The Story of the Sechelt Nation

Thomas S. Abler is an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Waterloo and the author of A Canadian Indian Bibliography, 1960-1970.

Lester Peterson, a non-Indian, has for four decades explored in depth
the knowledge and traditions of Sechelt elders, emphasizing their
environment and the supernatural forces that shape and inhabit it.
Journeying up and down the southern British Columbia coast with the
Sechelt, Peterson came to associate place with Sechelt cultural practice
and with a mythical past. Many of Peterson’s companions on these
journeys are now deceased. That the Sechelt Indian Band chose to publish
Peterson’s work testifies to its importance and validity.

This book is not, as its title might suggest, a history of the Sechelt
people. It is instead an exposition of their view of the world they
inhabit, at least as revealed to Peterson. Much of the text is tied to
local geographical features; thus the book will appeal most to readers
who are intimately acquainted with the area.

Peterson feels that “most of the world’s major religious cults made
their influence felt throughout Jervis and Sechelt Inlets during an
unremembered past.” So he does not let Sechelt myth stand alone, but
rather insists on drawing parallels to, for example, the Bible, Greek
and Roman myth, and oriental religions. This approach may appeal to
some, but many will find it distracting. Also, Peterson fails to
describe the principles that underlie the orthography he uses for the
numerous Sechelt words that appear in the text.