Selwyn Dewdney
Encyclopedia
Selwyn Hanington Dewdney (October 9, 1909–November 18, 1979) was an author, illustrator, artist, activist and pioneer in both art therapy and pictography.
on October 9, 1909 and was the son of the Anglican bishop of the diocese of Keewatin. His family moved to Kenora, Ontario
in 1924 and he received his secondary education there. He attended the University of Toronto
where he received a general Bachelor of Arts.
In the summer of 1928, he accompanied his father on a 3,800 mile journey to visit the Ojibwa
y and Cree
missions in Northern Ontario. Much of this venture was travelled by canoe. This experience established his interest in native culture and love of the bush in the Canadian Shield
.
In 1932, he attended the Ontario College of Education and received a High School Assistant's Certificate and Art Specialists Certificate. He also took a course in landscape painting.
formations of the Canadian Shield
and the Hudson Bay
lowlands. Amongst the muskeg
and blackflies
, he sketched the landscape and produced pencil portraits of the traverse crew at the survey camp.
Dewdney's inspiration as an artist came from the great northern landscapes that he loved to visit. His dramatic style is quite similar to that of the Group of Seven
. He was also inspired by the American illustrator, Lynd Ward
, as can be seen in the personal Christmas cards he designed each year.
. Later, Dewdney became a father to Christopher Dewdney
, a Canadian poet, and Alexander Dewdney
, a mathematician, author, conservationist, environmental scientist and naturalist. Two other sons are Peter, and Donner.
but resigned in protest at the demotion of a colleague in 1945. This experience was the subject of his first novel Wind Without Rain.
, led to an opportunity to join Kidd and help record the pictograph sites. By 1957, 11 rock-painting sites were recorded in Quetico Provincial Park
. Between 1959 and 1965, with two of his sons as field assistants, he discovered and recorded rock art from the foothills of the Rockies to the Atlantic coast. By 1978, he had visited 301 sites in Canada and the U.S.. In 1962, the first edition of Indian Rock Paintings of the Great Lakes was published, with Kenneth Kidd as co-author.
, which purportedly embodied traditional ceremonial rituals of healing and sorcery and included four degrees of initiation. Despite being first documented by Europeans in the early 18th century, it is believed that some essential elements of the Midewiwin were "elaborations of traditional Anishinaabe beliefs and practices". Elements of this belief system were recorded on scrolls made of birch bark
, sewn together with cedar roots. His The Sacred Scrolls of the Southern Ojibway, published in 1975, remains the only volume dedicated exclusively to this subject.
, a young native artist, and his encouragement and support helped promote Morrisseau as the country's best known Woodland artist. Dewdney edited Morrisseau's book Legends of My People. At one time, Morrisseau and his family actually lived with Dewdney and his family at their home on Erie Avenue in London.
by the Ministry of Natural Resources
to honor his memory. A plaque erected by the family stands against the Shield rock he loved so much, a few meters away from the Ojibway pictograph Mishibizhiw, the great horned lynx. In 1997, his son, A.K. Dewdney, published Daylight in the Swamp, based on Dewdney's bush diary, field notes and letters. Selwyn was working on the original manuscript for the book at the time of his death. In the preface to the book, the author explains that the night following his father's funeral, he felt his presence which inspired him to complete his father's work. The term 'daylight in the swamp' refers to a call to loggers after breakfast was eaten to start the men into the woods to work.
Early life
He was born in Prince Albert, SaskatchewanPrince Albert, Saskatchewan
Prince Albert is the third-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is situated in the centre of the province on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River. The city is known as the "Gateway to the North" because it is the last major centre along the route to the resources of northern Saskatchewan...
on October 9, 1909 and was the son of the Anglican bishop of the diocese of Keewatin. His family moved to Kenora, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
in 1924 and he received his secondary education there. He attended the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
where he received a general Bachelor of Arts.
In the summer of 1928, he accompanied his father on a 3,800 mile journey to visit the Ojibwa
Ojibwa
The Ojibwe or Chippewa are among the largest groups of Native Americans–First Nations north of Mexico. They are divided between Canada and the United States. In Canada, they are the third-largest population among First Nations, surpassed only by Cree and Inuit...
y and Cree
Cree
The Cree are one of the largest groups of First Nations / Native Americans in North America, with 200,000 members living in Canada. In Canada, the major proportion of Cree live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, although...
missions in Northern Ontario. Much of this venture was travelled by canoe. This experience established his interest in native culture and love of the bush in the Canadian Shield
Canadian Shield
The Canadian Shield, also called the Laurentian Plateau, or Bouclier Canadien , is a vast geological shield covered by a thin layer of soil that forms the nucleus of the North American or Laurentia craton. It is an area mostly composed of igneous rock which relates to its long volcanic history...
.
In 1932, he attended the Ontario College of Education and received a High School Assistant's Certificate and Art Specialists Certificate. He also took a course in landscape painting.
The artist
In 1933, he was hired by the Geological Survey of Canada, and was assigned to survey the transition zone between the PrecambrianPrecambrian
The Precambrian is the name which describes the large span of time in Earth's history before the current Phanerozoic Eon, and is a Supereon divided into several eons of the geologic time scale...
formations of the Canadian Shield
Canadian Shield
The Canadian Shield, also called the Laurentian Plateau, or Bouclier Canadien , is a vast geological shield covered by a thin layer of soil that forms the nucleus of the North American or Laurentia craton. It is an area mostly composed of igneous rock which relates to its long volcanic history...
and the Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay , sometimes called Hudson's Bay, is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada. It drains a very large area, about , that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, southeastern Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota,...
lowlands. Amongst the muskeg
Muskeg
Muskeg is an acidic soil type common in Arctic and boreal areas, although it is found in other northern climates as well. Muskeg is approximately synonymous with bogland but muskeg is the standard term in Western Canada and Alaska, while 'bog' is common elsewhere. The term is of Cree origin, maskek...
and blackflies
Black fly
A black fly is any member of the family Simuliidae of the Culicomorpha infraorder. They are related to the Ceratopogonidae, Chironomidae, and Thaumaleidae. There are over 1,800 known species of black flies . Most species belong to the immense genus Simulium...
, he sketched the landscape and produced pencil portraits of the traverse crew at the survey camp.
Dewdney's inspiration as an artist came from the great northern landscapes that he loved to visit. His dramatic style is quite similar to that of the Group of Seven
Group of Seven (artists)
The Group of Seven, sometimes known as the Algonquin school, were a group of Canadian landscape painters from 1920-1933, originally consisting of Franklin Carmichael , Lawren Harris , A. Y. Jackson , Franz Johnston , Arthur Lismer , J. E. H. MacDonald , and Frederick Varley...
. He was also inspired by the American illustrator, Lynd Ward
Lynd Ward
Lynd Kendall Ward was an American artist and storyteller, and son of Methodist minister and prominent political organizer Harry F. Ward. He illustrated some 200 juvenile and adult books...
, as can be seen in the personal Christmas cards he designed each year.
Family
In 1936, he married Irene Donner in a ceremony conducted by his father. Their honeymoon was a 500 mile canoe trip loop from Kenora to Red LakeRed Lake, Ontario
Population trend:* Population in 2006: 4526* Population in 2001: 4233* Population total in 1996: 4778** Golden : 2248** Red Lake : 2277* Population in 1991:** Golden : 2355** Red Lake : 2268-Climate:...
. Later, Dewdney became a father to Christopher Dewdney
Christopher Dewdney
Christopher Dewdney is a Canadian writer and poet.He was born in London, Ontario, and presently lives in Toronto, where he is a professor at York University. He is the long-time partner of writer Barbara Gowdy. Winner of the 2007 Harbourfront Festival Prize, he is the author of four books of...
, a Canadian poet, and Alexander Dewdney
Alexander Dewdney
Alexander Keewatin Dewdney is a Canadian mathematician, computer scientist and philosopher who has written a number of books on the future and implications of modern computing. He has also written one work of fiction, The Planiverse...
, a mathematician, author, conservationist, environmental scientist and naturalist. Two other sons are Peter, and Donner.
Teaching
He began teaching at Sir Adam Beck Secondary School in London, OntarioLondon, Ontario
London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
but resigned in protest at the demotion of a colleague in 1945. This experience was the subject of his first novel Wind Without Rain.
Art therapy
With a growing family of three sons, he turned to illustrating books, writing, researching, editing and painting commissioned murals to support them. It was during this time that he became interested in art therapy when he was commissioned illustrate Lional Penroses's psychiatric 'M' test. In 1947, while working at Westminster Veterans Hospital in London, he began giving art instruction to some to the psychiatric patients. The positive results of this eventually afforded him the position of Psychiatric Art Therapist. His pioneering work in this field, along with his wife Irene, led to the development of the first art therapy program.Rock art
During the 1950s, his ongoing exploration of Northern Ontario introduced him to the ancient native pictographs painted in red ochre on the rocks. He always maintained a profound interest in native culture, so recording the little-understood drawings was a logical next step. A chance meeting with Kenneth E. Kidd, the curator of the ethnology department of the Royal Ontario MuseumRoyal Ontario Museum
The Royal Ontario Museum is a museum of world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With its main entrance facing Bloor Street in Downtown Toronto, the museum is situated north of Queen's Park and east of Philosopher's Walk in the University of Toronto...
, led to an opportunity to join Kidd and help record the pictograph sites. By 1957, 11 rock-painting sites were recorded in Quetico Provincial Park
Quetico Provincial Park
Quetico Provincial Park is a large wilderness park in Northwestern Ontario, Canada, renowned for its excellent canoeing and fishing. This park shares its southern border with Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which is part of the larger Superior National Forest...
. Between 1959 and 1965, with two of his sons as field assistants, he discovered and recorded rock art from the foothills of the Rockies to the Atlantic coast. By 1978, he had visited 301 sites in Canada and the U.S.. In 1962, the first edition of Indian Rock Paintings of the Great Lakes was published, with Kenneth Kidd as co-author.
The Sacred Scrolls
Dewdney learned of a secret society within the Ojibway, the MidewiwinMidewiwin
The Midewiwin or the Grand Medicine Society is a secretive religion of the aboriginal groups of the Maritimes, New England and Great Lakes regions in North America. Its practitioners are called Midew and the practices of Midewiwin referred to as Mide...
, which purportedly embodied traditional ceremonial rituals of healing and sorcery and included four degrees of initiation. Despite being first documented by Europeans in the early 18th century, it is believed that some essential elements of the Midewiwin were "elaborations of traditional Anishinaabe beliefs and practices". Elements of this belief system were recorded on scrolls made of birch bark
Birch bark scrolls
Wiigwaasabak are birch bark scrolls, on which the Ojibwa people of North America wrote complex geometrical patterns and shapes. When used specifically for Midewiwin ceremonial use, these scrolls are called mide-wiigwaas...
, sewn together with cedar roots. His The Sacred Scrolls of the Southern Ojibway, published in 1975, remains the only volume dedicated exclusively to this subject.
Norval Morrisseau
In 1960, Dewdney met Norval MorrisseauNorval Morrisseau
Norval Morrisseau, CM , also known as Copper Thunderbird, was an Aboriginal Canadian artist. Known as the "Picasso of the North", Morrisseau created works depicting the legends of his people, the cultural and political tensions between native Canadian and European traditions, his existential...
, a young native artist, and his encouragement and support helped promote Morrisseau as the country's best known Woodland artist. Dewdney edited Morrisseau's book Legends of My People. At one time, Morrisseau and his family actually lived with Dewdney and his family at their home on Erie Avenue in London.
Last years
In 1978, he published his second novel, Christopher Breton. He died on November 18, 1979, following heart surgery. In 1980, two stands of white pine were planted at Agawa Bay in Lake Superior Provincial ParkLake Superior Provincial Park
Lake Superior Provincial Park is one of the largest provincial parks in Ontario, covering about along the northeastern shores of Lake Superior between Wawa and Sault Ste. Marie in Algoma District, Northeastern Ontario, Canada...
by the Ministry of Natural Resources
Ministry of Natural Resources (Ontario)
The Ministry of Natural Resources is a government ministry of the Canadian province of Ontario that responsible for Ontario’s provincial parks, forests, fisheries, wildlife, mineral aggregates and the Crown lands and waters that make up 87 per cent of the province...
to honor his memory. A plaque erected by the family stands against the Shield rock he loved so much, a few meters away from the Ojibway pictograph Mishibizhiw, the great horned lynx. In 1997, his son, A.K. Dewdney, published Daylight in the Swamp, based on Dewdney's bush diary, field notes and letters. Selwyn was working on the original manuscript for the book at the time of his death. In the preface to the book, the author explains that the night following his father's funeral, he felt his presence which inspired him to complete his father's work. The term 'daylight in the swamp' refers to a call to loggers after breakfast was eaten to start the men into the woods to work.
See also
- Walam OlumWalam OlumThe Walam Olum or Walum Olum, usually translated as "Red Record" or "Red Score," is purportedly a historical narrative of the Lenape Native American tribe. The document has provoked controversy as to its authenticity since its publication in the 1830s by botanist and antiquarian Constantine Samuel...
- Birch bark documentBirch bark documentA birch bark document is a document written on pieces of birch bark. Such documents existed in several cultures. For instance, some Gandharan Buddhist texts have been found written on birch bark and preserved in clay jars....
- MidewiwinMidewiwinThe Midewiwin or the Grand Medicine Society is a secretive religion of the aboriginal groups of the Maritimes, New England and Great Lakes regions in North America. Its practitioners are called Midew and the practices of Midewiwin referred to as Mide...
- Wiigwaasabak
- Petroglyphs
- Pictographs
Selected bibliography
- 1946: Wind Without Rain. Toronto: Copp Clark
- 1960: The Map That Grew. Toronto: Oxford University Press
- 1967: Indian Paintings of the Great Lakes. Second Edition. Published for the Quetico Foundation. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
- 1975: The Sacred Scrolls of the Southern Ojibway. Published for the Glenbow-Alberta Institute, Calgary, Alberta. Toronto: The University of Toronto Press.
- 1975: They Shared to Survive: The Native Peoples of Canada. Illustrated by Franklin Arbuckle. Toronto: The MacMillan Company of Canada, Limited
- 1978: Christopher Breton. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.
- 1980: The Hungry Time. Toronto: James Lorimer & Company, Publishers.
- https://www.lib.uwo.ca/files/archives/archives%20finding%20aids/test_Dewdney,%20Selwyn%20fonds%20AFC%2021%20070707.pdf