In
Talking to the Story Keepers
, writer and journalist Sage Birchwater gathers dozens of stories spanning decades in the Cariboo Chilcotin. These stories reflect on the story keepers themselves as well as our collective humanity, tying everything from the small moments, heroic deeds, and colourful characters, to the greater significance of our histories. Each story contains insight, wisdom, knowledge, or entertainment, connecting the past to the present and shaping the future in each telling; each story provides a sense of perspective of where we come from, and prepares us for how we might proceed forward.
also offers an image of a changing landscape, identifying the quiet or forgotten stories swept aside by colonization. From the tale of the Old Emmanuel United Church congregation singing “Onward Christian Soldiers” from the pews as the 65-year-old church was dragged across the river to a new location, to the Ulkatcho community search for missing local Tory Jack, which was successfully led to its conclusion by a clever horse, each story builds a portrait of time, place, and of the story keepers that protect these histories for the next generation.