The Man and the Ravens
Anishinabe

There once was a man that enjoyed watching the black Raven's fly
around, play, squawk, and chatter. He enjoyed them so much he would
climb trees just to be closer to them. For many months the Ravens ignored
the man, but after awhile, one of the Ravens flew from a nearby tree and
landed directly next to the man. 

In utter amazement, the bird spoke to the man and asked, "You have
been watching us for a long time. You have tried to get close to us. Why
do you do this?" 

The man replied, "I mean no harm. I have become enchanted with you
and all your relatives. I enjoy the play, the squawking, and I wish I could
learn your language so I could understand more about you." 

Then the Raven responded, "We are honored that you want to know us,
as long as you do not cause harm, we will teach you our language." 

For many months the Ravens taught the man all about the language and
how the Ravens lived from day to day. The man became so educated that
he knew everything there was to know about the Ravens. Many of the
Ravens saw the man and accepted him as a friend. 

One day, an older Raven was flying far over the man, dropped a walnut
perfectly on the man's head. It was done on purpose and all the Ravens
almost fell off their branches laughing so hard the way they do. One Raven
was flying and was laughing so hard he had to crash land right in front of
the man. 

The man was feeling bad and was hurt by being made fun of, so he
asked the Raven in front of him, "Why are you all picking on me." 

The Raven stopped laughing and became very serious. "We thought you
understood us, but apparently you don't. If you did you would know that
we are not mocking you... well maybe a bit, but it is done in our way of
having fun. We are 'playing' with you and that is all. It is not to be taken
seriously. You should know us better." 

The man took sometime to understand this and over time a few more
practical jokes were played on the man and he in turn pulled a few "good
ones" on the birds. A good time was had by all and the man became even
closer to the Ravens. 

Then another event occurred. A young Raven swooped out of the sky
and pecked the man on the head. Then another young Raven swooped
down and did the same thing. The man ran across the field and into the
woods but the Ravens kept chasing him and very skillfully they flew at
high speeds through the woods tormenting the man. Finally the two
stopped and started to yell mean words, fighting words at the man. 

Again the man did not understand, but he knew the two Ravens were
very mad at him, so he decided to leave and let the Ravens be. The man
went away for many months. As he did his duties in the his tribal village,
he told all the people about his adventures and what he learned about the
Ravens. Some listened with intent, others just thought the man was a fool
to study the Ravens so. The villagers gave the man a new name of "Black
Feather" because of his close relationship to the birds, but the man
objected and said, "I am no longer close to the Raven people." 

From above there was a squawking sound of a single Raven. Some of
the people looked up and were surprised that they could understand the
Raven, others just looked around because they could hear nothing but
squawking. The Raven was speaking to the man and said, "It is true, you
are closer to us than any Anishinabe (Human) has ever come. You are
close, but you still don't understand us fully. I invite you to return to us,
many miss you." 

Black Feather started to follow the Raven but then stopped at the edge
of the village. He looked around to make sure no other Anishinabe could
hear then asked the Raven, "why do you ask me back when the two Ravens
where fighting with me and were mean." 

"The Raven landed at Black Feathers feet and said, "See how little you
understand us. The two young Ravens did not fight with you because you
are Anishinabe, it is because they accepted you as a member of the Raven
people. You should know that we fight among ourselves too. It is a part of
our way of life. Instead of sulking and leaving you should have fought
back." 

Black Feather stood in silence and said, "There is much about Ravens I
don't understand. Maybe we are too different people to ever understand
each other. I should stop and return to my people in the village." 

The Raven again shook his head and told Black Feather, "That is your
choice, but again I tell you that you have come closer to us Raven people
than any other Anishinabe. Would you throw this all away just because
you can't understand us yet?" 

Black Feather responded, "It's useless, how can I ever understand you,
I can't even fly!" 

A thousand bursts of laughter was heard from all the surrounding trees
and Black Feather knew that all the Raven People were there, hiding and
listening. 

"Of course you can't fly. You are Anishinabe and we are Ravens. But
we accept you as one of us. We play with you. We fight with you. We love
you and want you back. We also recommend you don't try to fly in order to
be like us, because then, you would not be Anishinabe nor a Raven but
something else. We like you as an Anishinabe that understands us as
Ravens. Join us or not the decision is yours." 

Black Feather returned to the Anishinabe village and bid everyone
farewell because he had decided to live with the Raven people. After all
the farewells and such he started to leave the village. All the Anishinabe
people were there to see him off, and high over head was a thousand
Raven's. 

Then from high above one of the older Ravens dropped a walnut shell
and again with remarkable aim, plunked Black Feather right on the head.
All the Ravens started laughing hard and all the Anishinabe were laughing
too. 

Black Feather laughed and looked up at the old Raven and said, "Good
one."

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