In which today's story comes from not-very-far-away from our farm

There was a raven watching me feed the goats this morning, and I wondered if he was going to invite Crow to join him.  

Probably not.

Crow and Raven’s Potlatch (Skagit)

Long ago, Raven was a shape shifter. He could turn himself into a man and then back again into a bird simply by pulling his beak over his head, like a mask.  He could turn into any animal.  He could fool the other animals by changing his shape. 

One day, Raven looked up at the sky. "Winter is coming," he said. "Soon it will be cold. I bet Squirrel has piled up lots of food by now."  But when he went to Squirrel's house, Squirrel hissed at him. "Go away, Raven. You will not steal my food!"

Raven flew away. "Bear will have food," he thought.  But when Raven arrived at Bear's cave, Bear was sound asleep for the winter. All of Bear's food was in Bear's belly.

Raven thought of a trick to play. He went to see his cousin Crow.  “Cousin, we must talk about the potlatch you will have soon!” 

Crow answered, “I have not planned a potlatch.”

But Raven said, “Crow, everyone will want to hear you sing at your potlatch.”  Crow had a beautiful voice in those days.  It was his only vanity. 

“You must sing at your potlatch,” Raven told his cousin.  “The winter has chilled us, and we are cold and hungry.  Your song will help us be warm again.  Hurry and prepare the food, and I will invite the guests!”

Crow knew Raven was selfish. Crow knew that Raven was a thief. He knew that Raven often lied.  But Crow did have a beautiful voice. It was his one vanity.

Crow was eager to show off his voice, so he began to prepare all the food he had prepared for winter.  As he prepared it, he practiced his songs. 

Raven flew all over the forest, inviting all the animals to "his" potlatch. "I'm having a potlatch," Raven told everyone. "At Crow's house. Come to the back door. That way, you won't have to wait with the crowd to get in."

Finally, the big day arrived. Everyone came to the potlatch, except Squirrel. Raven had not invited Squirrel. 

Raven and Crow stood at the front door of Crow’s house, waiting for the guests.

"There's Elk," Raven called out. Raven soared off, supposedly to see who else was approaching. Instead, Raven circled around and landed behind Crow's house. Raven used his magic powers to turn himself into Elk. He hurried to Crow's front door.

"Welcome to my potlatch, Elk!" Crow welcomed Raven the Elk excitedly.

"Thank you for inviting me, Crow," replied Raven, who was pretending to be Elk. "I can't wait to hear your beautiful voice!" Raven the Elk lowered his head and entered Crow's house through the front door. 

Raven flew out the back door, and changed himself into Rabbit. He hopped around to the front of Crow's house.  "Welcome, Rabbit!" cried Crow excitedly.

"Thank you for inviting me!" said Raven, who was pretending to be Rabbit. "I can't wait to hear you sing!"

And so it went.

Crow stood by his front door, welcoming what he thought were all the animals in the forest. But really, each and every animal was only Raven in disguise.

As for Raven, when he wasn't busy tricking Crow, Raven stood at the back door, welcoming all the guests to "his" potlatch.

When all the real guests had entered though Crow's back door, Raven dragged Crow away from Crow's front door, and pushed him into the middle of the room.

"Crow is going to sing for us!" Raven shouted over the noise of the party.

Crow's singing received huge cheers. "One more song, Crow," called Raven, over and over.

Bursting with happiness, Crow sang and sang until his voice was hoarse.

It was a wonderful party. Everyone joked and laughed and ate and cheered Crow's songs.

At the end of the party, each guest received a package of food to take home.

"Thank you for inviting me to your potlatch," each guest thanked Raven.

Crow tried to tell his guests that this wasn’t Raven’s potlatch. But Crow's voice was gone.

That winter, as he knew he would, Raven received invitations to many potlatches. At each potlatch, he received a package of food to take home.

But no one invited Crow. After all, Crow had never invited them to a party. Why should they invite him?

Poor Crow. To eat that winter, he had to beg scraps of food from the People.

Crow could not even tell anyone what Raven had done. Crow had lost his beautiful voice forever.

The only sound he could make was a shrill "caw ".  And that did not help him at all.