The Rainbow Crow

Published: Dec. 17, 2009, 10:18 p.m.

“The Rainbow Crow” is a Native American nature myth from the Lenni Lenape tribe of New Jersey. It's quite unusual for a nature myth in that it simultaneously explains the origins of four phenomena: fire, the rainbow, the crow's black feathers, and the crow's croaky voice. It bears striking similarities to the Zuni story that we call “Coyote and Eagle”, as well as to the Greek myth of Prometheus.

We thought it would be an appropriate offering for the winter solstice, since it also deals with the first time the animals had seen snow. That's rather hard to imagine, since they were living in the Northeast, but there's a first time for everything. We come to you from a place where we probably won't have to worry about snow this holiday season: Florida. We'll be here through the end of January, and our tour will include a performance in Miami. If you decide to fly south for the winter, or you're already down here, swing on by!

Happy Listening!
Dennis (Narrator, Owl, Great Spirit) and Kimberly (Crow, Coyote, Turtle and generic critter)