A.Y. Jackson and Frederick Banting Making Art in the Arctic
A journey that led Banting to criticize the HBC
Sir Frederick Banting is well-known to Canadians as the co-discoverer of insulin with Charles Best, which earned him a share of the Nobel Prize with John Macleod.
But Banting was also someone who loved art. He first developed an interest in painting in the early-1920s while in London, Ontario.
Through his art and newfound fame, he became friends with Lawren Harris and A.Y. Jackson, both members of The Group of Seven.
All three loved the Canadian landscape, and wanted to capture it through their art. While Harris and Jackson made art their living, for Banting it was just something that gave him joy.
Jackson said of Banting,
"He did not want to make a business of art and would tell [would-be purchasers] to go buy a Lismer or something else and then he would exchange it for one of his."
Banting became a member of the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto.
In 1927, with Jackson, Banting took a trip to the RCMP outposts in the Arctic on the supply ship Beothic. On the journey, he typically painted in oils on birch panels, and in pen and ink.
It was during that trip to the Arctic that Banting saw that the influenza virus was being spread by crew and passengers on the Hudson’s Bay Company paddle-wheeler SS Distributor. Over the summer and autumn, it decimated the Indigenous population of the North.
He also observed that fur traders with the HBC were not making fair trades with the Inuit, often getting $100,000 in fox skins but only giving the Inuit $5,000 worth of goods. The HBC had also caused a change in the Inuit diet, with more flour, biscuits and tobacco being traded. This was causing health problems among the Inuit population.
When Banting gave an interview with the Toronto Star after his return, he asked that his statements about the Hudson’s Bay Company be kept off the record. The Toronto Star published the quotes, and the article was published as far away as Australia.
When the Fur Trade Commissioner with the Hudson’s Bay Company demanded a retraction, Banting stated that while his confidence was betrayed by the reporter, he stood by what he said. He added that he was certain the HBC was responsible for the death of Inuit through providing foods that lacked nutritional qualities, and the spreading of influenza.
By the end of the meeting, the commissioner asked Banting what the company should do. Banting gave his advice, and that Christmas, received a Christmas card from the Governor.