Raven
Tlingit · deity · mythic primordial · Recorded classification
Classed as a deity though the Tlingit treat Yéil as a culture-hero/trickster-demiurge; he names the Raven (Yéil) moiety. 'Raven's work' (Yéil yéi jineiyí) names the landscape features attributed to his deeds. Distinct from but cognate with Haida Yáahl and Kwakwaka'wakw U'melth.
Domains
- creation and world ordering
- daylight and light
- trickery
Powers
- steal the box of daylight from the sky-chief
- steal the everlasting fresh water from Petrel
- fashion the first people from rock and leaf
- transforms himself to a hemlock needle to be reborn of the sky-chief's daughter
Epithets
- Yéil Raven; the trickster-transformer who freed the sun, moon, and stars and set the world in orderJohn R. Swanton, Tlingit Myths and Texts (secondary)
- Kit-ka'ositiyi-qa name of the being who 'made' Raven / Raven-at-the-head-of-NassJ. R. Swanton, Tlingit Myths and Texts (1909) (secondary)
Relations
- rival: PetrelPetrel kept the only fresh water; Raven tricked and robbed him, scattering the stolen water as the rivers while Petrel's fog-hat wrapped the world.Swanton, John R. Tlingit Myths and Texts, BAE Bulletin 39, 1909, Raven cycle. (primary)
- rival: Fog MasterIn the Veniaminov-Krause tradition the elder Khanukh, progenitor of the Wolf moiety, contests powers with Yelch the Raven and proves the mightier.A. Krause, Die Tlinkit-Indianer (1885) (secondary)
Sources
- Raven (Yéil) is the Tlingit creator-trickster and culture hero who released daylight, stole fresh water, and prepared the world for human life; Swanton recorded over forty Raven narratives from Sitka and Wrangell elders.: Swanton, John R. Tlingit Myths and Texts. BAE Bulletin 39, 1909. (secondary)