Ruth Templeton

Grey Owl – Charlatan or not?

He had an affinity for nature and conservation that was way ahead of his time. The work he did with beavers was instrumental to their survival especially after the decimation of the population by hunters for their fur.
After rescuing two orphaned beavers (their mother having been killed) he nurtured them and ensured their survival – even sharing his home with them – their two wooden dwellings moulding together to create one home for them all.

I think nowadays he’d probably be called a ‘weirdo’ or ‘neuro-diverse’ to be more correct and less offensive. Practicing his walk across the firehills to seem more like a natve american indian, his determination and total immersion in another culture is a recognised trait of obsessiveness and focus.

I love the fact he traveled the world and even gave talks on conservation – just a random lad from Hastings, with not the best start in life. I can’t imagine it would’ve been an easy start in life for him – from a broken home and brought up by his strict aunts. However he made it to grammar school so he must have had a level of intelligence. I wonder what his prospects would have been had he stayed in hastings.

Did he really do anything that bad? What would’ve happened without what he did? And could he have done what he did without ‘pretending’ to be someone he isn’t? Was it worth it?

Lots of things in any museum seem to come from less scrupulous means. It seems to me that the /british are particularly good at traveling the world and stealing anything precious and shiny to take back to display in dusty cabinets in grey England. Even as amazing as the ‘Durbar Hall’ is, it feels a bit oppressive and a sign of the colonial times, that we thought it ok to just ship two random guys over from the Punjab to build it for us.

I do think that things like the story of ‘Grey Owl’ and his help to put Hastings on the map – for something other than a teenager pregnancy hotspot.

I also love the fact that he saw a show in his sleepy seaside town that inspired his whole life. Leaving home at 17 to pursue a somewhat rose tinted dream. I wonder if he was an enigmatic, social person or was he too focussed and not in need of much human contact.