Rainbow Crow

mythical-bird · United States · North America

In the time before fire, the world was cold and dark. The animals suffered until Kishelamakank placed a great fire atop a high mountain. The crow, who in those ancient days had a beautiful rainbow-colored song and iridescent feathers, volunteered to fetch the fire for the people. He flew to the summit and seized a burning coal in his beak, but the flames scorched his colorful feathers black and the smoke choked his beautiful voice into a harsh caw. Despite the pain, the crow carried the fire down to the people. The Creator honored the crow's sacrifice by declaring that his black feathers would

Open in the interactive archive →