Frank Speck and the Red Man’s Appeal for Justice

Photo: Copy of newspaper clipping of Frank Speck and “Chief” Red Cloud in his office at University of Philadelphia, Department of Anthropology. From the Speck Archive.

Discussions relating to Frank Speck's contributions to anthropology during the early twentieth century mainly focus on his representations of aboriginal territoriality in eastern Canada. This article situates Speck and his contributions to anthropology within the larger context of Indigenous issues in Canada during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. I examine the practical conditions and working assumptions connected to his role as an anthropologist and argue that Speck was a participant in a much larger political struggle that included the active engagement of Indigenous peoples. A particular examination of Speck's attempts to help resolve the longstanding struggles of the Six Nations of Grand River during the early 1900s provides a more detailed context to the practical and applied nature of his work. This further strengthens an understanding of Speck as an educator and an advocate who worked to raise both political and administrative awareness regarding the enduring presence of aboriginal peoples in Canada and acceptance of Indigenous cultures by mainstream settler society.

Pulla, S. (2008).“Would you believe that Dr. Speck?”: Frank Speck and the Red Man’s Appeal for Justice, Ethnohistory, 55(2), 183–201.