|
|
|
|
|
Grey OwlGrey Owl was the name Archibald Belaney (September 18 1888 - April 13 1938) adopted when he took upon a First Nations identity. He became one of the first proponents of nature conservation. Archibald Stansfeld Belaney was born in September 1888 in Hastings, United Kingdom, to a farmer family. His father wasted the family fortune in drinking. Some sources also suggest that his mother was only 13 years old when they were married. His parents separated in 1901, and his father left the country. Belaney was raised by his grandmother and two maiden aunts. He expressed an interest in nature and American Indians at an early age. He went to Hastings Grammar School, and at the age of 16 - due to his aunts' urging - to work for a timber yard. He was fired when he dropped a bomb down his employer's chimney. In 1906 Belaney immigrated to Canada, ostensibly to study agriculture. After a brief time in Toronto, he moved to Temagami, Northern Ontario, and adopted an Indian identity and the name Grey Owl. He also married an Ojibwa woman, Angele Egwuna. He worked as a fur trapper, wilderness guide and forest ranger. He explained that he was a child of a Scottish father and Apache mother and had emigrated to join the Ojibwas. During World War I, in 1915, Grey Owl joined the 13th Montreal Battalion of the Black Watch. His unit was shipped to France, where he served as a sniper. His compatriots treated him as an Indian and generally praised his conduct afterwards. He was wounded first in January 1916 and then again on April 24, 1916 with a shot through the foot. The wound contracted gangrene, and he was shipped to England for treatment. Grey Owl was moved from one British infirmary to another for a full year while doctors tried in vain to restore his foot. He also met and briefly married childhood friend Constance Holmes. The marriage failed. He was shipped back to Canada in September 1917 and honorably discharged on November 30 with a disability pension. In 1925 he met the Iroquois woman Gertrude Bernard (whom he later called Anahareo), who encouraged him to stop trapping and publish his writings about wilderness life. His writings attracted the attention of the Dominion Parks Service, and he begun to work for them as a naturalist. In 1931 he and Anahareo moved briefly to a cabin in Riding Mountain National Park with their two pet beavers. Next year they moved to near Ajawaan Lake in Prince Albert National Park. In his books and films he promoted the idea of environmentalism and nature conservation. In 1935 and 1937 he successfully toured England (including Hastings) in Ojibwa costume to promote his books and lecture about conservation. In his latter tour he visited the court and met princesses Elizabeth and Margaret. His aunts recognized him but remained silent until 1937. The tours fatigued him badly, and in 1938 he returned to Beaver Lodge, his cottage at Ajawaan Lake. Grey Owl died of pneumonia on April 13, 1938. Doubts about his Amerindian identity began to appear after his death. His publisher Lovat Dickson tried to prove his identity but ended up exposing the truth. Grey Owl's Books - Pilgrims of the Wild (1935)
- Sajo and her Beaver People (1935)
- Tales of an Empty Cabin (1936)
Books about Grey Owl - Anahareo: Grey Owl and I (1972)
- Lovat Dickson: Wilderness Man: The Strange Story of Grey Owl (1974)
Movies about Grey Owl Grey Owl Grey Owl
|
 |
|
| Copyright 2005-2009 OnPedia.com. All Rights Reserved |
|
|