The Controversy of Corvus

"When we look at the body of work as a whole, sacred stories - in their original tellings - share several characteristics that sharply distinguish them from regular folk tales: individuals are never mentioned, and what appears to be "individuals" are at best, lines of mentorships or designations for groups; specific locations are never mentioned, and instead, only directions of movements and geographical features are given, never specific places.   This paper is not arguing that Long Face Folk do not exist, or that an entity known as Corvus does not exist; sufficient evidence in documented history points to the realities of both. Rather, as we look at the legends and the personalities as they are described appearing in different points of time and in different locations, this paper argues translation. Through the following arguments, we propose that the entity of Corvus is less likely to be a singular individual, and that it is more likely that several individuals exist, simultaneously in and/or throughout time; that these individuals operate under and claim the identity of the same honorific, acting as an organizational entity under the same banner and mission; that through time, the title is passed from one to the next in a chain of mentorship that allows the larger work to continue coherently across the ages; and that it is this continuous chain that provides the collective power which shifts the overall direction of the peoples, whether motioned as minor adjustment imperceptible to the casual eye or through greater, 'supernatural,' displays of noticeable change and power.   In viewing the legends of Kkaxe as a series of 'Corvids' rather than as a singular 'Corvus,' it is the only plausible answer for the deviation in personality and presence over time, and for the seemingly impossible tasks achieved by their presence."

— "HtonkaKkaxe as Collective Will: An investigation into the Legends of Corvus", 1344 ak
Hkawaska, Wacuexon Othishi, and Binjoo Pesata; published by the Hall of Culture, Anthropological Association

 

Differences of opinion in translation, and their cultural effects

The figure of Corvus shows up both as legendary figure and as a documented persona, and throughout much of Ni'kashiga history, the two are seen as compatible and simultaneous despite the seeming illogic of a Long Face being of such power and yet such restraint.   The concept of Corvus as "an entity" is a major cruxword in the translation of early sacred story. The 1344 ak paper published by Hkawaska et al initiated the major driving force behind the controversy surrounding the exact nature of the major legends of the Dual Faces.  

Evidence in support of "HtonkaKkaxe as Collective Will"

The proposed concept, suggesting that Corvus exists as multiple figures acting in multiple locations throughout a greater span of time, also allows for variants across time and location for resurgence of the old myths, much of which also served as evidential support for the paper. For example, "HtonkaKkaxe as Collective Will" mentions how the figure of Corvus, within the legend of Corvus Carves The River , is most commonly associated with the Caldera and the Kkaxe River in modern times (and that this association is, most assuredly, due to the rise of the Followers of Corvus occurring immediately after the Calderas Eruption events). The authors note how contemporary retellings among The Followers of Corvus tend to shift the mythos to center the Calderas.   However, the authors also note, when the original texts are examined and the basic structure of the story is taken out of this specific historical context and viewed through the lens of the Greater Inbound Lands, key aspects of the tale can be seen as equally present within creation myths of the Wahankan River at the border of Ochi Maninhka and Ochi Oxta. This geographical feature, narrow and largely impassable due to its rapids, tumbles towards the lower southwestern coast of the Inbound Lands through the Wahankan Valley, an area also marked by volcanic upheaval and lava flows. Both the features of the river, and the much older presence of its creation legends, lends credence to the proposal by Hkawaska et al which suggests that both the figure of Corvus, and the places described in the original tellings, are either intended to a) exist as generalized moral tales that can be adjusted to the events at hand, or b) are specific recountings of history, which identify multiple events and figures whose existence points to larger, more universal cycles to impart moral lessons.  

The controversy as it rests within The Followers of Corvus

There are those who do not believe that the individual and powerful Kkaxe is real. I believe that these people are wrong.   When we lack faith, we invite our struggles to stay. Stand with me, and implore that these unbelievers not cause doubt to tumble our homes.

— Irdeni'xa, Korcept of the Hotlands, Follower of Corvus

  Followers tend to rest firmly in the teachings as championed by the most recent Korcept of the Hotlands, Irdeni'xa, who holds that Corvus is a singular Long Face being. It is fair to say that even among the faithful, however, differences exist in the level of belief in Corvus as an active deity: some feel she is undead, others believe she is dormant, and most (such as Irdeni'xa) feel she is in active physical exile after the events of the Calderas Volcano. For the most part, however, the Followers remain united in disdain for the proposals of Hkawaska et al, feeling that the spread of such ideas diminish the Ni'kashiga relationship to their primary ally, Corvus, who may choose to withdraw her very real power should she judge the people and find them lacking.  

Irdeni'xa is the worst! That thaezhi translates words only into what he wants to hear! And the people are too foolish to go to listen for themselves.

— Hkawaska, overheard in the Hall of Culture's dining hall, purportedly after several glasses of Pedeni

  This being said, there are a few Followers who embrace aspects of the ideas presented by Hkawaska et al. These Followers point to the repetition of tale and physical geography as a greater lesson that Corvus (regardless of her status as a singular individual or as a group that acts under her name) attempts to guide the Ni'kashiga through: that without changing the course of progress, the same migration is walked, forever pulling the people back into the same places in looped cycles of destruction and struggle.  

Irdeni'xa means to guide the people well, and in many ways, he does. But when he looks upon these ideas, he is too angry! He casts his eyes away so quickly that he overlooks the wisdom we can learn from an opponent. Do I agree with Hkawaska, and Othishi, and Binjoo? No, of course not! But can I see what Corvus truly tries to tell us through the voices of their words? The most important lesson we can learn that to know that only by altering the will of the people in significant enough measure to shift the directional course, can the people as a whole ascend into a new orbit of growth and development.

— Hulahpa, Korcept of The Vessel, Follower of Corvus]

  These Followers point to both the smaller cyclical challenges - such as the cultural shift from the outright hostility with the Bean, to the uneasy truce with the Foxen and the Green, and finally to the mentorship of the North and the collaborations with the Elken - as proof that that these moral cycles exist. They look to the greater unknown of the timeline - to past geological events, and to the ruins of the Old Gods - as evidence that the smaller cycles of the Ni'kashiga are treading are only part of a much wider spiral, whose previous challengers have failed to ascend, and whose outcome for the Birdfolk is still unknown.  

Followers of Corvus always take themselves too seriously. No one has these debates about Coyotl! What's wrong with a HtonkaOni'hkashie being both a being - and a flawed being, at that! - as well as a philosophy? We can accept him and still know the real message is in following how he directed us to live, not necessarily in that he lives or how.

— Xanxanmanin, Follower of Coyotl