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Afterword to Whispers Evolution

Whispers is an important book for our time. Indigenous Peoples are finally beginning to be recognized as the First Peoples in their various lands, and as people who are entitled to all of their rights as such in our societies. Whispers explores the potential they represented before the arrival of European conquerors, and what they might have achieved.

All of the conditions historically existed for the events of the book to have actually taken place in 1031 AD. All it would have required was one Song trader, on one ship, to keep going north past Japan and the Korean peninsula, where they already traded, and follow the currents east to a new continent.

At the beginning of the novel, the characters and their society are portrayed as they existed at the time. I have taken the liberty of modernizing the dialogue, to a point, simply for the modern reader. Perhaps one day Whispers will be translated into Halq’uemehlem. Until then, English will have to do.

Along the path from villages to nation, the Alliance confronts moral and ethical choices that are still being grappled with today. Some of their choices may startle you, others may reflect issues that we are still deciding today. Would you have chosen differently? If so, how would that decision change the story? Honestly, I would like to know. Feel free to post on the whispersbookseries Facebook page.

My fervent hope for Whispers is that it will help a reader who is First Nations imagine a different past, if only for a while; and for a reader who is not Indigenous to understand who these people really are, how much they lost when Europeans arrived, and what native peoples are capable of, if old prejudices are put aside.