Grey Owl: Environmentalist Or Conservationist?

Despite all of the positive work he has done, Grey Owl is mainly remembered for playing out one of the most convincing hoaxes of the 20th century. The environmentalist, born as Archibald Belaney, took on a fake identity as a First Nations man named Grey Owl up until his death in 1938. Unfortunately, the truth was revealed after his death and all the constructive work he put into educating others about the environment was forgotten. Although some do see him as a fraud, Grey Owl’s teachings remain true and genuine. While working as a conservationist he always tried to spread awareness on the importance of caring for the world. Grey Owl was an environmentalist who sincerely cared about the earth through his public speaking, sympathetic attitude
He expressed great deals of sadness due to trapping and causing harm to animals since he was young. Before he took on the persona of Grey Owl, he once wrote to a friend “I killed that lynx today and somehow I wished I hadn’t. His skin is worth only $10 (…) and the way he looked at me I can’t get that out of my mind”. In this quote, Grey Owl’s love for animals is extremely noticeable. He felt bad for the animal that he was taught to kill and at this moment he realized the pain these creatures have to face. Another incident having to do with Grey Owl’s consideration towards nature was when he was married to his former wife. When his wife started to raise a pair of baby beavers, whose mother was killed in a trap, he realized that the animals being trapped were intelligent and affectionate creatures. After he grew close to the beavers, he vowed to never trap beavers and worked to stop the practice overall. Lastly, the stories that were told about Grey Owl’s experiences trapping really showed who he was as a person. He was disgusted with the brutality involved with trapping and the stories that circulated about him proved this fact. Experienced trappers told stories of Grey Owl setting up multiple bear traps one spring and not going back to pick them up. When he killed his first beaver at a young age he was extremely proud at first but after picking it up his expression changed and he expressed how it was a pity to kill animals. Grey Owl sympathized with nature through his words and actions proving him to be a genuine