Dog and human from Raven's perspective: An interpretation of Raven myths of Alaskan Athabascans
Raven appears as an important character in many Alaskan Athabascan myths. He is depicted as a powerful shaman who transforms the world through magic. In this paper, I analyze an often-neglected motif of Alaskan Athabascan Raven stories: Raven as Dog-eaters. I use mythological texts and ethnographic...
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ftnipr:oai:nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp:00016495 2023-05-15T15:26:07+02:00 Dog and human from Raven's perspective: An interpretation of Raven myths of Alaskan Athabascans 2021-06 https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=16495 http://id.nii.ac.jp/1291/00016366/ en eng https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polar.2020.100633 https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=16495 http://id.nii.ac.jp/1291/00016366/ Polar Science, 28, 100633(2021-06) 18739652 Dog meat Storytelling Mythological analysis Ethology Alaska natives Journal Article 2021 ftnipr https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polar.2020.100633 2022-12-03T19:43:21Z Raven appears as an important character in many Alaskan Athabascan myths. He is depicted as a powerful shaman who transforms the world through magic. In this paper, I analyze an often-neglected motif of Alaskan Athabascan Raven stories: Raven as Dog-eaters. I use mythological texts and ethnographic data collected in prior studies and from my fieldwork in the community of Nikolai, Alaska. In some Alaskan Athabascan myths, Raven has a strong appetite for dog meat and assists his neighbors who slaughter their dogs for him. This motif seems to describe a sacrificial practice whereby Raven, as a transformer, receives gifts of food in exchange for providing spiritual services and protection. However, in real life, Northern Athabascans do not practice typical animal sacrifice involving domestic animals. In addition, they do not regard dogs as being suitable for human consumption. This raises several questions. What is the significance of dogs in Alaskan Athabascan societies? Why is Raven thought to be fond of dog meat in traditional Alaskan Athabascan stories? How can we explain this motif of “Dog as Raven's Delicacy” through an ethnography of human–dog–raven relations in Alaskan Athabascan societies? This paper addresses these questions from the perspectives of comparative mythology, ethology and the storytelling strategy. Article in Journal/Newspaper Athabascan Polar Science Polar Science Alaska National Institute of Polar Research Repository, Japan Slaughter ENVELOPE(-85.633,-85.633,-78.617,-78.617) Polar Science 28 100633 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
National Institute of Polar Research Repository, Japan |
op_collection_id |
ftnipr |
language |
English |
topic |
Dog meat Storytelling Mythological analysis Ethology Alaska natives |
spellingShingle |
Dog meat Storytelling Mythological analysis Ethology Alaska natives Dog and human from Raven's perspective: An interpretation of Raven myths of Alaskan Athabascans |
topic_facet |
Dog meat Storytelling Mythological analysis Ethology Alaska natives |
description |
Raven appears as an important character in many Alaskan Athabascan myths. He is depicted as a powerful shaman who transforms the world through magic. In this paper, I analyze an often-neglected motif of Alaskan Athabascan Raven stories: Raven as Dog-eaters. I use mythological texts and ethnographic data collected in prior studies and from my fieldwork in the community of Nikolai, Alaska. In some Alaskan Athabascan myths, Raven has a strong appetite for dog meat and assists his neighbors who slaughter their dogs for him. This motif seems to describe a sacrificial practice whereby Raven, as a transformer, receives gifts of food in exchange for providing spiritual services and protection. However, in real life, Northern Athabascans do not practice typical animal sacrifice involving domestic animals. In addition, they do not regard dogs as being suitable for human consumption. This raises several questions. What is the significance of dogs in Alaskan Athabascan societies? Why is Raven thought to be fond of dog meat in traditional Alaskan Athabascan stories? How can we explain this motif of “Dog as Raven's Delicacy” through an ethnography of human–dog–raven relations in Alaskan Athabascan societies? This paper addresses these questions from the perspectives of comparative mythology, ethology and the storytelling strategy. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
title |
Dog and human from Raven's perspective: An interpretation of Raven myths of Alaskan Athabascans |
title_short |
Dog and human from Raven's perspective: An interpretation of Raven myths of Alaskan Athabascans |
title_full |
Dog and human from Raven's perspective: An interpretation of Raven myths of Alaskan Athabascans |
title_fullStr |
Dog and human from Raven's perspective: An interpretation of Raven myths of Alaskan Athabascans |
title_full_unstemmed |
Dog and human from Raven's perspective: An interpretation of Raven myths of Alaskan Athabascans |
title_sort |
dog and human from raven's perspective: an interpretation of raven myths of alaskan athabascans |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=16495 http://id.nii.ac.jp/1291/00016366/ |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-85.633,-85.633,-78.617,-78.617) |
geographic |
Slaughter |
geographic_facet |
Slaughter |
genre |
Athabascan Polar Science Polar Science Alaska |
genre_facet |
Athabascan Polar Science Polar Science Alaska |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polar.2020.100633 https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=16495 http://id.nii.ac.jp/1291/00016366/ Polar Science, 28, 100633(2021-06) 18739652 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polar.2020.100633 |
container_title |
Polar Science |
container_volume |
28 |
container_start_page |
100633 |
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1766356671068635136 |