Grizzlies & White Guys: The Stories of Clayton Mack
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Book Overview
The extraordinary life story of Clayton Mack (1910-1993), a legendary hunting guide from the Nuxalk Nation (Bella Coola), is told in his own words. To Clayton Mack, who loved the wilderness and whose most precious memories were of the days when people got around without roads, told time without watches, and took planks from giant cedars without axes, the two most mysterious creatures on earth were grizzly bears and Q'umsciwas (white men) - from Crooked Jaw the Indian Agent to the rich and famous men who hired him to guide them on their trophy hunts.
The tales are told by a natural storyteller, who as a child was carried as a prop in Native ceremonial dances, and who later found himself dining in Hollywood restaurants with California's most powerful people. His stories are wild and bawdy and funny and tragic, and they reach back through history. They are like native ritual dances, in that it's impossible to separate the magic from the realism: at the end, you will wonder what was real and what was dream. The arnazing thing is, it's all true. It's all true.
-Mark Hume, journalist for the Vancouver Sun, National Post and author of The Run of the River
The tales are told by a natural storyteller, who as a child was carried as a prop in Native ceremonial dances, and who later found himself dining in Hollywood restaurants with California's most powerful people. His stories are wild and bawdy and funny and tragic, and they reach back through history. They are like native ritual dances, in that it's impossible to separate the magic from the realism: at the end, you will wonder what was real and what was dream. The arnazing thing is, it's all true. It's all true.
-Mark Hume, journalist for the Vancouver Sun, National Post and author of The Run of the River
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:1550171402
ISBN13:9781550171402
Release Date:January 1996
Publisher:Harbour Publishing
Length:240 Pages
Weight:0.90 lbs.
Dimensions:0.6" x 6.0" x 8.9"
Customer Reviews
2 ratings
A wonderful storyteller about days gone forever
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 18 years ago
Clayton Mack was a great hunter, trapper, guide, and amiable storyteller. He's seen it all. Told from a Native-American --and a humanist--perspective, he says his mama told him "The only thing you should be scared of are Grizzlies, and White guys", and he tells some very funny stories about his encounters with both in the deep woods of British COlumbia. I loved this book.
honest, funny and poignant stories of the Canadian Woods.
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 25 years ago
A Bela Coola Indian Chief of the isolated West Coast of Canada, Clayton Mack lived by salmon fishing, ranching, trapping and eventually became the most famous big game hunting guide in his area. He guided the rich and famous including Thor Hierdahl and Joe Brooks. His stories are simultaneously riotous and poignant tales of life amongst grizzlies and the often bizarre 'white hunters' who preyed upon the majestic bears. Written from taped interviews with Mack the book preserves his voice and conveys the essence of life as a native in a land dominated by white people. Honest and unromanticised stories about hunting, the Norht Woods and life as a Native. A unique book.
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