Duncan Campbell Scott
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Source: Library and Archives Canada, PA-165842
Duncan Campbell Scott (August 2, 1862-December 19, 1947) was a Canadian poet and prose writer. Charles G.D. Roberts, Bliss Carman, Archibald Lampman and Scott are known as the "Confederation poets". Scott was also deputy superintendent of the Department of Indian Affairs, a position he held from 1913 to 1932.
Duncan Campbell Scott was born in Ottawa, Ontario in 1862. Early in life, he became an accomplished pianist. In 1883, he met Archibald Lampman who introduced him to poetry and prose writing. His best work was inspired by the Canadian wilderness and the native people of North America.
In 1894, he married Belle Botsford, a concert pianist, who he had met at a recital in Ottawa. After Lampman died in 1899, Scott helped publish a number of editions of Lampman's poetry. He became a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1899 and served as its president from 1921 to 1922. He was awarded the Lorne Pierce Medal in 1927 for his contributions to Canadian literature.
His wife died in 1929 and, two years later, he married another poet, Elsie Aylen. He retired from the Canadian Civil Service in 1932. He died in December 1947 in Ottawa at the age of 85 and is buried in Beechwood Cemetery.
[edit] Indian Affairs
Aside from his poetry, Duncan Campbell Scott made his mark in Canadian history as the head of the Department of Indian Affairs from 1913 to 1932, a department he had served since joining the federal civil service in 1879. Unfortunately, it wasn't a good mark in the history of First Nation-Canada relations. Like his poetry, his policies spoke much of the displacement First Nations people from their lands.
The Canadian government after the founding of Canada in 1867 decided to adopt a policy of assimilation. The long term goal was to bring the Native peoples from their ‘savage and unproductive state’ and force civilization upon them, thus making Canada a homogeneous society in the Anglo-Saxon and Christian tradition (Miller, 1989).
Scott has been highly criticized for his actions regarding Canada's Residential Schools. In 1920, under his direction, it became mandatory for all native children between the ages of seven and fifteen to attend the institutions. In explanation he stated, "I want to get rid of the Indian problem. Our object is to continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada that has not been absorbed. They are a weird and waning race...ready to break out at any moment in savage dances."
The most important means by which the Canadian government had to civilize the Native was with education. The Minister of Indian Affaires Frank Oliver predicted in 1908 that education would "elevate the Indian from his condition of savagery" and "make him a self-supporting member of the state, and eventually a citizen in good standing." (Oliver, 1908).
The children who attended these schools lived in terrible conditions; in some cases the mortality rate exceeded fifty percent due to the spread of infectious disease. With a total death toll estimated at 50,000 nearly one half of all the children who attended the schools died. The children were taken away from their homes, their families, and their culture. The intention of these institutions was to "kill the Indian in the child" and turn them into respectable Canadian citizens. Many residential school survivors describe the experience as their "Holocaust". Contemporary historians are divided on Scott, most arguing that he was simply a man of his time who worked on creating a better future for Canada.
I want to get rid of the Indian problem. I do not think as a matter of fact, that the country ought to continuously protect a class of people who are able to stand alone… Our objective is to continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada that has not been absorbed into the body politic and there is no Indian question, and no Indian Department, that is the whole object of this Bill. Duncan Campbell Scott Evidence given before a special committee of the House in 1920
[edit] Reference
Miller, J.R. (1989). Skyscrapers hide the heavens: A history of indian-white relations in canada. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press.
Oliver, F. (21 March 1908). Letter from the honourable frank oliver, the superintendent general of indian affairs to the joint church delegation. Ottawa, ON.
