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Storyteller, artist finds his voice in ancient legends

Coming from a visual artist, you might be surprised to hear Roy Henry Vickers say there are better ways to connect with people than art.
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Artist and storyteller Roy Henry Vickers, right, and oral historian Robert ÔLuckyÕ Bud have adapted VickersÕs stories for print.

Coming from a visual artist, you might be surprised to hear Roy Henry Vickers say there are better ways to connect with people than art.

“The most powerful tool we have as communicators is not the ability to draw or paint,” he said on the phone from his Hazelton studio on the bank of the Skeena River.

“I realized that in finding my voice, I would have to use my voice.”

Vickers began storytelling in the early 1990s, decades after he began producing the colourful paintings, prints and carvings that fill Tofino’s Eagle Aerie gallery. After reaching thousands of audiences with his retellings of ancient First Nations legends, at least four of those stories are being released in book form.

Cloudwalker, the second in the series, will launch tonight and Saturday in Victoria. It coincides with the launch of Storyteller: The Art of Roy Henry Vickers, which features paintings and prints from the past decade, including 118 previously unpublished works. A note from the artist accompanies each piece.

Both are published by Harbour Publishing, and Cloudwalker is currently No. 1 on the B.C. adult bestseller list. (The first in the series, Raven Brings the Light, held the No. 1 spot for four weeks).

Cloudwalker tells the origin story of the Sacred Headwaters, the birthplace of the Skeena, Nass and Stikine rivers.

“All life begins and ends with the rivers,” it says, before diving into the legend of the young hunter Astace and how his falling down helped create the rivers.

Vickers produced the series alongside Victoria-based oral historian Robert “Lucky” Budd, who recorded Vickers’ storytelling sessions and adapted them for print.

There was a time when Vickers said he had no intention of telling stories. But that all changed with an eagle feather, he said.

Vickers was boating one day in the early 1990s when he saw an eagle gliding above. As he always does — the eagle being the symbol of his family crest — he whistled an eagle’s call.

“When I did that, the eagle banked in a circle. As it turned and leaned to the left, a feather fell from it,” Vickers said.

It was a white tail feather.

“Why, at this time, would I receive such a beautiful gift from my crest bird? The answer was very quick to come,” he said.

Vickers described it as being like an inner voice, which reminded him that the eagle feather is used in talking circles.

“So when it’s given to you, it’s time for you to speak. ‘It’s time for you to speak, Roy.’ At first I was negative about it, but the message repeated itself,” he said.

“I’ve been a storyteller ever since.”

Stortelling has never replaced art work for Vickers. In the process of making this series of books with Budd, he has become more prolific than ever, even at age 68, he said.

“You paint a picture with words,” he said. “Those pictures, you never get to see. But they’re in peoples’ minds.”

The book launches celebrate Vickers’ 40 years as an artist.

Though an ancient story, the launch of Cloudwalker is also timely, given elevated interest in the Sacred Headwaters by oil companies, as well as the Harper government’s approval of the Northern Gateway pipeline.

“I hope that this story gets people in urban areas thinking about this northern country and the pristine areas that should be protected from the lunacy of trying to make a few dollars out of oil,” he said.

Cloudwalker also outlines the way the rivers provided culture to develop in the area.

“I think it’s the right time for people to start ascribing meaning to these sacred places,” Budd said. “That’s what the book is about.”

Budd and Vickers are also working together on a larger-scale project: A memoir expected to come out about two years from now.

For Vickers, sharing his personal story has been a very different experience, involving new challenges.

“We’re coming to a very difficult part of the storytelling process, which is documenting and talking about my feelings about three failed relationships that came apart, and how I work with that now — all those things you never think about when you agree to write your biography,” he said.

It has required delicacy and introspection, he said.

“That’s what’s led me on the journey of rediscovery of who I am and coming to a place where I can accept the failures in my life, in order to go on and be successful in helping others.”

He sees some value in sharing his path with others.

After decades of traditional storytelling and making art, Vickers said he’s experiencing a new kind of inspiration from these projects that he can’t quite put his finger on.

“Something else is happening and I can’t quite see the whole picture. But I know it has released something in me as an artist.”

The book launches will be hosted at 7 p.m. today at Bolen’s Books and Saturday at Munro’s Books.

asmart@timescolonist.com