A new collection of modern retellings of shíshálh myths and legends has recently hit the shelves.
Revenge Song & other stories was self-published by Bella Casey of the Red Cedar Women Weaving Studio.
The studio is located in Sechelt where Casey works with her mother, Jessica Silvey.
Casey said she has enjoyed reading and hearing shíshálh legends her whole life, and started taking time to get to know the nation’s history better as a teenager.
“I'm lucky to grow up with my mom, who made an effort to keep in touch with her culture,” she said.
In the forward of her book, Casey says,” I realized that an anthropologist had only jotted down the main points of the tale while reporting on the shíshálh, and the actual story was missing.”
Casey said they didn’t feel like real stories you might read or hear from someone.
“I wanted to fill that in, in a more, real way, because I think that thousands of years ago, shíshálh people would have been telling the stories with so much more flair and drama than was written and recorded,” she explained.
Casey said that,“writing these stories actually really helped me get in touch with my shíshálh heritage.”
The collection also features an original story by Casey, Monster, which she says is one of her favourites, alongside the title story: Revenge Song.
According to Casey, her stepfather, Robert Joe was one of her main sources of inspiration.
“When I showed him the first story I had written, he started sharing more stories with me, he would print them out and send them to me and then we would talk about it,” Casey said.
Casey has been writing since the age of 12, and plans to release more works in the future.
While waiting for the next collection, copies of Revenge Song & other stories can be purchased at Red Cedar Women Weaving Studio, located at 5511 Wharf Ave, Sechelt.
Jordan Copp is the Coast Reporter’s civic and Indigenous affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
