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Charles F. Newcombe was a British physician, botanist, and ethnographic researchers and collector. Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K., he studied medicine in Aberdeen, Scotland. He immigrated to the United States with his wife and three children, moving to Oregon, before moving to Victoria, B.C., in 1889.

Shortly after his arrival in Victoria he became an unpaid researcher at the provincial museum in Victoria, where he met people with whom he shared interests in botany, geology, marine biology, geography, palaeontology, and anthropology. [...] In 1895, with Francis Kermode of the provincial museum, Newcombe had travelled by steamer on an expedition to the Kwakiutl community at Alert Bay and to Haida Gwaii. On this trip, he began acquiring anthropological artefacts for his personal collection and he also established a practice of recording detailed field notes. In 1896, he became a founding member of the Victoria Natural History Society. By 1897, Newcombe had had a boat specially made for his fieldwork. The Pelican, a 24-foot double-ended Columbia River boat, was easy to row and to sail, could be transported by steamer, and permitted independent expeditions to the remotest areas of the coast. That year he returned to the same regions on his first major independent collecting trip. At the request of the provincial government he purchased a Haida totem pole for the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew (London) and he acquired artefacts for George Mercer Dawson of the Geological Survey of Canada. [...] By 1900, he had received commissions from major American museums. American anthropologist Franz Boas hired him to conduct research on the Haida history of the southern portion of Haida Gwaii. Newcombe was accompanied on this expedition by assistant, Douglas Scholefield, and Haida Chief, Elijah Ninstints. As they rowed and sailed together, Ninstints described the geography and history of his homeland, while Newcombe took notes and photographs, made sketches, and collected specimens. In late 1901, he agreed to work on a full-time basis for the Columbian Museum of Chicago, an arrangement that would last until late 1905. He acquired comprehensive ethnographic collections for displays on the Haida, Kwakiutl, Nootka, and Salish peoples. In 1904, he was commissioned to assemble ethnographic exhibits for the Louisiana Purchase exposition in St Louis that would include a group of Nootka and Kwakiutl cultural performers and artists, as well as a traditional Native house, a canoe, and other artefacts purchased and shipped for the event. He eventually developed a web of patrons, clients, and colleagues that extended throughout British Columbia and around the world.

For decades most ethnological artefacts from the northwest coast of Canada were purchased by foreign interests. Newcombe was dismayed that he could not interest provincial and federal governments in the collection and preservation of native artefacts and specimens of natural history. Since his overriding concern was to preserve these items for posterity, he was obliged to deal with American and other foreign institutions. In response to this situation, in 1911 the provincial museum at Victoria hired him as its agent. For four years he travelled throughout the province, compiling a major collection of artefacts. After 1914 his pace began to abate and he turned to researching and writing about the exploration history of the British Columbia coast. After a collecting trip to Alert Bay, he contracted pneumonia and died in 1924. From: http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/newcombe_charles_frederic_15E.html

Charles Gladstone was a Haida carver, of Skidegate, B.C. He was Bill Reid's grandfather.

Born at Tsax̱is (Fort Rupert), Charles James Nowell was the first full blooded Kwakwaka'wakw to act as an interpreter and collector for outsiders. He was married to the daughter of Chief Lageuse of the 'Namgis First Nation. Between 1899 and his death in 1924, Nowell was the assistant to Charles F. Newcombe, an Englishman who supplied ethnographic objects to the Field Museum, the University of Pennsylvania Museum, the Peabody Museum at Harvard and others. Nowell and Bob Harris, also from Tsaxis, were part of the Kwakiutl and Nootka display at the 1904 St. Louis Universal Exposition.

Charles S. Brant was born in Portland, Oregon in 1919. A life-long anthropologist, Brant began his academic career at Reed College where he obtained a B.A. 1941. In 1943, Brant completed his M.A. requirements at Yale University, where he was also University Scholar from 1941-1943. From 1943-1946 Brant served in the U.S. Army as part of the Medical Administration in India and China. With the support of Wenner-Gren and Fulbright awards, Brant undertook pre-doctoral research in the United States and Burma before completing his Ph.D. at Cornell University in 1951.

In the early years of his career, Brant taught at University of Michigan (1947-1948), Colgate University (1951-1952), University of California (1952-1953), and Sarah Lawrence College (1954-1956). Brant was also resident anthropologist at Albert Einstein College from 1956-1957. In 1957, Brant joined Portland State University as Assistant Professor. Brant moved to Canada in 1961 to take the position of Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta, and obtained Canadian citizenship six years later. Brant became head of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Alberta in 1963, and also directed the University’s Boreal Institute for Northern Studies from 1964-1967. In 1970, Brant left Alberta for Montreal to join the faculty at Sir George Williams University (now Concordia) as professor. Brant spent the last 12 years of his career there, retiring from teaching in 1982.

Brant is best known for his work on the Kiowa Apache through his book Jim Whitewolf: The Life of a Kiowa Apache Indian, originally published in 1969. In addition to his work on North American Native peoples and cultures, Brant had research interests in social organization and change in India and China; social change in Arctic regions (especially as it applied to Canada and Greenland); and in the problems of developing countries. During his career, Brant completed fieldwork in Burma, Greenland, the Canadian Arctic, and in Native American communities in California and Oklahoma.

Brant and his wife Jane were both photographers and life-long social activists. They had two sons. After his retirement in 1982, Brant moved to Gabriola Island, British Columbia. Brant passed away in 1991 at age 71 in Nanaimo, British Columbia.

Charles Sidney Leary (often referred to as Sid Leary) was born in England and moved overseas in 1907, eventually settling in Nakusp, British Columbia. He began working in the lumber industry and eventually came to own a mill. He served as an officer in the first World War, eventually rising to the rank of Captain. He was posted to Cyprus for timber operations in 1917 and it was there that he began to collect ancient artifacts. On returning to Canada, Leary continued to work in the timber industry. He later served as an MLA in the British Columbia Legislature, including two years as the Minister of Public Works. His collection of antiquities acquired in Cyprus was eventually shipped to Canada. After his death in 1950, his family donated his collection to the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia.

Charlotte Townsend-Gault is an art historian, author, curator, and Professor Emeritus of UBC's Department of Art History, Visual Art & Theory. Her research, teaching, and scholarship concerns contemporary visual and material Native American and First Nations cultures, particularly those of the Pacific Northwest. She is the co-editor of "Native Art of the Northwest Coast: A History of Changing Ideas" (2019, UBC Press) with Jennifer Kramer and Ḳi-Ke-In, a canonical text and historical survey of Northwest Coast First Nations' art.

Chief Albert Edward Edenshaw was born near Cape Ball on the east coast of Haida Gwaii. The uncle of Charles Edenshaw, Albert was the head chief of the Stastas, one of the Eagle divisions. In the 1840s, he piloted New England trading vessels and Royal Navy ships visiting Queen Charlotte waters. On Sept. 26, 1852, Edenshaw became a central figure in a historic event. Hired as pilot of the American schooner, Susan Sturgis, they encountered, head-on, canoe-loads of Masset Haida. Edenshaw was able to hold off the attack for seven hours, and was commended by Captain Matthew Rooney. He was known as an ironworker, coppersmith, jewelry-maker, and carver of large wooden poles. It has also been stated that he was very likely a carver of argillite, however, no pieces have been definitively assigned to him.

Chief Bill Cranmer (T̓łaḵwagila) is the son of Dan Cranmer, who hosted the 1921 potlatch now often referred to as the "Cranmer Potlatch" and the brother of Kwakwaka'wakw carver, artist, and 'Namgis Chief, Doug Cranmer (1927-2006), and activist, curator, and writer Gloria Cranmer Webster (1931-).

Chief Bill Cranmer has been a strong and vital voice for the sustainment of the ‘Namgis First Nation language and culture. He led the repatriation of cultural objects including masks, bentwood boxes, and regalia that were confiscated under duress in 1921 after a Kwakwaka’wakw potlatch held in the village of ‘Mimkwamlis on Village Island, BC. The confiscation was sanctioned through Canada’s “Anti Potlatch Law” which existed between 1884-1951. Twenty community members were sent to be imprisoned at the other end of the province because of practicing their traditions. A fluent speaker of Kwak’wala, Bill worked tirelessly to retrieve the appropriated pieces and raise awareness about the need to preserve and maintain language, history, and culture. The repatriation of some of the 750 confiscated items has had a significant positive impact on the community. He has travelled to Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and elsewhere to share the story, and present on behalf of the Assembly of First Nations and the First Peoples’ Cultural Foundation.

As Chief Councillor of the ‘Namgis First Nation, Bill negotiated economic treaties to develop businesses for his nation to prosper. Bill has spent numerous terms on the Executive Board of the Native Brotherhood of BC and has been an Elder/Cornerpost with the First Nations Health Authority, giving historical and cultural input into meetings. His efforts in the preservation of First Nations’ traditions have gone a very long way towards Reconciliation. In a speech at the 1980 opening of the U’mista Cultural Centre, which houses much of the reclaimed potlatch items, he said, “It’s important to know your past if you are going to fight for your future.” From: https://ltgov.bc.ca/t%CC%93la%E1%B8%B5wagila-chief-bill-cranmer/

On Monday, June 19, 2017, Bill Cranmer was presented with honours in Recognition of Outstanding Indigenous Leadership by David Johnston, Governor General of Canada. In June 2022, Chief Bill Cranmer was given a British Columbia Reconciliation Award.

Hereditary Chief of the Da'naxda'xw / Awaetlala Nation of the Kwakwak'awakw people.

Billy Assu (Kwakwaka'wakw) became Chief of the Cape Mudge (now We Wai Kai) First Nation in 1891 when he was 24 years old. He built the first modern house in the village in 1894 and during the 1920s organized the replacement of all the traditional longhouses with modern housing. He was a fisher for most of his life, and bought the first gas fish boat at Cape Mudge. During the Depression, he helped to create the Pacific Coast Native Fishermen's Association, which later merged with the Native Brotherhood of BC. His son, Harry Assu, succeeded him as the first elected Chief of the Cape Mudge band (1954-70).

Chief Dan George, was a Tsleil-Waututh actor, poet, writer, activist, and public speaker who was chief of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation from 1951 to 1963. Born Geswanouth Slahoot, 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. Before he started acting at the age of 60, George had worked as longshoreman, construction worker, school-bus driver, logger and itinerant musician. By his film roles and personal appearances, Dan George helped improve the popular image of Indigenous people, often represented in stereotypical ways. George earned an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor for his role in Little Big Man (1970) and won other awards for this role, including from the National Society of Film Critics and the New York Film Critics Circle. He was married to his wife, Amy George, for 51 years and was father to six: Amy Marie, Ann, Irene, Rose, Leonard, and Robert.

Ozistalis (Chief Henry Speck) worked as a fisherman, dancer, and song writer. He became chief of the Tlawitsis Nation when he succeeded his father. In the early 1960s, he became artistic director of the Kwakiutl House Project in Alert Bay, where he also pursued his artistic skills; he taught carving and dancing in Alert Bay. "His unique approach to Kwakwaka'wakw design opened a new range of possibilities for a generation of artists" (Ayotte, Gallery of Tribal Art, 1995). He was commissioned by Gyula Mayer, a Vancouver art and antiques dealer, who was interested in collecting Northwest Coast pieces for his gallery; it was Mayer who encouraged Speck to paint with watercolours. Many of these paintings by Speck and other artists at the time were sold to private collectors, museums, or were collected by Mayer. "...Speck's paintings speak to the viewer with a clarity and a sense of immediacy. A striking aspect of Speck's work is its ability to invoke a three-dimensional "space" within the confines of a limited design field" (Ayotte, 1995).

Chief Joe Capilano (S7ápelek) (born on the traditional Squamish Nation territory in British Columbia and died 10 March 1910 in Yekw’ts, BC) was a Squamish Nation member who became one of the most influential Indigenous leaders in British Columbia, beginning in the late 19th century. His rise to this position was due in part to the encouragement of the Catholic Bishop who recognized S7ápelek’s devotion to his faith and his impressive abilities as an orator and leader. As the chosen successor to Chief Láwa Capilano, Joe S7ápelek became better known as Chief Joe Capilano and spent the rest of his life advocating for Canada’s recognition of Indigenous rights and title.

Chief Thomas Hunt, was a singer, orator, and hereditary Chief of the Kwagulth Band of the Kwakwaka'wakw Nation. He was married to Emma (nee Billy) Hunt (Maxwalaogwa), the daughter of Mowachaht Chief and Shaman, Dr. Billy from Yuquot, Friendly Cove. Emma was an instructor of Kwagulth and Nuu-chah-nulth culture. Their children are: Ross Hunt Sr., Calvin Hunt, Tony Hunt, and Eugene Hunt and his grandfather was the renowned carver Mungo Martin.

Chief Willie Seaweed, known as Kwaxitola ("Smoky-Top"), was born in 1873 at a time when Kwakwakw'akw culture flourished. He died in 1967 having seen nearly a century of technological change, such as dugout canoes replaced by diesel-powered fishing boats and airplanes. A 'Nakwaxda'xw chief, he was born just eleven years before the passage of the anti-potlatch law. He did, however, create very elaborate art for potlatches. "The name 'Seaweed' is an anglicization of the Kwakwala 'Siwid', which can be translated as 'Paddling owner', 'Recipient of paddling', or 'Paddled to'; all metaphors for a great chief who sponsors potlatches to which guests come from far off" (Holm 1983). Seaweed was a singer, storyteller, wood carver, and artist who kept the traditional potlatches alive through the years in which it was illegal. Willie Seaweed was a traditional artist who passed on his skills to a younger generation and his work is scattered throughout collections in Canada and the United States.

Daisy May Sewid-Smith (née Sewid) was born in Alert Bay, BC, on November 28, 1938, daughter of Chief James Sewid and Flora Violet Alfred, and granddaughter of Agnes Alfred. After graduating school, she took a secretarial course at Vancouver College and worked for the Indian Affairs Branch in Alert Bay. During her time in Alert Bay, she published several articles and books about the prosecution of potlatches and the confiscation and return of artifacts by the Canadian government.
Daisy Sewid-Smith is one of the leading linguistic experts in the Kwakwakka’wakw community, teaching the language and developing a method to transcribe it. She wrote a grammar book for the Kwak’wala language. She also translated some of Franz Boas’ texts in the context of land claim issues and contributed to the UN convention on the rights of the child. Sewid-Smith works in the Faculty of Education at the University of Victoria and was a member of the Advisory Council for the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society.
In the late 1970s, her grandmother, Agnes Alfred, introduced her to Martine J. de Widerspach-Thor (later Martine J. Reid) with whom she recorded and translated her grandmother’s memoirs between 1979 and 1985. From then until the late 1990s, they put a hold in their project for personal and work-related reasons. In the late 1990s, they resumed their work, which lead to the publication of the book Paddling to Where I Stand in 2004.

The 14th Dalai Lama, is a Tibetan Buddhist monk who is considered to be the first Dalai Lama to become a global figure, largely for his advocacy of Buddhism and of the rights of the people of Tibet. Despite his fame, he dispensed with much of the pomp surrounding his office, describing himself as a “simple Buddhist monk.” He was born Lhamo Dhondup in a small village called Taktser in northeastern Tibet. Born to a peasant family, His Holiness was recognized at the age of two. In accordance with Tibetan tradition, as the reincarnation of his predecessor the 13th Dalai Lama, His Holiness is an incarnation of Avalokiteshvar, the Buddha of Compassion.

In 1974 and 1975, Dan Jorgensen traveled in Papua New Guinea’s Sanduan Province where he studied the initiation cult and mythology of the Telefolmin people. In 1981 Dan Jorgensen received his PhD in anthropology from UBC, writing a thesis about his travels and studies in Papua New Guinea. Since 1977 he has been a faculty member of University of Western Ontario in the Anthropology department. He specializes in the anthropology of religion

Darrin Morrison was born on April 19, 1965 in Toronto, Ontario. From 1984 – 88 he attended the Ontario College of Art and Design. From 1991 – 1994 he was enrolled at the University of British Columbia (UBC), attending classes in Museum Studies, Conservation, and Chemistry. During the time Darrin Morrison was enrolled at UBC, he worked as a Museum Consultant, creating Emergency Contingency Plans for several local museums

From 1991 to 2005, he was employed at the Museum of Anthropology (MOA) at UBC. He was originally employed as a Preventive Conservation Specialist (1991-93) and moved into the position of Project Manager in the area of Preventive Conservation and Design, before his departure. Morrison’s tasks included designing museum exhibitions and displays as well as planning and implementing preventive conservation measures for the collections. He also taught and supervised students in classes such as preventive conservation, exhibition design, museum principles and methods. Besides teaching and working at MOA, Morrison also devoted time to instructing at cultural centres and small museums.

Darrin worked as the Administrator/Curator at the West Vancouver Art Museum from 2005 until 2020. He passed away in 2023.