Alaska: Raven Stealsthe Daylight

BackgroundMeet Raven, a trickster god and often-mentioned character in myths and talesof Native American people from the northwestern part of North America.Full of magical power, particularly the ability to turn himself into anything atanytime, it is not uncommon for Raven to be up to some mischief. Throughthe many Raven tales that are told, his cleverness shines through, but we canalso expect to see how this cleverness and trickery can backfire on him. Thistale is shared by many native groups in Alaska. Folk literature terms relevantto this tale are provided below:

folk literature/folklore — Traditional tales, knowledge and beliefshanded down from generation to generation by word of mouth.folktale — A type of folk literature that has grown from the lives andimaginations of people. Folktales often tell of the adventures of human oranimal characters and sometimes attempt to explain the physical or spiri-tual world. Folktales can be organized into several different categories.trickster tale — A type of folktale in which a small, weak character out-smarts a larger, more powerful character. magic and wonder tales — A type of folktale. Magic and wonder talescontain some element of magic. This magic can be used for good or bad.Transformations from human to animal or animal to human are commonin this type of folktale. pourquoi tale — A tale that is also referred to as a “why” tale. Thesestories attempt to explain a scientific event, such as the reason for stripeson a tiger or why snow falls during the winter.

Program SummaryThis folktale from Alaska describes a time when people lived in darkness.There was no sun, moon or stars to brighten up the sky. Instead, light waskept tucked away in the faraway home of the Sky Chief. Raven, a trickstergod, and his sidekick Petrel devise and carry out a plan to bring that light toEarth. At the home of the Sky Chief, Raven uses some magical transformationand little childlike coercion to get the Sky Chief to give him the moon, thestars and the sun. He returns to Earth with these gifts, and the people areamazed when they are able to see everything around them.

Pre-viewing Discussion• Find the location of the story’s origin on a map. Use the map and other

geographical information to make inferences about the landscape andpeople of that place and how this information might be relevant to a storyset in this location.

• Can you imagine life in a world of darkness? How would everyday lifechange if there was no daylight?

Follow-Up Discussion • Determine the type of folktale Alaska: Raven Steals the Daylight is. Is it a

realistic tale? Trickster tale? Pourquoi tale? Is it possible for a folktale to beclassified in more than one way? Ask students to support their responseswith evidence from the story.

• Raven had the ability to turn himself into anything at anytime. Ask studentswhat they would do if they could take the form of any human or animal.How would they use this power for good? How would they use this powerfor fun?

• Discuss the cultural elements of the characters, setting and plot by askingstudents which aspects of the tale appear to be unique to Alaska and whichare more universal in nature.

Follow-up Activities • Alaska: Raven Steals the Daylight is an example of a trickster folktale in

which a small, weak character is able to trick, or outsmart, a larger, morepowerful character. A popular trickster from West African folklore is Anansithe spider. Encourage students to get creative and come up with their owntrickster tales. Students can write and illustrate their tales or prepare for adramatic storytelling.

• Act it out! Recreate this tale in your classroom. This can be done as apuppet show, a mime skit, a student play, etc. In preparation for the produc-tion, examine and critically think about the story’s elements of characters,setting and plot. Consider the importance of cultural context and how thestory might change if the setting was a different time and place.

• Tales about Raven the trickster god are common among the different nativecultural groups of Alaska. Have students work in small groups to select andresearch a cultural group, such as the Haida, Tlingit, Yupik or Athabascanpeople. In addition to investigating where and how they live, look into thestories that make up their oral tradition. Do they tell a tale similar to thisone? Maria Williams’ How Raven Stole the Sun (Abbeville Press, 2001), forexample, is a Tlingit version of the tale. What other tales with Raven dothey tell?

• After Raven brings light to Earth, what do you think happens? Have stu-dents come up with their own extensions to the tale and focus on how thislight may change the lives of the people who live there. Students may getsome creative inspiration from Amanda Hall’s The Stolen Sun: A Story ofNative Alaska (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2002). This is anoriginal tale in which Raven steals the sun from the sky when he sees howgreedy and violent people have become.

• Before folktales were written or turned into films, they were passed downorally, from one generation to the next. Introduce students to the art of sto-rytelling. Discuss different ways in which the storyteller can engage listen-ers (e.g., using sound and gestures, giving vivid sensory details). Practicestorytelling techniques by having each student retell a portion of this tale.

• Birds, such as ravens, eagles and cranes, play a prominent role in folktalesaround the world. Examine the role of birds in different tales. HowardNorman’s Between Heaven and Earth: Bird Tales from Around the World(Gulliver Books, 2004) is an excellent resource. Consider watchingPakistan: Podna & Podni — another animated tale with a bird as the maincharacter. Discuss how birds are portrayed in each story. Also, investigateand discuss the symbolism of different birds across different cultures.

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Page 1 of 2 Teacher’s Guide © 2007 by Schlessinger Media, a division of Library Video CompanyP.O. Box 580, Wynnewood, PA 19096 • 800-843-3620

• Totem poles are grand sculptures carved from great trees and detailed withstriking designs and bold colors. An important component of the NativeAmerican culture in the northwestern part of North America, they are state-ments of the identities and stories of the people who carved them. Alegend pole is a type of totem pole that illustrates folklore or real life expe-riences. Visit www.nps.gov/sitk/historyculture/totem-poles.htm tosee and learn more about totem poles. Then, have students get creative anddesign totem poles that reflect the characters, setting and plot of this tale.

• According to this tale, people once lived in a world of darkness. There wasno sun, moon or stars to brighten the sky. This is an opportunity to makesome connections to science. While Alaska certainly has the sun, moon andstars to brighten its sky, the amount of sunlight it receives each day isdependent on the time of year. Students can do research to determinewhen Alaska has the longest day and longest night as well as the reason forthese vast differences in daylight hours.

• Compare modern-day Alaska with the setting and people portrayed in thefolktale. Organize these similarities and differences using a Venn diagram.

Suggested Internet Resources• www.state.ak.us/local/kids/

The State of Alaska provides this web site for kids with facts about Alaska,information about wildlife and fishing, and more.

• www.alaskanative.net/2.aspThe Alaska Native Heritage Center presents this informative web site toshare the rich heritage of Alaska’s eleven cultural groups.

• www.ankn.uaf.edu/index.htmlThis site, by the Alaska Native Knowledge Network, is a comprehensiveresource of information related to Alaska Native knowledge systems andways of knowing. Curriculum and cultural resources are available.

• www.darsie.net/talesofwonder/This archive of folk and fairy tales from around the world presents a sampling of the many stories that make up our world’s oral tradition.

Suggested Print Resources To learn more about the land and people of Alaska:• Gill, Shelley. Alaska. Charlesbridge Publishing, Watertown, MA; 2007.• Brown, Tricia. Children of the Midnight Sun: Young Native Voices of

Alaska. Alaska Northwest Books, Portland, OR; 2007. If you are interested in tales from Alaska, you might also enjoy:• Kimmel, Eric A. The Frog Princess: A Tlingit Legend from Alaska. Holiday

House, New York, NY; 2006.• Sloat, Teri. The Eye of the Needle. Alaska Northwest Books, Portland, OR;

2001. This is a Yupik tale from the Alaskan northwest.• Sloat, Teri. The Hungry Giant of the Tundra. Alaska Northwest Books,

Portland, OR; 2001. This is a tale from the Yupik Eskimo of the Bethelregion of Alaska.

Teacher’s Guides for titles in this series are available at www.LibraryVideo.com

Teacher’s Guide Copyright 2007 by Schlessinger Media, a division of Library Video CompanyP.O. Box 580,Wynnewood, PA 19096 • 800-843-3620

Programs © 2005 S4C International All Rights Reserved

Teacher’s Guide written by Megan Carnate, M.Ed., Curriculum Specialist, Schlessinger Media

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• Alaska: Raven Steals the Daylight• Arabia: The Crown and the Sceptre• Armenia: The Shoemaker’s Son• Australia: Bad Baby Amy• Burkina Faso: The Tyrant and the Child• Canada: Timoon and the Narwhal• Caribbean: The Chief and the

Carpenter• Catalonia: The Manairons• China: The Magic Gourd• China: The Magic Paintbrush

• Denmark: The Shepherdess and theChimney Sweep

• England: Cap O’ Rushes• Finland: The Raspberry Worm• France: Ewenn Congar• Germany: Frau Holle• Germany: The Enchanted Lion• Greece: The Myth of Persephone• Holland: The Tree with the Golden

Apples• India: The Multi-Coloured Jackal• Ireland: Fionn

• Ireland: The Boy Who Had No Story• Israel: King Solomon and the Bee• Japan: Crossing the Snow• Mongolia: Shepherd Boy Tumur• Namibia: Omuninyan• Norway: The Three Sisters Who Fell

Into the Mountain• Pakistan: Podna & Podni• Poland: The Flower of Fern• Poland: The Story of Flax• Russia: The Two Brothers

• Scotland: The Green Man ofKnowledge

• Scotland: The Loch Ness Kelpie• Singapore: Redhill• South Africa: How Tortoise Won

Respect• South Africa: Ummemo• Taiwan: Aunt Tiger• U.S.A.: John Henry: Steel-Driving Man• Wales: King March• Wales: Merlin and the Dragons