Kwekwaxawe, the raven trickster god

Murphy's been a bad boy ...

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nmbdy165
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Kwekwaxawe, the raven trickster god

Post by nmbdy165 »

Searching on Google, I have discovered that Kwekwaxawe is a real Native American deity.

http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/nati ... eity=RAVEN

Searching further, I found out the name Kwekwaxawe comes specifically from the Kwakiutl Indians.

http://www.native-languages.org/kwakiutl-legends.htm
Raven (Kwekwaxa'we in the Kwakiutl language, also spelled Kewkwaxa'we or Kwêkwaxâ'wê): Raven is the culture hero of the Kwakiutl and other Northwest Coast tribes.
What's interesting is that some sites mention that Raven is a "Transformer", one who can transform things.
http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/totems/ ... /raven.php
"Raven was not thought of as a god. He was thought of as the transformer, the trickster. He was the being that changed things-sometimes quite by accident, sometimes on purpose."
http://www.native-languages.org/transformer.htm
In some tribal traditions, the Transformer creates men from animals, animals from men, or both; in all of them, he transforms the landscape and changes monsters into ordinary creatures or inanimate objects. In some tribes, the Trickster and Transformer characters have merged together, usually in the character of Coyote or Raven (who are sometimes referred to as "Trickster-Transformer" for that reason.)
One theory I have based on all this is that the reason Kwekwaxawe was worshiped by the Native Americans around the Devil's Pit is because they were putting a face on the weird happenings of Silent Hill. Playing Downpour, I noticed how it seemed almost like the town was sentient, messing around with Murphy. The Native Americans may have noticed this "sentience" and believed that it resided at the Devil's Pit, hence why they used to call it Nest of the Raven, Kwekwaxawe Kanesda.
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Aerith Gainsborough
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Re: Kwekwaxawe, the raven trickster god

Post by Aerith Gainsborough »

Nice points, NumbBody. Have you read Past Life? Perhaps you should, it may help with your theory.
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nmbdy165
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Re: Kwekwaxawe, the raven trickster god

Post by nmbdy165 »

Not yet, but I read all about the ending in this forum.
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Re: Kwekwaxawe, the raven trickster god

Post by AuraTwilight »

That's all pretty interesting, and it ties in nicely with the Ravens being present throughout Murphy's adventure, where in some cultures the bird can represent freedom from despair, and thus hope.

And given how the 'sentience' of Silent Hill seems to push people towards redemption and getting over their immense emotional issues, it seems we might have a quasi-benevolent understanding of the town's motivations and inner nature.
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Re: Kwekwaxawe, the raven trickster god

Post by The Adversary »

The Kawakiutl tribe, from which Kwekwaxawe comes, is located in what is now British Columbia on the northwestern coast, far from Silent Hill.

Which makes me wonder: How did Kwekwaxawe reach the northeast coast in Maine where the Penobscot Nation (Penawahpkekeya) or Abenaki are located?
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