Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/456199
MADE IN MANITOBA 24 G O I N G P L A C E S | S P R I N G 2 0 1 5 collections canada Con-servation Man Uncovering the mysteries of a trapper-turned-conservationist by Lea Currie "W ho's that?" is the common response when I tell people I'm hiking to Grey Owl's cabin in Riding Mountain National Park (RMNP). I'd shake my head in wonder if I hadn't asked the same question myself a few months back. While lost down the rabbit hole of travel websites, I'd stumbled upon a Reader's Digest article designating Grey Owl's namesake trail as one of the top 10 hikes in Canada. Curiosity piqued, I delved into his story and became intrigued by a man who managed to deceive our entire country into believing he was some- one else. Although he was a fraudster, Grey Owl's cons were anything but harmful; in fact, they were quite the opposite. Thanks to his fabrications, he would become one of the most recognized Canadian activists for con- servation and animal welfare, and much of that work began in Manitoba. G rey Owl was born Archibald Belaney in England in 1888. Fascinated by the tipi-dwelling, indigenous people of North America, he came to Canada at 17 seek- ing adventure. During his early years in Ontario, Belaney learned how to trap and made his living selling fur and working as a guide and forest ranger. Later adopted into an Ojibway tribe, Belaney received his aboriginal name, Wa-Sha-Quon-Asin, meaning "He- who-walks-by-night" or Grey Owl. us began his alter ego. He began calling himself aborigi- nal – growing his hair long, wearing traditional indigenous clothing and claiming to be the son of a Scot and an Apache. Years later, his love for an Iroquois woman named Anahareo caused Grey Owl to give up what she considered to be the brutal practice of trapping. Ever the chameleon, Grey Owl instead began to help beavers (ahmik in Ojibway), developing a communi- cation system with the flat-tailed creatures and altering his home to allow them access. His pet beavers, Jelly Roll and Rawhide, were even known to sleep in his bed. This new