I lived in the forest for a decade. I lived with the wildlife, became part of the ecosystem. I was heavily influenced by native spirituality because it just made sense. I got to spend a lot of time with native people and have attended many ceremonies.
My art and writing is heavily influenced by them and my experiences in the forest.
I wrote one book on what I learned about life from my experiences, One is a novel about shamanism and the latest is a history of the Sinixt people, the original inhabitants of the Arrow Lakes and Slocan Valleys of the the Kootenay region of BC. They are my friends, and have the distinction of being the only native tribe to be declared extinct by an order in council of the Canadian government while they still live. This happened in 1956 at the beginning of negotiations over the Columbia River Treaty. Convenient, eh! We are fighting to get their status reinstated.
