- August 24, 2014
The Friends of the Park present a tribute to the conservation legacy of Grey Owl and Anahareo.
When: Sunday, August 24, 5:00 pm
Where: Community Hall (Prince Albert, SK)
Cost: $100
Sophie McCall, editor of the new critical edition of Devil in Deerskins, will be in attendance at the gala dinner, as will Katherine Swartile and Ann Gaskell, Anahareo’s daughters. U of M Press will be represented by First Voices, First Texts series editor Warren Cariou.
About the Book
Anahareo (1906-1985) was a Mohawk writer, environmentalist, and activist. She was also the wife of Grey Owl, aka Archie Belaney, the internationally celebrated writer and speaker who claimed to be of Scottish and Apache descent, but whose true ancestry as a white Englishman only became known after his death.
Devil in Deerskins is Anahareo’s autobiography up to and including her marriage to Grey Owl. In vivid prose she captures their extensive travels through the bush and their work towards environmental and wildlife protection. Here we see the daily life of an extraordinary Mohawk woman whose independence, intellect, and moral conviction had direct influence on Grey Owl’s conversion from trapper to conservationist. Though first published in 1972, Devil in Deerskins’ observations on indigeneity, culture, and land speak directly to contemporary audiences.
Devil in Deerskins is the first book in the First Voices, First Texts series. This new edition includes forewords by Anahareo’s daughters, Katherine Swartile and Anne Gaskell, an afterword by Sophie McCall, and reintroduces readers to a very important but largely forgotten text by one of Canada’s most talented Aboriginal writers.
About the Authors
Anahareo (1906-1985) was born Gertrude Bernard in Mattawa, Ontario. For her work in conservation she was admitted into the Order of Nature of the Paris-based International League of Animal Rights in 1979 and received the Order of Canada in 1983.
Sophie McCall is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at Simon Fraser University.
Other contributors: Katherine Swartile, Anne Gaskell
