DRAGON COVE OF MYTHS, LEGENDS, AND STORIES: Legend of the Rainbow Crow🐦‍⬛🌈

I believe it was during a Native American heritage month celebration a few years back where I got to hear this legend recounted by a student speaker, and I’ll do my best to recall it in a much less artistic way:

Long ago, the world was buried in insurmountable snow that threatened all of the animals in the land. Determined to put a stop to the the deadly winter, the Rainbow Crow, gifted with vibrant feathers and a sweet singing voice, courageously flew to the Creator to ask help. Unable to directly end the cold, the Creator gave the crow a fire stick to melt the snow. But on her way back, the fire singed the poor crow's rainbow feathers black and the smoke scorched her throat, rendering her voice hoarse. Still, she braved the pain and brought the fire stick back just in time to melt the snow and end the Great Winter, saving all the animals. Seeing the crow’s heroic sacrifice that made her lose her beautiful feathers and song, the Creator rewarded her by making her black feathers iridescent, displaying a rainbow-shimmer of colors, and her now hoarse voice would mean freedom from being caged by humans.

I’m not entirely sure of the origin of the legend, some say it is a Lenape legend, but others argue there may be Cherokee roots. I found it fascinating that the story treated the crow as a figure deserving admiration and respect, a role-model rather than a bad omen as it is in most western cultures. I think this speaks to the mindset of how we regard the natural world, as there is a rigid, black-and-white moral allegory for many animals in western cultures of good vs. evil while in many indigenous legends, animals are seen as our teachers that we should look up to for guidance on fulfilling our role in our communities and in the natural world.