Bella Coola Man: More Stories of Clayton Mack

Bella Coola Man: More Stories of Clayton Mack by Mack, Clayton. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9781550171044.

When Clayton Mack was a child, his parents wrapped him in wolf skin and dumped him in water four times so he would grow up strong and fierce in the woods like a wolf. True to this Nuxalk tradition, Mack grew up to be a world-famous grizzly bear hunter and guide. Clayton Macks first book of amazing tales about bears and qumsciwas (white men), Grizzlies and White Guys, became an instant best seller when it was published in 1993. In Bella Coola Man, Clayton Mack continues his hair-raising stories about pulling bears out of the bushes by their legs, eating fresh bear meat with Thor Heyerdahl, finding gold nuggets in the bush, murder in the Big Ootsa country and dead mens talking beans, plus Crooked Jaw the Indian agent and where to find good fishing. Clayton Mack was a walking encyclopedia of tribal lore, and one of the best storytellers ever born. The stories in Bella Coola Man are the last he told, and reflect his desire to pass on as much information about Nuxalk life and legends as he could before his death. Hear about the man-eater dance performed at Rivers Inlet where the dancers ate a dead womans head, or about the last Indian war on the coast, native remedies like devils club tea which is "good for anything," Alexander Mackenzies travels through Bella Coola country along the Grease Trail, how native hunters killed mountain goats by prying them off cliffs with sticks, and about forgotten villages and places, which come alive again through Clayton Macks words. Clayton Mack had a deep understanding and appreciation of life on British Columbias rugged coast. His stories are unique lessons in history, as well as pure entertainment. Here are the stories of the legend himself, Clayton Mack.