhile the Chinese officials’ hostility grows and unease among staff rises, all of which threaten to undermine the expedition and, eventually, John and Bríd’s lives. Part of the Celtic Knot Series