Marilyn James

Marilyn is another returning storyteller and is this year’s First Nations storyteller. She is the spokesperson for the Sinixt First Nation, upon whose original territory the festival takes place. More than a half century ago the Canadian government declared the Sinixt people extinct. Marilyn is fighting to have her people reinstated and recognized as a distinct and very much alive Canadian First Nation. She speaks widely about this subject. The Kootenay Storytelling Festival is proud to support her in this endeavour.

A Sinixt Landscape Story

Festival goers have loved the traditional Sinixt tales Marilyn has brought over the years. She mixes her mission of education about the Sinixt with stories used for centuries of the land and the animals that populate it. This year’s landscape story is a coyote tale of a twisted love triangle. It also tells of how the Columbia River came to be.