Additional Images

Note:

In the 1984 Holman annual graphics catalogue, the print is accompanied by an explanation that reads as follows, “The Raven was known to be a thief and, because of that, he had never been able to find a wife. One day the Raven asked some ducks swimming by if he could marry into their family. Knowing him to be a thief, the ducks said no. Later, some Canada geese came by and they agreed to let him marry a young goose from their flock.

When the time came to migrate south, the Raven flew off with his new family. He could not fly as well as the geese, so, when he tried, he would fly on the back of his young wife. This greatly tired his wife and eventually she had to leave her husband behind because her family was by then far ahead.

The Raven, now very tired indeed, saw nothing but sea for miles around. Suddenly, he saw a shape and dived towards it. When he came close he saw that it was a whale but by then he couldn’t stop and so he flew right down the blow-hole [sic]. Inside the whale it was nice and warm and there was much to eat, so the Raven happily stuffed himself.

When the whale felt the Raven inside his stomach he said, “don’t touch THAT!”. [sic] The Raven obeyed the whale for a long time but finally his curiosity became to great and he touched “THAT”. The whale then died because it was his heart that the raven touched. Soon their was no food left for the Raven.

The dead whale finally washed up on the shore and the Raven heard people shouting as they began to cut up the carcass. The Raven knew he was in danger so he flew out the blow-hole, so fast, that no one saw him. Later. in human form, he returned to the beach. He asked if anyone had seen anything coming out of the whale. One man replied that he had seen a dark flash.

The Raven told people that the dark flash meant that the whale meat was bad , and that the would die if they ate it. Frightened by this warning, the people left. The Raven, returned to his bird form, remained behind and ate happily ever after.

Holman Annual Graphics Catalogue, 1970, Holman Eskimo Cooperative, NWT, pl. 18