A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
Mooney describes Raven Mockers as apparently elderly people of either sex who extend their lives by taking life from someone dying. Their narrated night flight is fiery, with sparks, winglike outstretched arms and a rushing sound. A distinctive call accompanies it. At the sickroom they become invisible; the stolen heart and absence of a visible wound are features of the account, not medical findings.
A separate episode follows a hunter who shelters unnoticed in an older couple's house and hears them return from their predatory journeys. He survives the night by concealing what he knows, then reports the encounter after leaving. The story connects hidden knowledge, hospitality and suspicion. It should not be read as grounds for accusing elderly neighbours or attributing illness to an actual raven. Practical ritual protections in the historical text are omitted from this public creature profile.
The hunter's complete episode turns on incompatible appearances of food and hospitality. The returning man claims a successful hunt for life, while his wife says watchers prevented hers. The concealed guest smells unusually appealing roasting meat and sees what resembles a human heart. The couple then discovers him, but he pretends to have slept. At breakfast they offer corn mush and deny having meat. As he leaves, the man gives him beadwork and asks him to conceal the overheard conversation. The hunter throws the gift into the first creek and reports the episode. When he returns with warriors on the seventh day, both hosts are already dead; the visitors burn the house. The account's recognition-and-death sequence is thus completed before the returning party can kill them.
Mooney's appended note reports a distinct event during his own time among the Cherokee: neighbours left a sick man alone because they feared an unseen presence. That report concerns the consequences of fear, not observation of heart theft. His suggestion that fiery flight resembles a meteor is collector interpretation. The story, that reported social consequence and his natural comparison are three different kinds of evidence.
Origins & earliest records
Story 120 of the inspected Mooney edition, published in 1902, supplies the English Raven Mocker label and the collector's Cherokee transcription. Its recorded encounter tradition precedes that publication without an established first oral date. The profile does not reconstruct a ceremonial history or claim that all Cherokee communities use the same wording or explanations.
Records & interpretation
The directly inspected story on printed pages 401–403 supports the life-stealing role, fiery flight, call and concealed-listener episode. It is a historical collector-mediated account of feared beings and accusations. No medical mechanism, actual criminal event or identification of living alleged witches is inferred; current Cherokee public interpretation would provide valuable additional context. The narrative endings and appended source notes distinguish named transmission, regional variation and collector interpretation.
In the literature
“They found the old man and his wife lying dead in the house”
Complete story120, printed pp.401–403; complete corresponding note pp.504–505
The description presents people of either sex, aged by stolen lives, flying in fiery shapes with winglike arms and a distinctive raven cry. Complete appended hunter episode depicts an old husband and wife, overheard boasting, hidden meal, feigned sleep, breakfast denial and attempted beadwork bribe. The hunter discards the gift and reports them; the returning party finds both already dead rather than killing them. Practical protection methods omitted. Note120’s meteor explanation and broad universality are editorial hypotheses, not verified scientific diagnosis or contemporary community survey.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Myths of the Cherokee
Story 120, The Raven Mocker, printed pp. 401–403; public narrative content only, practical ritual protections omitted. Complete concealed-listener ending and appended note120 also inspected.
- 02
Myths of the Cherokee — Raven Mocker complete selected encounter
Selected Washington Government Printing Office1902 offprint, Extract from the Nineteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology; title independently read.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
Myths of the Cherokee — Raven Mocker complete selected encounter
Selected Washington Government Printing Office1902 offprint, Extract from the Nineteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology; title independently read.
- The description presents people of either sex, aged by stolen lives, flying in fiery shapes with winglike arms and a distinctive raven cry. Complete appended hunter episode depicts an old husband and wife, overheard boasting, hidden meal, feigned sleep, breakfast denial and attempted beadwork bribe. The hunter discards the gift and reports them; the returning party finds both already dead rather than killing them. Practical protection methods omitted. Note120’s meteor explanation and broad universality are editorial hypotheses, not verified scientific diagnosis or contemporary community survey.
Complete story120, printed pp.401–403; complete corresponding note pp.504–505
No whole collection, separate oral record, separately cited earlier edition or present-day community confirmation reviewed. Ritual protocols and protection methods omitted; historical labels and universalizing claims not endorsed.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary textMooney: Raven Mocker, story 120Research access: 2026-10-05
- Primary textMooney1902: complete selected narrative and appended source notesResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.