How Devil's Club Came to Be is an original story inspired by ancient oral traditions that have been handed down through the generations. It tells the story of Raven's niece who sets off to save her village after a giant kidnaps her village's shaman and leaves her people ailing. Along the way, she meets the Thunderbird People and is transformed into a Thunderbird. In this form, she fights the giant and discovers Devil's Club, a plant common in Southeast Alaska that is considered sacred for its medicinal properties.
The story was written by Tlingit author Miranda Rose Kaagwil Worl and illustrated by Tlingit artist Michaela Goade. Worl wrote the story when she was a freshman in high school.
Baby Raven Reads is an award-winning Sealaska Heritage education program that promotes early-literacy, language development and school readiness for Alaska Native families with children up to age 5. The pilot program in Juneau ended in 2017, and SHI received funding to offer the program for another three years and to expand it to nine other communities in Southeast Alaska.
