Marvin Camel, champion boxer, is a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes from the Flathead Indian Reservation and grew up in Ronan, Mont. He is one of 14 children born to Henry Camel and Alice Nenemay, his Pend d’Oreilles mother. Henry Camel was born “Henry Campbell,” an African-American Navy veteran who travelled to Montana in search of a new beginning from his North Carolina birthplace. Both parents were known for athletic prowess in their youth, and Henry Camel had a reputation as a hard-working man who worked as a laborer. He was also a formidable boxer in his own right.

The father teaches the son to fight and the son eventually becomes a champion. That’s the “sports” aspect of this well-told story. The related backstory is an insightful view into reservation life and the Native “warrior” mentality. It is a winning combination of subjects and a valuable addition to contemporary multicultural studies.

This is more than a book about boxing. True, it is a look at a Native athlete who drove himself to win two world championships as a pugilist. However, it is as much about boxing as boxing is about life itself.

The staggering effects of regional unemployment, lean family resources, and general frustration fueled Camel’s professional career. His body type was described as “coltish and taut” by ringside media. In fact, it was the result of endless hours of long-distance running and a Spartan regimen that in many ways defined Camel’s entire life.

Camel described growing up as a multiracial Native youth on the Flathead Reservation as very difficult, with his greatest antagonists being his fellow tribal members. To offset this, his father justified the need to teach boxing lessons to several of his many sons. While the end result was effective, the labors took their toll on the family relationship. When Henry Camel left the mother of his children for a younger Native woman, the die was cast. The boxing champion was never able to share his professional success with his father, and remained unreconciled to the end of the elder Camel’s life.