Native American Jewelry,Native American Carvings and Sculptures,Haida Art spiritsofthewestcoast | Argillite Raven Steals the Light Pendant

This Raven Steals the light Pendant is carved in Argillite by Darrell White from the Haida Nation. It is adorned with one Mother of Pearl bead in the beak, one Abalone inlay for the eye, as well as catlinite or pipestone onlay for the tongue. The hook is made out of 14 karat gold. It sits on a hand-carved yew wood base.

The pendant is an interpretation of the story on how the Raven stole the light in the form of the sun, the moon and stars. Many say that long ago in the time of darkness, raven transformed himself into a baby to find out where the light was hidden and then stole it from an old chief who had kept the light 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.

Mischievous and curious, the Raven plays many important roles in Pacific Northwest Coast Culture. For some, he symbolizes creation, transformation, knowledge, prestige as well as the complexity of nature and the subtlety of truth. He also symbolizes the unknown and shows that every person sees the world in a different way.

Find more information about and examples of The Raven Northwest Coast First Nations symbol.

The pendant is over 2 1/2 inches or over 6 centimeters long, over 1 1/4 of an inch or over 3 centimeters wide without the bail and about 3/8 of an inch or 1 centimeter thick. Including the yew wood base, the height is approximately 2 3/8 inches or 6 centimeters.

The leather necklace is not included. A silver chain is not included but can be purchased separately here.