2996) "Raven Brings the Light", Canada: The Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) has issued a One Kilo Silver Proof Coin depicting the indigenous tales and creation stories of the First Nations: Date/Year of Coin issue: 06.07.2023:
The Royal Canadian Mint has released this coin featuring "The Raven".
The Raven plays a key role in a number of traditional Indigenous tales and creation stories, though each First Nations community may have its own version of a common story, like the one featured on this coin.
A powerful trickster, Raven usually ends up transforming the world through his actions.
How Raven Brought Light to the World:
In the beginning, all the light in the universe—the stars, moon and sun—was kept inside an old man’s brush house.
The Raven, who had tired of flying in the dark, desired this treasure and decided to steal it.
After transforming himself into a piece of dust, the trickster was swallowed by the old man’s daughter, to be born as her son.
The ravenchild grew up fast, and one day, he begged his grandfather to be allowed to hold the light. Seizing it, he took off suddenly, flying up through the smoke hole and into the dark sky.
He watched as light illuminated the world for the first time, sending all the animals scurrying to the places they now call home.
Raven Symbolism:
The Indigenous people of the Northwest Coast had numerous origin myths which explained, for example, how daylight began or why summer and winter alternate.
The principal character in many of these myths is a powerful trickster, Raven, who is known to different First Nations under various names.
The raven is a fierce and crafty bird which widely figures in native mythology as a mischief maker.
Among the Northwest Coast First Nations the Raven is symbolic as a trickster and initiates the first salmon run of the season.
On the Northern part of the coast, Raven was the most popular crest figure.
In the South he was valued as a guardian spirit.
Raven combined the characteristics of good and evil, and for his mischief he was turned black forever.
The Haida, Tlingit and Tsimshian had moieties they called Raven.
More about The Raven:
Mischievous and curious, the Raven plays many important roles in Pacific Northwest Coast Culture.
For some, he symbolises creation, transformation, knowledge, prestige as well as the complexity of nature and the subtlety of truth.
He also symbolises the unknown and shows that every person sees the world in a different way.
The Raven was often called upon to clarify truths in visions, as the wise elders knew that what the eye sees is not always the truth.
Many people of the Pacific Northwest Coast refer to him as a helper to the creator, and it is believed by some that messages from the creator of the cosmos are buried in the wings of the Raven only to be released to the families most deserving of his knowledge.
The Raven is a long-distance healer and is known as the “keeper of secrets,” he helps us in our lives by exposing the truth of keeping secrets that could potentially harm us, in doing so he helps us back to good health. The Raven was only ever feared if misused.
Raven Symbol and First Nations:
Besides being a member of many different clans, most descendants from the Haida Northwest Coast First Nations belong to either a Raven or Eagle Clan. The membership is often defined by which clans the mother belonged to.
In many Northwest Coast Communities stories are told about the Raven and his many achievements.
One of the most common stories is how the Raven stole the light in the form of the sun, the moon and stars.
Many say that he transformed himself into a baby to find out where the light was hidden and then stole it from an old chief who had kept them in his house locked away in a large bentwood box.
After Raven escaped with the box through the smoke hole of the house, he placed the sun, the moon and the stars in the sky for all beings to enjoy.
Originally the Raven had white feathers and after flying through the smoke hole with the light, his feathers turned black and stayed black until today.
The Haida tell of how Raven stole the salmon from the Beaver people.
Raven again transformed himself into a chieftain’s baby to find out from the beaver people, where they were hiding the salmon from all the other beings.
After living with the beaver people for many years he finally found out that they were hiding all the salmon in a hidden stream flowing into a lake.
On the same night after he found out, he transformed himself back into Raven and rolled up the stream and lake like a carpet and flew all over the Pacific West Coast and back to Haida Gwaii.
The stream and lake with all the salmon were so heavy that he could only fly a short distance at a time. He would stop wherever there was a tree to rest. The Beaver people transformed themselves back into Beavers in order to stop him.
They would gnaw down the trees that Raven stopped at and each time some salmon and water would escape, forming great streams and rivers of Salmon all over the country.
Another Haida myth is the story of the Blind Halibut Fisherman and Raven with a Broken Beak in which Raven attempts to play a joke on a blind fisherman.
The myth tells of a blind man seated alone in a canoe tending to his fishing line. Raven, in an attempt to tease the fisherman, repeatedly pulls on the fishing line.
On Raven’s final attempt, the fisherman suddenly pulls the line, catching Raven’s beak and breaking it off. Unsure of what had come upon his hook, the blind man asked his daughter to put the bill on a stick and raise it up above his house.
An ashamed Raven emerged from the sea and tried to reattach the beak to his face, but it slipped and instead became attached to his chin, causing even more shame.
Native Art - The Raven Symbol:
Spirits of the West Coast Native Art Galleries sell Raven Symbol prints, Native American Jewelry, Raven Native carvings, Raven ceremonial masks, gold and silver bracelets, and bentwood boxes, all inspired by the Raven Symbol.
Above the effigy is the text "CANADA. 2023" and the denomination of "250 DOLLARS", which is placed below the Queen’s image.
The specifications of this Coin are:
Country of issue: Canada; Date/Year: 25.08.2023; Denomination/Face Value: $250 (Two Hundred Fifty Dollars - CAN); Metal Composition: .9999 Fineness Silver (Ag) with selective Gold plating; Weight: One Kilo or 1006 grams; Diameter/Size: 102.1 mm; Coin Quality: Proof (P); Mintage: 450 pieces; Edge: Serrated; Presentation Box/Case: Yes; Certificate of Authenticity (COA): Yes; Designer: Alano Edzerza (Reverse) Susana Blunt (Obverse); Packaging: Wooden case with black beauty box.
- Preserved and passed down by generations of storytellers, Indigenous creation stories—like the one depicted in this Coin, explain how things came to be, so that the listener may better understand the world and their place in it.
- Styled like a wood-carved panel, this coin’s depiction of Raven bringing light to the world is enhanced with gold-plated rays, which also serve as an inspiring metaphor for shared knowledge and the power of ancestral teachings.
- It is a re-telling of a well-known Indigenous creation story that explains the origin of light.
A mix of frostings. Various frostings were combined in order to create maximum contrast between the brilliant and matte elements that stand in for light and darkness.
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