Jon Solo Sebastian 01/09/2026:

The Rainbow Crow is a legendary story of heroism and selflessness in Native American folklore. Before the humans, the world was once warm and calm until it suddenly turned extremely cold and began to snow heavily. At first, the animals were excited and playing in the snow. It was new to them, so they took joy in it until the temperature continued to drop, and until the smaller animals started getting covered by the snow. They began to panic and looked to the wise owl for guidance. “One of us must travel to heaven to ask the Creator to un-think the snow spirit so earth can become warm again.” After a brief and mildly heated discussion amongst the animals, the rainbow crow stepped up to volunteer his services.

The rainbow crow sang the sweetest songs and was known for its enchanting and melodious singing voice. It also had feathers of every color blended in awestruck beauty. It was truly one of a kind, both inside and out. It bravely set on its possibly one-way trip to heaven to ask the Creator for help. As fast as the crow could fly, it still took him three days to reach heaven. Relieved to have finally reached his destination, he stopped to catch his breath, and then gasped as he saw the Creator sitting in the distance. He tried calling out to the Creator, but his calls were ignored. The rainbow crow had an idea—he decided to loudly sing the song all of his animal friends loved the most.

The Creator snapped out of his thoughts to notice the rainbow crow for the first time. He approached the rainbow crow and smiled at him. He asked what sort of gift he could offer the beautiful bird for singing the most beautiful song he has ever heard. The rainbow crow asked the Creator to un-think the snow so his animal friends wouldn’t be buried and freeze to death. He asked to save his friends and the earth from being destroyed. The Creator bowed his head at his little friend in shame. He told the rainbow crow he could not do that because it could disrupt other parts of the world in catastrophic ways. He told him instead, that he would create fire that will keep all the creatures of earth warm when the world is cold. He handed the rainbow crow a stick with a flame at the end of it and told him he must quickly go back to earth to ensure his friends get the warmth they need in time.

The rainbow crow flew back home faster than he had flown up to heaven. He was certain the flame would go out, but it didn’t. He began to feel warmer than he’d like to as he got closer to earth. The heat of the sun and the flaming stick he carried ignited a flame on his tail and began to burn him. By the time he made it home, his feathers had turned black, and the inhalation of the smoke ruined his singing voice. His friends were warm, and they raced to rescue the smaller animals while the crow sat alone—a hero, but a hero who no longer had his beautifully colored feathers or his wonderful singing voice.

He felt a brush of wind on his now all black feathers, and he saw the Creator walking toward him. The Creator sat down beside him and told the crow to not be sad. “Soon man will appear on the Earth. He will take the fire and be master of all but you. For being so brave and unselfish, I now give you the gift of freedom. Man will never hurt you, for your meat tastes like fire and smoke. Man will never capture you, for your beautiful voice is now crackly and hoarse. Man will never value your feathers, because your rainbow colors are now black. But your black feathers will shine and reflect all the colors. If you look closely you will see.” The crow could see all the colors of the rainbow reflected on his black feathers, and felt a lot better about his situation. The Creator smiled and left, and the crow went to celebrate with his friends.

The crow has always been a revered figure in Native American mythology whether it was a rainbow crow or black crow. The crow serves as a messenger and is known as a selfless hero teaching the values of sacrifice. As the legend says, it stepped up to help its community no matter the cost or damage it would do to itself. The mission and saving his people are what mattered. I have a tattoo on my arm that I got during a challenging part of life. The words say, “No sacrifice, no victory.” Sometimes, life requires you to make serious sacrifices in order to reach your goals or to help others, and that is what this crow essentially did. I’ve always loved the black crow, and when I stumbled upon this story, it made me love the animal even more. I know this is a myth, but the characteristics of the rainbow crow and its eventual transformation are not unlike the modern black crow or how it is portrayed in fictional and historical stories.