Earth Day returns to one of the earliest learning traditions of the region in Oak Bay this year – storytelling.
Victoria writer and historian Robert “Lucky” Budd feels privileged to share the stories he’s crafted based on Indigenous oral history and his friendship with renowned Canadian artist Roy Henry Vickers.
Budd joyfully recounts the early days that inspired their Cloudwalker story into being, a friendship that spurred from oral history itself.
One day out of the blue, Vickers called Budd. Decades earlier, when he was a student at Oak Bay High, Vickers was working to connect his Tsimshian roots and learned of recordings done by Imberd Orchard – stories of nearly 1,000 First Nations people and first generation settlers.
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The recordings connected him with these voices he knew from home on the north coast, the voices and stories he missed and influenced everything he’s done since, Budd said. Years later, the tapes he’d made of the recordings were lost or damaged and Vickers learned Budd could likely help.
Budd spent four years digitizing the 2,700 hours of material in the CBC collection.
Both immersed themselves in the history told by those who lived it, and the friendship forged during that first phone call was solidified with a Tofino meetup Nov. 11, 2011.
Cloudwalker is among the dozens of tales the two have shared with the world since – Budd the writer, Vickers the illustrator. Their first book Raven Brings the Light came out in 2013, followed by Cloudwalker.
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It’s a creation story of the Skeena, Nass and Stikine rivers in Northern B.C. It’s an old story told across many nations across the province. Like many Indigenous oral histories, “it’s a living, breathing thing,” Budd said. “It changes and it grows, but the core of the story is there.”
Seeing an opportunity to educate about the place and science, they’ve woven timely, modern environmental elements into their version.
Budd feels privileged to have permission to tell the story and will do so for Earth Day celebrations in Oak Bay on April 22.
Oak Bay United Church and its STARs (Seeking Truth Antiracism and Reconciliation) group host the free event that starts at 2 p.m. at the Granite Street church. It includes the storytelling, art, refreshments and displays.
Registration is through Eventbrite.ca – search Earth Day in Victoria and find a selection of events to celebrate the planet.
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Email: christine.vanreeuwyk@blackpress.ca
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christine.vanreeuwyk@blackpress.ca
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