"In the Shadow of A Rainbow: The True Story of a Friendship Between Man and Wolf" by Robert Franklin Leslie is a book originally published in 1974, but the story itself takes place in the mid-1960s. It tells the story of a man, Gregory Tah-Kloma, who encountered a notorious wolf-pack leader named Náhani and developed a friendship with her, in the wild country of Kitiwanga, in north-central British Columbia near the Skeena river. Greg follows the wolves in a quest to discover the truth about Náhani, who has a huge bounty on her head, all while trying to outwit the malicious Trapper-Dan, who has placed the wolf in his sights for allegedly destroying his traplines.
The author was friends with the protagonist, and there is an author's note in the book documenting Gregory Tah-Kloma gave permission to tell this story in a book, lending his notes and diary as well to aid the author.
Tropes present in this work:
- Ax-Crazy: The female wolf in Náhani's pack that had gotten a foot caught in a loose trap was driven mad by the pain even after Greg got the trap off. Náhani ended up having to kill her to save Greg's life. It didn't help that this female was in pseudo-oestrus.
- Based on a True Story: Some of the names have been changed and some events regarding human characters have been slightly altered, but the interactions Greg had with the wolf pack are intact and unchanged.
- Blatant Lies: Trapper-Dan claimed that Náhani's pack destroyed all the pelts in one community, but an old woman named Moiso unwittingly reveals this to be a lie.
- Captain Ahab Syndrome: Trapper-Dan Tall-Totem has this when it comes to Náhani.
- Frame-Up: Trapper-Dan tries to convince people that Greg was the cause of Eugene Charley's death.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Trapper-Dan dies of rabies after being bitten by a wolf that he thought was Náhani.
- Meaningful Name: Náhani means "One who shines".
- Nature Hero: Greg Tah-Kloma turns into this for a while as he treks in search of Náhani and her pack.
- Price on Their Head: Náhani especially, as the bounty on her head reaches $1,000 dollars, and one character estimates it could get as high as $1,500 dollars, which was a lot of money in the 1960s.
- Pronouncing My Name for You: Eugene Charley insists that Náhani's name is pronounced NAY-ha-nee, not nay-HA-nee - Greg's first attempt at pronouncing it.
- Scarily Competent Tracker: Trapper-Dan.
- Stealth Insult: The bush pilot that brought the two hunters to Greg's Denetiah Lake camp calls the hunters "Cheechakos" which is a Chinookian pejorative meaning greenhorn, tenderfoot, or worse. The hunters are apparently clueless to this.
- Surprisingly Happy Ending: Two hunters find Greg and see Náhani with him, but Greg convinces them not to pursue her, since it was clear the wolf wasn't a danger to Greg at least, and was easily justified by the fact that Trapper-Dan believed that the wolf that had attacked him and that his companion had killed was Náhani.
