The story of the Rainbow Crow is a supposed Lenape legend, symbolizing the value of selflessness and service.
[1] No source for a Lenape version of this story is known to exist prior to a 1989 book of the same name supposedly "retold" by Penguin Random House author Nancy Van Laan.
[2] Van Laan ultimately attributes this story to a Chief Bill "Whippoorwill" Thompson.
The fire has scorched his plumage black, with only hints of his previous color, and his voice has been made rough and hoarse by the smoke.
[citation needed] This is in reference to the iridescent feathers created from the fire that scorched his plumage black, with only hints of his previous color that reflect when sun light strikes them.