Duncan Campbell Scott
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
Scott was born in Ottawa, Ontario. 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.
Contents |
[edit] Indian Affairs
Aside from his poetry, 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.
Even before Confederation, the Canadian government adopted 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.[citation needed]
In 1920, under Scott's direction, it became mandatory for all native children between the ages of seven and fifteen to attend one of Canada's Residential Schools.
| “ | 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, [1] |
||
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.[citation needed] The children were taken away from their homes, their families, and their culture.
[edit] Legacy
As part of their Worst Canadian poll, a panel of experts commissioned by Canada's National History Society named Scott one of the Worst Canadians in the August 2007 issue of The Beaver.
[edit] References
- ^ National Archives of Canada, Record Group 10, vol 6810, file 470-2-3, vol 7, pp. 55 (L-3) and 63 (N-3). For a more accessible source see: John Leslie, The Historical Development of the Indian Act, second edition (Ottawa: Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Treaties and Historical Research Branch, 1978). 114.
- Article in the Canadian poetry archive
- Poem entitled The Battle of Lundy's Lane from the Niagara Falls Poetry Project
[edit] Further reading
- Titley, E. Brian. A Narrow Vision: Duncan Campbell Scott and the Administration of Indian Affairs in Canada. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1986. ISBN 0774802618
