Grey Owl
| Grey Owl | |
|---|---|
Portrait of Grey Owl (1936), by Yousuf Karsh
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| Born |
Archibald Belaney September 18, 1888 Hastings, England, United Kingdom |
| Died | April 13, 1938 (aged 49) Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada |
| Cause of death | Pneumonia, alcoholism |
| Resting place |
Prince Albert National Park 54°8′49″N 106°28′4″W / 54.14694°N 106.46778°WCoordinates: 54°8′49″N 106°28′4″W / 54.14694°N 106.46778°W |
| Nationality | British (later Canadian) |
| Alma mater | Hastings Grammar School |
| Occupation | Writer Environmentalist |
| Employer | Dominion Parks Service |
| Known for | Environmental conservation |
| Home town | Hastings, England |
| Spouse(s) | Angele Egwuna Constance Holmes Anahareo (Gertrude Bernard) Yvonne Perrier |
| Children | Agnes Shirley Dawn (1932–1984) |
Grey Owl was the name British-born Archibald Belaney (September 18, 1888 – April 13, 1938) chose for himself when he took on a fraudulent First Nations identity for himself as an adult. While he achieved fame as a conservationist during his life, after his death the revelation of his non-Native origins and other autobiographical fabrications negatively affected his reputation.
Born in England and migrating to Canada in the first decade of the 20th century, Belaney rose to prominence as a notable author, lecturer, and one of the "most effective apostles of the wilderness". In his studies of the Ojibwe, Belaney learned some native harvesting techniques and trapping skills. The pivotal moment of departure for his early conservation work was when he began his relationship with a young Iroquois woman named Gertrude Bernard, who assisted in his transition from trapper to conservationist.
In working with the National Parks Branch Belaney became the subject of many films, and was established as the "'caretaker of park animals' at Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba" in 1931. Together with his numerous articles, books, films and lectures, his views on conservation reached audiences beyond the borders of Canada, challenging people to re-evaluate their relationship with nature. His conservation views largely focused on humans' negative impact on nature through their commodification of nature's resources for profits, and a need for humans to develop a respect for the natural world.
Recognition has included biographies, a historic plaque at his birthplace, and a 1999 biopic about his life by the director Richard Attenborough.
Archibald Stansfeld Belaney was born in September 1888, near Hastings, Sussex, England. Born to George Belaney and his wife Katherine (Kittie) Cox, he was mostly of English descent on both sides; his paternal grandfather had come from Scotland and married in England.
Kittie was his father's second wife. Years before Archie's birth, George Belaney had emigrated to the United States with his then-wife Elizabeth Cox and her younger sister Katherine (Kittie). After Elizabeth's early death, George persuaded Kittie, not yet 20, to marry him, a marriage that would have been illegal in Britain. Within the year they returned to Britain in time for the birth of their son Archie. The family lived together near Hastings until Kittie became pregnant for a second time. George and Kittie Belaney left to return to the United States, where he abandoned her. Archie remained in England in the care of his father's mother Juliana Belaney and his two younger sisters, Julia Caroline Belaney and Janet Adelaide Belaney, whom the boy would know as Aunt Carry and Aunt Ada. Kittie visited him a few times.
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