A Little Known Legend

One day, not so long ago, Raven was flying over the Northland and the people called out to him. “Raven, this land is so cold in the winter months, we need more time in the summer to gather food.” So Raven flew very high and very fast around the world,making such a wind that it blew the world over on it's axis. Raven flew down to the people and said: “Now you will have the Midnight Sun to work by in the summer.” The people were happy and thanked Raven.

A while later, Raven was again flying over the North and the people called out to him: “Raven, the Midnight Sun is a blessing to us, but we cannot stay awake long enough to get all of our work done.” Raven thought for awhile. He then flew very high and very fast, this time to the land of the Equator where he filled his massive beak with coffee cherries, hanging ripe in their trees. Bringing them back, he told the people, “Boil these in water and drink the liquid to help stay awake.” So the Northern people did. “Argh!”, the people exclaimed. “What a horrible taste! Raven are you trying to poison us?” The people were confused. Raven thought and thought. Then, gathering all of the coffee in his beak, he flew again, very high, very fast, closer and closer to the Midnight Sun, until the coffee in his mouth turned golden and then dark brown. As Raven flew back down, the crispier coffee broke into small pieces in his powerful beak and he delivered the ground coffee beans to the people. Again, he instructed them to make the drink. The people cautiously took a few sips. They were happily surprised. “Oh Raven, this is wonderful!” they sang out. They thanked Raven. For many years, the people of the North prospered under the Midnight Sun as Raven roasted their coffee.

One day, Raven knew that it was time to fly to the land beyond our world. He taught the people how to roast their own coffee under the Midnight Sun so that they could teach their own children. One last time, Raven gathered the coffee in his massive beak and flew very high and very fast toward the Midnight Sun. As he flew into the sun, there was a sudden WHOOSH and a bright flash and Raven's coffee scattered in all directions all over the world.

That winter, the people of the Northland noticed bright lights shimmering in the night sky, like the iridescent colours of Raven's wing. They were gleeful to see this sign and relieved that Raven was still watching over them... so they put the coffee on.