Adventure and Intrigue from British Columbia’s Central
Interior, Williams Lake author Sage Birchwater offers
a unique perspective of the region.
“It’s a history told with Indigenous people sitting at
the table,” he says.
Birchwater lived in the Chilcotin for 24 years and that’s
where the inspiration of his stories were born.
“Many people still lived the old time way without
modern conveniences like running water, electricity or
telephones and cut their hay with horses,” he says.
Two of his closest neighbours, Bern Mullin and Annie
Nicholson, eked out a living from the land with their
small herd of cattle. They told him of a wild and eccentric
fellow, Theodor Harvey Valleau, who has a creek
named after him in the West Branch Valley. That’s how
it started.
Harry Haynes was another storyteller in adjacent
Tatlayoko Valley. Birchwater spent many hours at his
kitchen table listening to Harry’s descriptions of characters
like Eagle Lake Henry and Tommy Lulua and
became more intrigued.
In the late 1980s Birchwater began researching the life
of Tsilhqot’in recluse Chiwid and conducted numerous
interviews across the region. The book Chiwid was published
by New Star Books in 1995, but a significant volume
of material from these interviews remained untold.
Birchwater credits Stew Magazine publishers Craig
and Christa Smith for giving him a leg up to start telling
his stories.
“Three years ago they invited me to contribute an article
on local history for their monthly magazine,” he said.
In the spring of 2014 he submitted his first piece on
Chilcotin trucker Tommy Hodgson. It was well-received
by the Stew readership and they encouraged him to
write more.
A year ago Birchwater had enough material for a book
and Caitlin Press publisher Vici Johnstone was eager to
publish it. He started melding and expanding the Stew
Magazine articles into a regional perspective.
“The stories interconnect like the unseen mycelium of
a mushroom colony,” he says.
One of the first stories in the book about the Twan
family of Alexandria, demonstrates the proud melding
of Indigenous and settler bloodlines stemming from
the fur trade.
Birchwater will be in Quesnel on April 27 to sign copies
of his book at Books & Company from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Then will give a slideshow and reading at Quesnel council
chambers at 7 p.m. hosted by the Quesnel Museum.
-submitted by Sage Birchwater