Hugh Dempsey

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Hugh Dempsey
BornHugh Aylmer Dempsey
(1929-11-07)November 7, 1929
Edgerton, Alberta
DiedMay 24, 2022 (aged 92)
Calgary
OccupationHistorian
Author
NationalityCanadian
Genre Historical
Subject First Nation
Alberta
Notable awards Order of Canada
SpousePauline Gladstone

Hugh Aylmer Dempsey, CM (November 7, 1929 - May 24, 2022) [1] was a Canadian historian, an author and the Chief Curator Emeritus of the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, Alberta. [2] [3] Dempsey authored more than 20 books, focusing primarily on the history of people of the Blackfoot Confederacy. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Calgary and was made an honorary chief of the Kainai Blackfoot in 1967. [4] For his contributions to the study of the Plains Indians, Dempsey was awarded membership in the Order of Canada in 1975. [5]

Contents

Career

Dempsey left school in 1947 after completing Grade 11. [3] He worked as a journalist for the Edmonton Bulletin newspaper from 1948 to 1951 and then, when the newspaper folded, became a publicity writer for the Alberta Government from 1951 to 1956. [6] In 1956, Dempsey was vice-president of the Edmonton-based Historical Society of Alberta and associate editor of the Alberta Historical Review, when he moved to Calgary to become archivist of the recently established Glenbow Museum. [7] From 1956 until 1967, he served as archivist, becoming curator/director from 1967 to 1991. [6] [3] On his retirement Dempsey was made Chief Curator Emeritus. [6]

Dempsey authored numerous articles and books, such as Crowfoot, Chief of the Blackfeet (1973), The Gentle Persuader: A Biography of James Gladstone, Indian Senator (1986), and Red Crow: Warrior Chief (1978), which focus on the culture and history of the First Nation peoples of Alberta. [8] Dempsey's writing benefited not only from his work as an archivist but also from his access to the Blackfoot community through his marriage. [3] [4] Dempsey is credited with combining the oral history of native peoples with scholarly records to produce historical writing with a broad popular appeal. [4]

Dempsey became editor of the Alberta Historical Review in 1958. From 1963 to 1967, Dempsey was also editor of the newsletter The Canadian Archivist which later became the journal of the Archives Section of the Canadian Historical Association. [9] He also lectured on native studies and Alberta history at the University of Calgary.

Honors

Dempsey was the honorary secretary of the Indian Association of Alberta from 1959 to 1964 and was made an honorary chief of the Kainai Nation in 1967. [4] Dempsey was presented with an honorary doctorate from the University of Calgary on May 30, 1974, after he gave the convocation address. On October 15, 1975 Dempsey was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada "for his contributions to the preservation of the cultural and development of interest in the history of the Plains Indians." [5] In 1987, Dempsey was awarded the Certificate of Merit in Regional History by the Canadian Historical Association for his "distinguished career." [10] On October 2, 2000, the Archives Society of Alberta paid tribute to Dempsey "for his lasting contributions" to the preservation of Alberta's heritage. [11] In 2019, Dempsey received an honorary degree from the University of Lethbridge. [12]

Personal life

Dempsey was born in Edgerton, Alberta in 1929. His parents were English war bride Lily Louise Sharp and farmer (former Canadian soldier) Otto Lionel Dempsey. Forced off the land by the Depression, they moved to Edmonton when Hugh was five. [3] In 1953 he married Pauline Gladstone, the daughter of Canadian Senator James Gladstone of the Kainai Blackfoot, with whom he had five children. [6] In 1951 Dempsey began more than 40 years of correspondence and friendship with American ethnohistorian John Canfield Ewers when the two met while doing field research on the Blackfoot reservation in Montana. [13]

Dempsey passed away in Calgary, Alberta on May 24, 2022, at the age of 92. [2]

Bibliography

Selected books

Selected articles and monographs

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piegan Blackfeet</span> Native American tribe

The Piegan are an Algonquian-speaking people from the North American Great Plains. They are the largest of three Blackfoot-speaking groups that make up the Blackfoot Confederacy; the Siksika and Kainai are the others. The Piegan dominated much of the northern Great Plains during the nineteenth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackfoot Confederacy</span> A name used for a group of Native Americans

The Blackfoot Confederacy, Niitsitapi, or Siksikaitsitapi, is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up the Blackfoot or Blackfeet people: the Siksika ("Blackfoot"), the Kainai or Blood, and two sections of the Peigan or Piikani – the Northern Piikani (Aapátohsipikáni) and the Southern Piikani. Broader definitions include groups such as the Tsúùtínà (Sarcee) and A'aninin who spoke quite different languages but allied with or joined the Blackfoot Confederacy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kainai Nation</span> First Nation in Alberta, Canada

The Kainai Nation is a First Nations band government in southern Alberta, Canada, with a population of 12,800 members in 2015, up from 11,791 in December 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Gladstone</span> Canadian politician

James Gladstone was a Canadian politician who claimed to become the first Treaty Indian to be appointed to the Senate of Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glenbow Museum</span> Art and history museum in Calgary, Canada

The Glenbow Museum is an art and history regional museum in the city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The museum focuses on Western Canadian history and culture, including Indigenous perspectives. The Glenbow was established as a private non-profit foundation in 1955 by lawyer, businessman and philanthropist Eric Lafferty Harvie with materials from his personal collection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piikani Nation</span>

The Pi'ikanni Nation is a First Nation, representing the Indigenous people in Canada known as the Northern Piikani or simply the Peigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crowfoot</span> First Nations chief in Canada (1830–1890)

Crowfoot or Isapo-Muxika was a chief of the Siksika First Nation. His father, Istowun-eh'pata, and mother, Axkahp-say-pi, were Kainai. He was five years old when Istowun-eh'pata was killed during a raid on the Crow tribe, and, a year later, his mother remarried to Akay-nehka-simi of the Siksika people among whom he was brought up. Crowfoot was a warrior who fought in as many as nineteen battles and sustained many injuries, but he tried to obtain peace instead of warfare. Crowfoot is well known for his involvement in Treaty Number 7 and did much negotiating for his people. While many believe Chief Crowfoot had no part in the North-West Rebellion, he did in fact participate to an extent due to his son's connection to the conflict. Crowfoot died of tuberculosis at Blackfoot Crossing on April 25, 1890. Eight hundred of his tribe attended his funeral, along with government dignitaries. In 2008, Chief Crowfoot was inducted into the North America Railway Hall of Fame where he was recognized for his contributions to the railway industry. Crowfoot is well known for his contributions to the Blackfoot nation, and has many memorials to signify his accomplishments.

First Nations in Alberta are a group of people who live in the Canadian province of Alberta. The First Nations are peoples recognized as Indigenous peoples or Plains Indians in Canada excluding the Inuit and the Métis. According to the 2011 Census, a population of 116,670 Albertans self-identified as First Nations. Specifically there were 96,730 First Nations people with registered Indian Status and 19,945 First Nations people without registered Indian Status. Alberta has the third largest First Nations population among the provinces and territories. From this total population, 47.3% of the population lives on an Indian reserve and the other 52.7% live in urban centres. According to the 2011 Census, the First Nations population in Edmonton totalled at 31,780, which is the second highest for any city in Canada. The First Nations population in Calgary, in reference to the 2011 Census, totalled at 17,040. There are 48 First Nations or "bands" in Alberta, belonging to nine different ethnic groups or "tribes" based on their ancestral languages.

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References

  1. Ernest Kay (1989). The International authors and writers who's who: Volume 10.
  2. 1 2 Seskus, Tony (May 26, 2022). "Alberta author Hugh Dempsey remembered for chronicles of First Nations history". Calgary, Alberta: CBC News.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Smith, Donald (1 January 2016). "Hugh Dempsey: Dean of Alberta historians—and bridge between worlds". Alberta Views. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 George Melnyk, The Literary History of Alberta: From the end of the war to the end of the century, University of Alberta, 1999 p112-113 ISBN   0-88864-324-1
  5. 1 2 "Hugh A. Dempsey, C.M., LL.D", Order of Canada, Governor General of Canada, www.gg.ca, retrieved 2009-04-25
  6. 1 2 3 4 ""Hugh A. Dempsey fonds"" . Retrieved 2017-04-06., Archives Catalogue, Glenbow Museum, retrieved 2009-04-25
  7. Sanders, Harry M. "Rescued from oblivion: the Chinook Country Historical Society and its antecedents", Alberta History, 22 September 2007
  8. "Hugh Dempsey, The Applied History Research Group, University of Calgary, retrieved 2009-04-25
  9. "The Canadian Archivist", Archivaria, Association of Canadian Archivists, journals.sfu.ca retrieved 2009-04-25
  10. "Certificates of Merit in Regional History Winners 1979–2008", Canadian Historical Association, www.cha-shc.ca, retrieved 2009-04-25
  11. "ASA Honours Hugh Dempsey". Newsletter. Archives Society of Alberta. 20 (3). Winter 2000–2001. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
  12. "UNews". University of Lethbridge. May 6, 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  13. Ubelaker, Douglas H.; Viola, Herman J. (1982). Douglas H. Ubelaker (ed.). Plains Indian Studies: A collection of Essays in Honor of John C. Ewers and Waldo R. Wedel (PDF). Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 4.