Born Geswanouth Slahoot, Chief Dan George was raised on the Burrard reserve in North Vancouver. He received his English name, Dan George, at St. Paul’s residential school, where he was sent when he was five years old.
To most Canadians he is the first well-known Indigenous artist.
Before he started acting at the age of 60, George had worked as longshoreman, construction worker, school-bus driver, logger and itinerant musician. He was Chief of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation from 1951 to 1963.
In 1959 he began to act, and helped improve the popular image of Indigenous people, often represented in stereotypical ways.
His career is particularly marked by three performances: as David Joe in the premiere of George Ryga’s The Ecstasy of Rita Joe (1967), for his recitation of his own Lament for Confederation at the centennial celebrations in Vancouver in 1967, and as the deadpan-humourous elder in the movie Little Big Man (1970, opposite Dustin Hoffman).
Chief George’s performances were marked by an almost ethereal wisdom and a timeworn strength of character.
During his acting career, Chief Dan George always worked to promote better understanding by non-Indigenous of the First Nations people. His soliloquy, Lament for Confederation, a riveting indictment of the appropriation of native territory by white colonialism, was performed at the City of Vancouver’s celebration of the Canadian centennial in 1967. This speech is credited with escalating native political activism in Canada, as well as touching off widespread pro-Native sentiment among non-Natives.
In 1971, George was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. He died in Vancouver in 1981.
