Mental health is a major part of our lives now days especially in young teenagers, the raven in this story can be perceived as a metaphor for mental health challenges. The world was a very dark and lonesome place without the sun, which was a struggle for the raven to survive, but after the sun was restored, the raven gained all this hope and possibility. In context to mental health the act of bringing back the light is symbol of hope, recovery, and resilience. Research done by Mats B. Humble on vitamin D, light and mental health proved that Vitamin D deficiency can affect our health through several different mechanisms temporary or permanent. The study concluded that temporary depression or fatigue will normalize when vitamin D is restored. Another mechanism that can be present is seasonal affective disorders such as Winter and spring depressions, lastly a deficiency in early life has the possibility to affect the cognitive brain functions. This research can be reflected on the story of the raven as he and the people of humanity had been living in such deficiency of sunlight and vitamin D.

Cajete, G. A. (2017). Children, myth and storytelling: An Indigenous perspective. Global Studies of Childhood, 7(2), 113-130.

 https://doi.org/10.1177/2043610617703832

 

Fernandez, R. (2012, September 28). Roger Fernandes Intro Video revised. YouTube.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6sS1ZI8dDk

Humble, M. B. (2010). Vitamin D, light and mental health. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology, 101(2), 142–149

 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2010.08.003

National Institutes of Health. (n.d.). Tribes - native voices. U.S. National Library of Medicine. 

 

The story of the raven can be seen through both perspectives of Indigenous culture and Science, both interpretations of the story have a significant impact on our worldviews as we start to think about the deeper meanings. The indigenous culture contributes to worldviews as it emphasizes connection to nature, and strongly supports the idea of being connected to all living things. The story places such a significance on the raven that allows us to be mindful of how much respect they give animals and how they can be held as equal or more important in their culture. Lastly the perspective of story telling in indigenous culture is so important to broaden our ideas of learning from story. The oral tradition of storytelling is one of the main way tribes teach and pass down information through generations. In a video from Roger Fernandes on how story informed his perspective he discussed how story telling exists in the world. Fernandes said, “Story telling exists before all the modern things that we have like reading, writing and video.” This idea of storytelling is huge benefit to the worldviews of indigenous people because they have been using storytelling for hundreds of thousands of years. In contrast to the science perspective of this story the indigenous view allows us to be more mindful of all living things and oral traditions rather than just ourselves and own mental health. These worldviews compare to one another as they hold emphasis on symbolism and the wellbeing of humanity.  The benefit of the science perspective is that there is so much building and connections that are made through stories, as complex information can be better understood through a simple story. Science is also a form of creating stories that show observations and understandings of predictions that influence the natural world. Overall, both perspectives are comparable in a way that they can teach and allow us to be mindful of certain aspects of health, wellness, and environment.