"The Smoking Crow." Etching, 5 inch x 7 inch

The Smoking Crow.  Etching, 5 inch x 7 inch   Smoke symbolizes the transition of matter into spirit. Crow brought fire to humans, and he taught them to use Tobacco with fire. With the fire, it became medicine that transported spirits. Smoke represents the release of the spirit, from its visible and physical form into the invisible and spiritual. Crow taught Man to use tobacco to heal wounds of war and anger. It was once a powerful tool for healing the human spirit. People had four uses for tobacco: for prayers, for offerings or ceremonies, as medicine, and as gifts to visitors. Over time humans forgot all about the meaning of tobacco and fire. They became slothful dirty creatures throwing tobacco carelessly about the land and sea.  Crow had tried to clean up the mess humans made but it was futile, no matter how much time they spent cleaning up, Man always made a bigger mess.   Crow stopped trying but lingered hoping that Humans would change.   Clever Crow. He waited for Humans to become as smart as he was. The Slothful Humans came up with a “trick” to get Crow to clean up after them again.  Crow let Humans think he was “trainable”. Crow was now getting fat cleaning up after the Lazy Humans. In 2017 A Dutch company “Crowded City” developed a device to entice Crows to collect cigarette butts in exchange for a treat. http://www.crowdedcities.com/ http://www.odditycentral.com/news/dutch-startup-wants-to-train-crows-to-clean-streets-of-cigarette-butts.html