Skip to content

Mother of Ravens (1991)

Wood Engraving w/color
Dale DeArmond
Artist's Edition: 25
Edition of Artist Proofs: 2

Paper type: Archival quality
Image size: 5" x 6"

AKA: Raven and Hawk
AKA: All the Young Crows Holler

Hand pulled by the Artist from the original endgrain maple blocks on an Ettan etching press at Sitka, Alaska, September, 1991.

Editor's note: an image representing the color print is currently unavailable. Its certificate of authenticity indicates five copies were produced for a book edition, but there's no indication such a book was created.

An Athabascan folktale. Hawk had a plump and pretty wife. Raven flew by one day and saw her and said to himself, "That's for me!"

Next day he invited Hawk to go hunting with him. Off they went and Raven marooned Hawk on an island and came back and stole Hawk's wife. Next year Raven went back to the island to look for Hawk's bones but Hawk was very much alive. Raven asked him what he had eaten and Hawk told him he had crushed mice with a rock and eaten them bones and all. Then he stole Raven's canoe and went back to find his wife. Raven had made her pregnant so Hawk kicked her in the belly and lots of young ravens flew out. Hawk put his wife in a sweat bath and decontaminated her and married her again.

Raven ate crushed mice, bones and all and died.

Original price: $80.00