Oban's Myths & Legends
Crow brings daylight
An Inuit story retold by Oban
A long time ago when the world was first born, it was always dark in the north where the Inuit people lived.
They thought it was dark all over the world until an old crow told the them about daylight and how he had seen it on his long journeys.
The more they heard about daylight, the more the people wanted it.
"We could hunt further and for longer," they said. "We could see the polar bears coming and run before they attack us."The people begged the crow to go and bring them daylight, but he didn't want to. "It's a long way and I'm too old to fly that far," he said. But the people begged until he finally agreed to go.
He flapped his wings and launched into the dark sky, towards the east. He flew for a long time until his wings were tired. He was about to turn back when he saw the dim glow of daylight in the distance. "At last, there is daylight," said the tired crow.
As he flew towards the dim light it became brighter and brighter until the whole sky was bright and he could see for miles. The exhausted bird landed in a tree near a village, wanting to rest. It was very cold.
A daughter of the chief came to the nearby river. As she dipped her bucket in the icy water, Crow turned himself into a speck of dust and drifted down onto her fur cloak. When she walked back to her father's snowlodge, she carried him with her. Continue
