Item

Chief Thunderbird/ Jean Baptiste Paul

Description

Chief Thunderbird was a professional wrestler from the Tsartlip First Nation in Saanich, B.C. Audiences loved his performances, in which he entered the ring in a feathered headdress with drums pounding. He toured Britain in 1951-2 and again in 1954-5 before retiring after breaking his leg. He wrestled against Tony Mancelli at the Corn Exchange in Bury St. Edmunds in 1954.

Bibliographic sources

“Wrestling!” Bury Free Press, 3 Dec 1954, 17.