On January 28-29, 2015 we visited Wet’suwet’en Territory, where we hosted a two-day gathering, “Telling Stories about Storytelling”, to critically engage with the increasingly popular use of storytelling and narrative for health and well-being in urban, rural, remote, and Indigenous communities in northern British Columbia.

The action packed Gathering brought together over 30 participants including health care workers, researchers, policy makers, community members and storytellers. The night of the 28th we were treated to an evening of sharing stories. The night began with Betsy Trumpener delivering a moving keynote address, which was followed by the presentation of a local digital story – “Yin Kak Honzu – The Earth is Beautiful” before ending with an open mic session that included a lively spoken word performance.

We were also delighted to have a group of local school children join us on the second day for a series of workshops on tools for storytelling.

On reflecting on their experience at the workshop, one participant explained, “I knew the connection between storytelling and health intuitively, ‘personally’, but now have resources to back it up!”