Raven Brings the Light

Roy Henry Vickers, Robert Budd

• Publisher: Harbour Publishing
• Year: 2015
• eBook ISBN:
  9781550176612
• Print ISBN:
  9781550175936

In a time when darkness covered the land, a boy named Weget is born who is destined to bring the light. With the gift of a raven's skin that allows him to fly as well as transform, Weget turns into a bird and journeys from Haida Gwaii into the sky. There he finds the Chief of the Heavens who keeps the light in a box. By transforming himself into a pine needle, clever Weget tricks the Chief and escapes with the daylight back down to Earth.Vividly portrayed through the art of Roy Henry Vickers, Weget's story has been passed down for generations. The tale has been traced back at least 3, 000 years by archeologists who have found images of Weget's journey in petroglyphs on the Nass and Skeena rivers. This version of the story originates from one told to the author by Chester Bolton, Chief of the Ravens, from the village of Kitkatla around 1975.

Many years ago the world lived in darkness.

In this darkness a young couple on Gwaii Haanas became parents to a baby boy. It did not take them long to realize there was something very different and very special about their son. They called him Weget.

We means big. Get means man. Weget means big man.

This boy got the name Weget because he was growing so fast that it frightened his mother and father.

They brought him to the old people and said, “Something is wrong with our child, Weget. We don’t know what’s wrong. He is just a baby, yet he’s already walking. How can this be possible?”

The Elders took one look at the child and they nodded their heads and they smiled.

They told the parents, “For many years we have been told that this child was coming to be with us. We will get all the Chiefs together and you will learn what this child will be.”

And so the Chiefs got together to meet with this couple. They brought a big treasure chest made of cedar, known as a guloonich.

The Chiefs told the parents, “Our leaders have known for generations that one day a boy would come to this place, a boy who would change the whole world. This child may have been born to you, but he belongs to everybody. Right now we live in darkness. This boy is going to bring the light. We have some things passed down from generation to generation in this guloonich to give to this boy.”

Out of the box they pulled a magic raven skin made from the feathers, beak and claws of a real raven, but much, much larger than any normal raven.

They explained, “When Weget grows big enough, he can put on this raven skin. When he wears it, he will be able to fly. He will also be able to change himself into anything he wants.”

The Chiefs continued, “Our people have been told that one day Weget is going to leave our island, and he is going to fly over ...

Table of contents

• Dedication
• Copyright
• Raven Brings the Light
• Author's Note