Grey Owl. The name evokes one of the most intriguing characters in Canada’s past, the Englishman Archie Belaney, who reinvented himself as a “Red Indian” to dramatize his urgent concern for the conservation of the natural world. But did his purpose justify this misrepresentation?

Twenty-five years ago, award-winning Indigenous poet Armand Garnet Ruffo released this compelling long poem to reassess the contradictory life and personality of the infamous Grey Owl. At once both humorous and tragic, Grey Owl weaves archival research and reminiscence, documentary, metafictional and lyrical forms, along with personal family connection to offer insights into the man and his mission. In accessible, dramatic language, Ruffo raises difficult questions about voice and appropriation, Indigenous culture, human rights and the environment.

Armand Garnet Ruffo's work is strongly influenced by his Ojibway heritage. His first poetry collection, Opening in the Sky, was published in 1994 (Theytus Books). His work has also appeared in such anthologies as Looking at the Words of Our People (Theytus Books), Voices of The First Nations (McGraw Hill Ryerson), and Native Literature in Canada (Oxford University Press) as well as numerous literary journals including Dandelion, CVII, and Absinthe. In addition to his numerous publication credits, Ruffo has written several plays.Born in northern Ontario, at the Biscotasing where Grey Owl lived, Ruffo grew up with a photo of his uncle Jimmy and Archie Belaney hanging on his wall - Archie boarded at Ruffo's grandmother's. Since then, Ruffo has travelled extensively throughout Europe, North Africa, and South America. He has worked as a harvester of wild rice, journalist, editor, civil servant, and teacher. Ruffo has studied at York University, the University of Ottawa, and the University of Windsor. He now makes his home in Ottawa, where he is a lecturer and associate director of the Centre for Aboriginal Education, Research and Culture at Carleton University.

Armand Garnet Ruffo's profile page

"In a series of poems the contradictory elements of Grey Owl's personality can be related with a deftness and lightness which prose might not have been able to capture."