Grey Owl (1888–1938)

This is a classic Canadian adventure story for children. With beavers. The children are brave and competent. Their escape from a forest fire by canoe—with a baby beaver—is terrifyingly believable. Grey Owl portrays the casual racism that aboriginal people encounter, as well as strangers’ kindness to the children. The book is, however, unavoidably of its time. The people of the North are always called Indians. There’s an Ojibwe glossary at the end of the book, very useful and convenient, in which Anishnaabe is translated as ‘Indian’!… (plus d'informations)

According to the back cover, Grey Owl was half Indian and half Scotch [sic], but apparently he was really an Englishman called Archibald Stanley Belaney. From the photos in the book, where he is in a feathered headdress, he does look very Indian.
His wiki entry is very interesting. The fact that he was really English was not known until after his death (and this book was published while he was still alive) so Scribner can be excused for getting it wrong... One of Belaney's grandfathers came from Scotland.
The publisher really was taken in. On the back cover, the blurb states "Grey Owl has a pleasing and rhythmic style of writing which he attributes to the fact that he translates directly from the naturally rhythmic Indian speech.
Clever man.

The story is so enchanting it almost hurts. I read it in an afternoon.… (plus d'informations)

Belaney, Archibald Stansfeld was known as Grey Owl (Wa-sha-quon-asin), forest ranger, guide, trapper, environmentalist, conservation officer, Canadian soldier, writer, and lecturer (1888 in Hastings, England to 1948 in Ontario. True to his background he lived an irresponsible and erratic life of poor judgment, but in his later life he became celebrated as a Canadian Indian conservationist. There is a detailed biography: "From the land of Shadows, the making of Grey Owl". cf Dewey 333 for conservation… (plus d'informations)