Adolf Hungry Wolf

Adolf Hungry Wolf was born Adolf Gutohrle in in southern Germany in 1944 to a Swiss father and a Hungarian mother. At age ten he moved with his parents to California. With earnings from his paper route, he bought a plot of land in the mountains and began listening to the stories of an elderly Indian couple. Pondering a law career, he traveled as a young man to the annual North American Indian Days celebration. There he met White Calf and became engrossed with the Blackfeet land and people. White Calf eventually gave Adolf his first ceremonial initiations.

Adolf Hungry Wolf did not simply study the Blackfoot peoples. He lived among them for decades, married into the Hungry Wolf clan and raised his family according to Blackfoot traditions. He came to receive the respect and admiration of many of the tribal elders for his self-sacrifice and devotion to preserving their history and way of life.

Today Adolf Hungry Wolf lives in British Columbia on 320 wilderness acres. He lives without electricity or running water. He writes on a manual typewriter and at night by the light of kerosene lamps.

He is the author of Tribal Childhood, The Tipi, Traditional Dress, Legends Told by the Old People of Many Tribes, Pow-Wow Dancer’s and Craftworker’s Handbook, Mountain Home, Children of the Circle, and Teachings of Nature.

Beverly Hungry Wolf was born on the Blood Indian Reserve in Canada in 1950. She is a member of the Little Bear family, the Blood tribe, and the Blackfoot Nation. She attended the boarding school on the reserve. She went onto college and after finishing her education, she returned to the reserve as a teacher. She married a German, Adolph Gutohrlein, who encouraged her to preserve her traditions. She co-authored Indian Tribes of the Northern Rockies and Blackfoot Craftworker’s Book with Adolf.