Looking Back: John Murray Gibbon
On August 7, 1955, a plaque in memory of writer and cultural promoter John Murray Gibbon was unveiled in front of Donald Cameron Hall. The ceremony was attended by Chiefs Johnny Bearspaw and Tom Simmeon of the Stoney Nakoda First Nation.
John Murray Gibbon (given the honorary title of Chief Man-of-Many-Sides by the Stoney Nakoda First Nation in 1944) was a founding member of the Canadian Authors’ Association. He strongly advocated Canadian arts, publishing over 30 books examining various aspects of Canadian culture. Perhaps most notably, Canadian Mosaic (1938) argued that the diversity of cultural backgrounds in Canada was a strength rather than a weakness. Gibbon’s ideas would influence future national cultural policy and helped establish the concept of a “cultural mosaic.”
Since its unveiling, the monument to John Murray Gibbon has been relocated to the top of the Ken Madsen Path.
