Many of the stories in Okanagan storyteller Harry Robinson’s second collection feature the shoo-MISH, or “nature helpers” that assist humans and sometimes provide them with special powers. Some tell of individuals who use these powers to heal themselves; others tell of Indian doctors with the power to heal others. Still others tell of power encounters of various kinds.
Living by Stories includes a number of classic stories set in the “mythological age” about the trickster/transformer, Coyote, and his efforts to rid the world of bad people – spatla or “monsters,” but this volume also presents historical narratives set in the more recent past, which involve the arrival of new quasi-monsters – “SHAmas” (Whites).
