Henry Wood Elliott (November 13, 1846 – May 25, 1930) was an American

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to ...

painter,

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

, and

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

whose work primarily focused on

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

n subjects. He was the author of the 1911 Hay-Elliott Fur Seal Treaty, the first international treaty on wildlife conservation. A number of his works have an

ethnographic Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject ...

bent, displaying aboriginal Alaskans engaging in traditional practices; some of these works are stored in the

National Anthropological Archives The National Anthropological Archives is a collection of historical and contemporary documents maintained by the Smithsonian Institution, which document the history of anthropology and the world's peoples and cultures. It is located in the Smi ...

at the Smithsonian. Elliott also focused on the Alaskan landscape and wildlife. In 1886, Elliott published a book entitled '' Our Arctic Province: Alaska and the Seal Islands'', which contains an in-depth exploration of Alaska's history, geography, people, and wildlife. He became involved in early conservation efforts of the

fur seal Fur seals are any of nine species of pinnipeds belonging to the subfamily Arctocephalinae in the family '' Otariidae''. They are much more closely related to sea lions than true seals, and share with them external ears (pinnae), relatively l ...

, in 1905 co-authoring a document with

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

John Hay that would eventually become the

North Pacific Fur Seal Convention of 1911 The North Pacific Fur Seal Convention of 1911, formally known as the Convention between the United States and Other Powers Providing for the Preservation and Protection of Fur Seals, was a treaty signed on July 7, 1911, designed to manage the co ...

, the first international treaty dedicated to the conservation of wildlife.

Gallery

Pacific Walrus by Elliot.jpg, Pacific walrus, July 5, 1872 Beluga caza.jpg, Hunting a Beluga whale NOAA Saint Paul Island elliott4.jpg, Map of St. Paul Island drawn by Elliott in 1890

References

1846 births 1930 deaths 19th-century American painters American male painters 20th-century American painters American naturalists People of pre-statehood Alaska 19th-century American male artists 20th-century American male artists {{US-painter-1840s-stub