Raven How Raven Stole Crow's Potlatch Once upon a time, a long time ago, in the Pacific Northwest, there lived a magical bird named Raven. Raven was a shape shifter. He could turn himself into a man and then back again into a bird simply by pulling his beak over his head, like a mask. Raven practiced and practiced until he could quickly turn himself into any animal. Using his special power of shape shifting, Raven could fool other animals into thinking he was, well, just about anybody. Raven was very smart. He had considerable charm. He was also a thief and a liar. Raven used his charm to make his lies sound like truth. Creatures who trusted Raven often found themselves in big trouble. But Raven did not care. Raven was as selfish as he was clever. One day, Raven looked up at the sky. "Winter is coming," he said, in a surprised sort of way. "The snows will fall soon. I bet Squirrel has piled up lots of food by now," Raven said thoughtfully. When he flew by Squirrel's house, Squirrel did not even bother to look up. He knew Raven. "Go away, Raven," snapped Squirrel. "You are not stealing food from me. Not one single nut." In a pout, Raven spread his wings and soared away. "Bear will have food," he thought. But when Raven arrived at Bear's cave, Bear was sound asleep for the winter. All Bear's food was stored in Bear's belly. "Goose always knows where good food is hiding," Raven laughed. But when Raven arrived at Goose's home, no one was about. Goose had flown south for the winter, and had taken his whole family with him. Raven soared off to the top of a tree to think things over. An idea took shape in his devious mind. Grinning broadly, Raven soared off in search of Crow. Crow was Raven's cousin. Crow "Crow!" Raven called out when he spotted him. "Everyone's talking about your beautiful voice! They can't wait to hear you sing!" Crow knew Raven was a thief and a liar. Just the same, it was hard to resist Raven's charming compliment. Crow did have a beautiful voice. It was his one vanity, as Raven well knew. "You're inviting me to your potlatch, right?" Raven asked eagerly, sounding sure of it. "Potlatch?" Crow puzzled. "As in huge party?" Crow shook his head. "I can't have a potlatch. It would take all my winter storage of food to feed my guests. And what about all the cooking and cleaning?" "I'll help you get ready!" Raven offered generously. "It will be easy if we do it together!" Raven smiled warmly at his cousin. "Oh, Crow. I'm so proud to be related to you. Everyone is thrilled at the thought of hearing you sing!" That very night Crow and Raven began cooking. The next day, while Raven flew about, inviting everyone to "his" potlatch, Crow cooked and cleaned and practiced his singing. "The best song yet!" Raven raved, as he stopped by to taste this and nibble that. "Delicious!" Off Raven flew to invite more creatures to "his" potlatch. Raven told each of "his" guests to use Crow's back door. That way, they would not have to wait with the crowd at the front door to enter. "After all," Raven told each and every one of them. "You are my very special guest." Finally, the big day arrived. Everyone came to Raven's potlatch except the animals that had flown south for the winter, and the animals that were snoozing away in their caves and burrows. Everyone that is except Squirrel. Raven had not invited Squirrel. "Here comes Elk," Raven called down to his cousin. "There's Rabbit!" Raven soared off, supposedly to see what other guests were approaching. Instead, Raven circled around and landed behind Crow's house. First, Raven shape shifted into Elk. Then he galloped around to Crow's front door. "Welcome to my potlatch, Elk!" said Crow excitedly. "Thank you for inviting me, Crow," replied Raven, who was pretending to be Elk. "I am looking forward to hearing you sing!" Raven the Elk lowered his head and entered Crow's house. Raven raced out the back door of Crow's house and shape shifted again. He hopped around to the front door of Crow's house, this time pretending to be Rabbit. "Thank you for inviting me! I can't wait to hear you sing!" squealed Raven the Rabbit, in response to Crow's greeting. He hopped inside. By then, the real Elk and the real Rabbit had arrived at Crow's back door. Raven quickly changed back into himself. "Welcome to my potlatch," Raven greeted his guests. "Elk, my good friend, come in, come in. Rabbit! How good to see you!" Eagle And so it continued. Raven greeted "his" guests at Crow's back door. Then he shape shifted around to Crow's front door. "Thank you for coming to my potlatch," Crow told Raven the Rooster, and Raven the Coyote, and Raven the Eagle, and Raven the Mouse, and Raven the Bobcat. Raven found the whole thing delightful. No one suspected a thing!  When all the real guests had entered though Crow's back door, Raven dragged Crow away from Crow's front door, and pushed him into the middle of the room. "Crow is going to sing for us!" Raven shouted over the noise of the party. Crow's singing received huge cheers. "One more song, Crow," called Raven, over and over. Bursting with happiness, Crow sang and sang until his voice was hoarse. It was a wonderful party. Everyone joked and laughed and ate and cheered Crow's songs. At the end of the potlatch, all the left over food was divided and packaged up. As was the custom, each guest received a package of food to take home. "Thank you for inviting me to your potlatch," each guest thanked Raven. Crow tilted his head in puzzlement. He tried to tell his guests that this was HIS potlatch. But Crow's voice was gone. That winter, Raven received invitations to many potlatches. Raven had a wonderful time, joking and laughing and eating. At each potlatch, he received a package of food to take home. But no one invited Crow. After all, Crow had never invited them to a party. Why should they invite him? Poor Crow. To eat that winter, he had to beg scraps of food from the People. Crow could not even tell anyone what Raven had done. Crow had lost his beautiful voice forever. The only sound he could make was a shrill "caw ".  And that, I'm afraid, did not help him at all. Raven More Raven Stories The Big Myth - Inuit - Raven (see and hear)  Wonderful Raven Stories Written By Kids (Leahy) Chief's Rattle (myth, trickster tale)  Raven Stories (Eldrberry) Other Native American Stories Native American Myths, Legends, Stories, & Lore Free Native American Clip Art Odyssey Maritime Discovery Center Native American Clip Art More About Native Americans Potlatches  Return to the Story Index Return to Northwest Native Americans Main Menu      All Rights Reserved Counter start date January 2006     Story Loosely Retold by Lin Donn   Clip Art by Odyssey Maritime Discovery Center Have a great year!