Grey Owl

Who was Grey Owl?

Grey Owl was the name Archibald Belaney adopted when he took on a First Nations identity as an adult. Born in England as Archibald Stansfeld Belaney, and migrating to Canada in the first decade of the 20th century, he rose to prominence as a notable author, lecturer, and one of the "most effective apostles of the wilderness". In his experiences with the Ojibwe Indians, Belaney learned the Aboriginal harvesting techniques, trapping, and Ojibwe culture. The pivotal moment of departure for Grey Owl's early conservation work was when he began his relationship with a young Iroquois girl named Gertrude Bernard, who assisted in his transition from trapper to conservationist.

In working with the National Parks Branch, Grey Owl gained recognition and fame in his early career as a conservationist, becoming the subject of many films, and being 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.