Tide Line

18″H x 14″W x 7″D

“Tide Line” is an original abstract design carved out of Andes Blue Onyx, a semi-precious stone quarried above 17,000 feet in the mountains of Argentina.  Earth, sea and sky tones swirling through a cavernous design evoke images of the Pacific Northwest coast, a region rich in indigenous cultural heritage.  The title derives from a legend of the Tlingit people of southeast Alaska about how tides began.

According to this legend, long ago, when the world was new, Raven and his people lived near the shore of the Big Water.  There were no tides at this time, and the people would gather things to eat that washed up on the shore.  After a while, the people became many and there was not enough food for everyone to eat.  They knew there was plenty to eat such as clams beneath the Big Water, but it was too deep for them to reach.  Raven was troubled by this dilemma.  Great Spirit visited Raven one night in his sleep and told him that there lies at the end of the world, at the edge of the Big Water, a cave.  In this cave sits an old woman who holds the tide line tightly across her lap, controlling the ebb and flow of the water.  Raven was clever and when he awoke, he knew what he must do.  He flew for four days and nights to a cave where he found the old woman sitting as described in his dream.  He played a trick on her, distracted her and cast sand in her eyes, causing her to let go of the tide line.  When she did, the waters fell back exposing more beach from which to gather food.  Raven was pleased and flew back to his people who were happy.  They thanked Raven and Great Spirit for helping them and had a big feast.  But after many days, the creatures of the Big Water started dying for a lack of water to cover them and it was clear that soon the people would again run out of things to eat.  They went back to Raven and asked him for help.  Raven flew for four days and nights back to the cave at the end of the world, at the edge of the Big Water, and found the old woman still trying to get the sand out of her eyes.  Raven explained to her that all the creatures on the beach were dying for a lack of water.  The old woman asked for Raven’s help to get the sand out of her eyes, and to help her get the tide line back across her lap so that she could bring the tide back in.  Raven agreed, but only if in return she agreed to let the tide line go from time to time so that his people could gather food from the beach beneath the Big Water.  She agreed, and that is how the tides began.

The full, unabridged version of this legend can be found at the following site: 

https://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/RavenAndHowTheTidesBegan-Tlingit.html