Be’ bani’ gani’ / Nin’digog’ / Binesiwug’ / Nin’wendjigi’ miwun’ / Andeg’nindigo’
The first to come / I am called / Among the birds / I bring the rain / Crow is my name
Song of the Crows

In the beginning, it seems almost if a solitary blackbird follows Wander overhead into the Forbidden Land. In the end, we can assume it is this same bird which flies from the garden Mono and Agro come into in the ending, and this bird flies out of the sunlit garden and father away into a violently stormy sky. So this bird must have some sort of purpose. Because I'm not so sure of the difference, if there is one, I'll be using the terms blackbird, crow, and raven interchangable throughout this section. Be sure to check the entries with '&&&' beside it.

First I'll discuss the legends of these birds that I know. In Native American belief/ legend, the blackbird is a bit of a trickster.

% In Blackfoot tale, the Old Man, Napi, took the form of a man named Mystubun in order to win the chief's daughter. Mystubun means Crpw Feather Arrow in English, and he has the ability to turn into a crow. He competes for her hand, but cheats and his cheating is found out and MyStubun barely has time to transform and get away. Angry and wanting revenge, he herded all the buffalo into a cave so people would starve. When the hero in this tale, Bellyfat, learns what Mystubun has done, he devises a plan to catch the crow and once he does he ties the crow's claws up and ties him hanging upside to the smoke hole of a lodge. Bellyfat then makes a sage fire below the crow, demanding the crow release the buffalo and never do this again. Back then crows were white, but the smoke chokes Mystubun and turns his feathers black. He agrees to never do this again, saying "Aa! Aa!” In Blackfoot 'aa' means yes'. So Bellyfat releases Mystubun but from that day on crows are black, and say 'aa aa' in remembrance of the promise they made never to bring harm to people again.

&&& This one is by the Suquamish, Duwamis and other West Coast tribes, I think, and seems most relevant to the game. Before there was any land, the Earth was a Spirit Land, only water and darkness, and the Raven dwelled here. Eventually the Raven became bored with the nothingness about him and flew off, carrying stone. When he dropped the stone it spread and became the land. Once again, the Raven is a trickster and snow white, but unlike the other tale, he helps the people. An old Chief was hiding away the Sun, stars, Moon, and fire and water. Taking the disguise of a snow white raven, one by one raven steals each of these from the Chief and drops them each onto the land or sky for the people. As he carries the flame, the dark smoke flies back turning his feathers black

% The Haida tell that the Raven found and helped the first people. Wondering around the beach, Raven was bored until he heard muffled sounds. He found the source within a seashell- tiny people. He opened the shell and coaxed the people into coming out. But there where only men, so Raven searched around until he found women and brought all the people to one place. He taught them how survive -- creating shelter and food. He brings the Sun and Moon, and always looks out for people.

Japanese legend

&&& Karasu-tengu are one of the lesser youkai, supernatural beings. Accredited mostly for summoning storm winds. They are supposedly exist to keep anyone man or group from becoming overly powerful or wicked. It is hard to say whether they are bad deities or not, as they may take order from high youkai who aren't good. source.

Norse mythology

&&& Hugin, meaning Thought, and Munin, meaning Memory, and they act as the eyes and ears to Odin, the supreme 'god', traveling between both the world of the living and dead.

Irish Mythology

Peter Houlihan, kindly emailed this legend to me. When the hero Cu Chulainn was killed he lashed himself to a standing stone so that he would die, on his feet, facing his enemies. They were so afraid of him that no one would approach until a raven landed on his shoulder. Even then, the first person to cut him loose lost his hand as Cu Chullain's sword dropped on his wrist. Also when Cu Chullain entered battle he would be so enraged a jet of black blood would shoot from his forehead.

These are just a few myths/legends that I know of. If you have any you would like to share, please feel free to share them.

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