One the most compelling aspects of the story of Tom Brown Jr. and the Tracker School is the story of Grandfather, a.k.a. Stalking Wolf, the Apache mentor Tom learned from for many years. Over the years a lot of people have pushed the idea that Stalking Wolf didn't really exist. This is one of the many controversies that is part of Tom's legacy and it certainly can plant seeds of doubt for many. Just like many things that are part of a coyote teaching, trickster-infused, crazy wisdom lineage, I'm not sure the question can really be answered, but I want to offer some thoughts, insights, and reflections that might help point us in the right direction to answering this and other questions for ourselves...
So, who exactly was Stalking Wolf/Grandfather? Well, according to the books Tom Brown Jr. wrote, as well as the decades of teaching he did to people around the world, Grandfather was a Lipan Apache elder who mentored and taught Tom and his friend Rick (grandfather's grandson) in the pine barrens of New Jersey. This is chronicled in The Tracker (Tom's first book) and in Grandfather (one of his other books). His other books also share quite a bit about Grandfather as well.
Why is there a controversy? Well, a lot of people question the story of why such a person would be in New Jersey and why they would teach a white kid in the backwoods. There are also sometimes some contradictions in the depictions of Grandfather in the books. Some people have even gone so far to say that Tom simply made the whole story up or basically ripped off the story from somewhere else.
I'll be honest that at times I found what I thought were inconsistencies in the stories I heard and in some of what I read. However, over time I learned more and more things that definitely pointed to certain truths.
Here are some key things from over the years that I think paint a pretty interesting and powerful picture about what may have really been going on:
While many of the stories of Grandfather may have seemed over the top, through the years I found my mentors, myself, my friends, and even some of my students replicating the more far out claims about what Grandfather could or could not do. This included several of the things specifically mentioned in the book Grandfather.
Contrary to popular belief, according to people I trust, Tom Brown did actually visit contemporary Apache people. He was reportedly well received, and some Apache folks even said, "They knew who he was." I know specifically of one of Tom's former instructors from the Tracker School and one of his main students who still annually goes to an Apache reservation and teachers traditional skills directly to Apache people.
I know someone quite well who says that they met Grandfather many years ago.
Someone else I know said that they were able to track down and talk to Rick.
I've known several Native people who have met Tom directly. They have never had bad things to say about him, and they didn't doubt his story about Grandfather. In fact, one of them went so far as to suggest it was actually kind of racist to suggest that Tom didn't learn from a Native person and that he was somehow self-taught or learned from books.
I've read a book called the Apache Diaries. I highly recommend you check it out. It has some very interesting things to say.
Two of my first mentors in ancestral skills who were both Native were heavily influenced (in a good way) by The Tracker and Tom's writing and work.
None of these things necessarily proves or disproves whether or not Grandfather existed. However, I wanted to share an insider's perspective on some specific details that might help you draw your own conclusions and make your own decisions.
Tom may have been a controversial figure, but as I wrote in a different setting I think we cannot overstate how big of an impact he's had on the fields of survival skills and tracking. He also made accessible and transmitted the Way of the Scout to thousands of people worldwide. His legacy is huge, and many of us have an entire way of life, a career, and a way of being in the world that is descended from what he taught and shared.
If you're still wondering, the go out and put what he had to teach to the test. As he used to say, "Prove me right or prove me wrong..."
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