The Raven Mother

Continuing the engaging series, “Mothers of Xsan”, this sixth title shines the spotlight on another important symbol for the Gitxsan Nation—the Raven Mother (Nox Gaak). Sensory details show the spring season of renewal for both people and animals unfold across the land. New raven chicks have hatched. Other species of animals provide abundant food for ravens that hunt and scavenge as they look after one another. Once the young ravens take wing, they participate in caching extra food for future hard times. But some hidden seeds will sprout while other food, such as salmon, nourishes the environment—all giving back to the land. As the ravens grow and play through summer, the family bond they need to survive becomes firmly established. Their lifestyle gives the Gitxsan reasons to revere ravens in story and song.

January is the harshest time when food is scarce. When the raven family finds a frozen moose carcass, they struggle to find a way to eat some of it. But the Raven Mother knows the answer to this problem lies in her kind’s relationship with the wolves, and she summons them to the feast. Once the wolves tear open the moose hide, all can feed. These creatures are linked in a sacred balance, and each “cannot exist without the other.”

In simple flowing text, Brett Huson (Hetxw’ms Gyetxw) has captured the deep meaning and wisdom of the raven’s life for his people and the rest of the ecosystem. New words are explained in small inserts close to their placement in the story. As in the previous books, a brief historical note about the Gitxsan Nation and list of Gitxsan Moons and their meanings completes this volume.

Illustrator Natasha Donovan’s realistic paintings bring the ravens and other animals to life in their setting of northwest forest, water and mountains. Images fill the pages with vivid color and action: raven tears apart a salmon to show her young this key food source, the family soars in playful acrobatic flight high over the land and huddles chilled on snowy birch branches. One captivating illustration, utilizing the perspective of someone on the ground looking skyward, shows ravens in flight among tall trees.

Read The Raven Mother, along with the other five titles in the series, for a satisfying perspective of the Gitxsan culture that is so closely aligned with the natural world.