Nuxalk (Bella Coola)
Synopsis:
“Katherine Palmer Gordon, a consummate listener, weaves a powerful tapestry of ten First Nations people, deeply grounded in land, memory and story. Their lives honour the inextinguishable inter-connectedness of humans and nature, in righteous defiance of colonization. These are stories that point to an optimistic future based on the teachings of Ancestors and Elders with a view to making the world better for children, grandchildren and children yet to come. To do this, human wellbeing and land protection must be inseparable. This book is an encounter with wonderful people doing wonderful things. This Place is Who We Are is an invitation to hope for a better society, a better world, featuring ten people creating it. I thank the contributors and Katherine Palmer Gordon for engaging in a visionary conversation.” — Shelagh Rogers, O.C. Host/Producer of The Next Chapter, CBC Radio One, Honorary Witness, Trut
“A beautiful collection of stories and lived experiences! Each with gentle and loving reminders of our sacred connections to each other, the land and water and all living beings. Individually, these stories are inspiring, hopeful and thought provoking. As a collection, majestically woven together by Katherine Palmer Gordon, they have the potential to change hearts and minds of readers, decision makers and future generations.” — Monique Gray Smith
“An astute facilitator of Indigenous governmental relationships and reconciliation, Katherine Palmer Gordon is also an award-winning writer, and a very good listener who earns trust. These deeply personal accounts of Indigenous cultural rediscovery, empowerment—and healing in a post-colonial world—are truly inspiring. Steeped in ancient connections with the land, the shared wisdom and vision of elders, youth and community leaders offer timely lessons for a healthier, more respectful relationship between people, wildlife and our planet. This is good medicine for all.” — Mark Forsythe, Co-author of The Trail of 1858: British Columbia's Gold Rush Past and former C
256 pages | 8.00" x 10.00" | Paperback
Synopsis:
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 Mack''s first book of amazing tales about bears and q''umsciwas (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 men's 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 River's Inlet where the dancers ate a dead woman's head, or about the last Indian war on the coast, native remedies like devil's club tea which is "good for anything," Alexander Mackenzie''s 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 Mack''s words.
Clayton Mack had a deep understanding and appreciation of life on British Columbia''s rugged coast. His stories are unique lessons in history, as well as pure entertainment. Here are the stories of the legend himself, Clayton Mack.
Additional Information
240 pages | 6.00" x 9.00"
Synopsis:
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"
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