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Edward Sheriff Curtis was born near White Water, Wisconsin, in February 1868. The Curtis family moved soon thereafter to Minnesota, and he grew up near the Chipewa, Menomini, and Winnebago native tribes. He was 19 (1887) when his family moved to the pioneer villages of Puget Sound, Seattle, where his father, Johnson Curtis, died of pneumonia. Edward had to support the family. He farmed, fished, dug clams and did chores for neighbors, but nonetheless managed to buy his first camera.

With only grade school education, Edward Curtis taught himself photography from self-help guides and built his own camera. He was keenly interested in the Puget Sound natives’ way of life. He made his first Native Americans’ photographs in 1896. Among them was the photograph of Angeline, the daughter of Chief Seattle, whom he photographed at Seattle waterfront.

He spent a season with the Blackfoot natives of Montana. A selection of his photographs, "Evening on Puget Sound," "The Clam Digger," and "The Mussel Gatherer", won first place in the Genre Class at the National Photographic Convention and won again the next year.

Curtis was later invited to join the famous Harriman Expedition to Alaska the Bering Sea, which was the last great nineteenth century survey to ascertain the economic potential of America's frontier. On May 30, 1899, Curtis set sail from Seattle with a crew of 129 among whom were some of the world’s leading scientists including Robert Grinnel, a leading ethnographic expert on Native Americans. Curtis was one of the only two official photographers on the two-month expedition. After a trip of nine thousand miles the party returned with five thousand pictures and over six hundred animal and plant species new to science. New glaciers were mapped and photographed and a new fjord was discovered. Curtis photographed many of the glaciers, but it was his pictures of the native peoples that established his artistic genius.

For the most part, Curtis labored at his own expense. But in 1906, with Theodore Roosevelt’s connection, he was introduced to J. Pierpont Morgan who agreed to fund his “North American Indian” project.

Curtis lived among the native peoples and studied their ways in depth and by doing so gained their friendship and trust.

His health and family life suffered due to overwork and long absences. His wife, Clara, and their four children could not always accompany him. In 1919 Clara filed for divorce and received, as part of the settlement, Curtis’ studio with all of his negatives. The original filing was years earlier, but Curtis was always in the field and could not be made to come to court. She continued to manage the studio with her sister. Curtis was obliged to move, in 1920, from Seattle to Los Angeles with his daughter Beth from where he continued the Project and shoot films.

He began his involvement with the film industry by assisting Cecil B. Demille ("The Ten Commandments"). Throughout his career, Curtis would fight to be accepted by scholars of North American Natives, especially the approval of The Smithsonian Institute.

In 1930, Volumes 19 and 20 of "The North American Indian" were published. The project was finally completed. The work, initially expected to take 15 years, took 30 years during which time Curtis visited the Arctic and over 80 North American native tribes.

Edward Meade was born in Winnipeg and moved in 1930 to Vancouver Island, where he began studying the First Nations of the Pacific Coast. After serving overseas as a platoon commander during the Second World War, Meade returned to British Columbia to settle in Campbell River. There he founded the Campbell River Historical Museum in 1949, and volunteered as the Museum’s Curator for many years. Also while living in Campbell River, Meade became a reporter for the Comox District Free Press.

Although Meade was not a professional anthropologist, he did spend a significant amount of time traveling up and down the Pacific coast studying the history of various First Nations and collecting artifacts, and was considered something of an expert in the field. The UBC Museum of Anthropology purchased several artifact collections from him. He developed a particular interest in petroglyphs, and spent approximately ten years accumulating as much information as he could about petroglyph sites from Puget Sound to the Alaskan coast. This study resulted in his book Indian Rock Carving of the Pacific Northwest, published in [ca. 1971]. In addition to this book, Meade also published numerous articles on Pacific Northwest First Nations, and a war novel entitled Remember Me. In 1965, Remember Me was published as a paperback for the New Canadian Library series by McClelland & Stewart. In 1980, Meade self-published a biography entitled Biography of Dr. Samuel Campbell, R.N., Surgeon and Surveyer: Including the Naming and Early History of the Campbell River.

Biographical information unavailable.

E. Polly Hammer graduated from Bethany Nazarene College (now Southern Nazarene University) with a BA in Biology. In 1969 she graduated from the University of Colorado with an MA in Anthropology with an Archaeology focus and a Palaeontology minor. Hammer taught at the University of Winnipeg and the University of Manitoba from 1970 to 1974.

President of UBC, 1975 - 1983.

Douglas & McIntyre was founded in 1971. It has since established itself as one of Canada’s largest independent book publishing houses with offices in Toronto and Vancouver. It consists of three publishing units, Douglas & McIntyre, Greystone Books and Groundwood Books. Douglas & McIntyre publishes books about many different subjects, including First Nations art and culture, food and wine, Canadian issues and politics, and the environment.

Doug Cranmer was born in Alert Bay, son of Chief Dan Cranmer and Agnes Hunt Cranmer. He set the standard of innovation for Kwakwaka'wakw art. His first formal instruction was in Victoria under Mungo Martin, in 1959. He worked with Bill Reid on UBC's Haida Village project c. 1959-62, and on the restoration of totem poles in Vancouver's Stanley Park. After completing the UBC project in 1962, Cranmer (with A.J. Scow and Dick Bird) founded a retail gallery, The Talking Stick. This was one of the few initiatives at the time through which First Nations art was marketed by First Nations people. Cranmer had totem pole commissions from around the world, and is considered an innovative master of flat design. His exhibitions include, Arts of the Raven, 1967, and the B.C. Pavillion at Expo '70, in Osaka Japan. His influence as a teacher was also significant, he taught at 'Ksan, the Vancouver Museum, and at Alert Bay, since 1977. He worked as an artist in residence at MOA in 1995. Doug was a hereditary chief of the 'Namgis band, and had also worked as a fisherman and a hand logger. He was an inspiration to his home community, contributing extensively to the construction of the U'mista Cultural Centre and the Bighouse at Alert Bay.

Dorothy Grant, OC, is an internationally renowned fashion designer and traditional Haida artist. She is a member of the Raven Clan of Kaigani Haida, and learned to sew and weave traditional Haida garments and ceremonial regalia from her maternal grandmother. In the early '80s, she was the first Indigenous designer to combine traditional Haida artwork with contemporary fashion.

Doreen Jensen, also known as Hahl Yee, was born on May 13 1933 in Kispiox, just north of Hazelton, British Columbia. The name Hahl Yee belongs to the Killerwhale family crest from the House of Geel of the Fireweed Clan. Jensen attended the Gitanmaax School of Northwest Indian Design where she learned to carve under the guidance of Tony and Henry Hunt. Doreen Jensen was also known for her work promoting aboriginal artwork, teaching Gitxsan language classes, and helping to revitalize traditional practices. She was a respected cultural leader and historian. In 1983, she curated an exhibit at MOA entitled “Robes of Power” which emphasized the strength of traditional design and craftsmanship. The exhibited highlighted the importance of regalia to First Nation ceremonies and the key role that women played in producing robes. Jensen went on to teach Gitxsan language classes at UBC and traditional art practices such as drum making, cedar baskets and bead work at Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver. In 1993, Doreen Jensen was acknowledged by the Vancouver YMCA and was rewarded with the “Woman of Distinction” award. She also received the Golden Eagle Feather from the Professional Native Women’s Association and has been honoured with a name given to her by James Sewid and family at one of their potlatches. In 2008, she was also nominated for the BC Governor General Award in recognition of her passion for culture and tradition. Jensen passed away in 2009 leaving behind a lifetime of contribution to a revitalizing First Nation culture, language and artwork.

Don was raised in Vancouver where he attended King George High School and the University of British Columbia, followed by postgraduate work at the Institute of Archaeology, London University and Washington State University, Pullman. In 1960 Don joined the staff of the Royal BC Museum as the first professional archaeologist in BC. In his 35 year career, Don continuously and selflessly promoted the discipline of archaeology. He conducted excavations on sites on southern Vancouver Island that contributed significantly to an understanding of Coast Salish history. Under his direction the Museum became the provincial centre for the documentation of archaeological sites and the storage of artifacts and associated data, held in trust for First nations. He was a member of the Archaeological Sites Advisory Board, of the committee that created 'Ksan Cultural Centre in Hazelton, worked on the Exxon Valdes Recovery Programme.

Donald N. Abbott, Acting Curator of Anthropology at the Royal B.C. Provincial Museum

The Director of the Museum of Anthropology (MOA) is directly responsible for the general administration of the museum. Responsibilities carried out by the director include, but are not limited to: directing the development of museum policy, ensuring that the museum’s mandate is met and carried out, overseeing budgets and funding, maintaining correspondence with potential donors and managing staff. The Director also administers facilities and building maintenance and is responsible for overseeing exhibits and special programming hosted by the museum. As a part of the University of British Columbia (UBC), the director reports to the Dean of Arts.

MOA opened in 1947 and Dr. Harry Hawthorn, a professor of Anthropology, was appointed the first director in that year. He remained in this position until his retirement in 1974, when Michael Ames became the second director. Ames was director until he retired in 1997, when Ruth Phillips became director. She left the position in 2002, at which point Ames returned to MOA as Acting Director until Anthony Shelton was appointed as director in 2004.

Diane Elizabeth Barwick (née MacEachern) was a renowned political and historical anthropologist. Born in Canada in 1936, she remained a Canadian citizen until 1960, at which time she moved to Australia. Leading up to her departure from Canada, she studied at UBC in the school of Anthropology, from which she obtained her BA in 1959. She worked under Audrey Hawthorn at the Museum of Anthropology for many years leading up to her graduation. Before leaving for Australia, Barwick worked for nine months with Wilson Duff at the Provincial Museum of British Columbia. Her exposure to northwest coast First Nations communities would directly influence her later studies and work at the Australian National University. In pursuit of a Ph.D. there, she researched kin networks among Aboriginal Victorians. She was an active member of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies and was a co-founder of the Aboriginal History journal.

Derek emigrated to Canada in 1961 with his first wife Doreen. He held a post-doctoral fellowship in the UBC Chemistry Department, then a position as Clinical Chemist at the Health Centre for Children, Vancouver General Hospital. In 1969, he founded the Biochemical Diseases (later Biochemical Genetics) Laboratory at Children's Hospital. In this emerging discipline, he collaborated with scientific and clinical colleagues across Canada and around the world to diagnose and investigate children with rare metabolic diseases, teaching and publishing extensively and receiving many awards. He was a professor emeritus of UBC's Faculty of Medicine with appointments in Pediatrics, Medical Genetics and Pathology serving on Boards and Committees including parent support societies. He was a past President of the Garrod Association of Canada and past President of the Canadian College of Medical Genetics and involved in developing training programs for Biochemical Genetic Fellows. Derek retired from UCB in 2003.

Dempsey Bob was born at Telegraph Creek on the Stikine River, in 1948. His mother was Flossie Carlick (Wolf); his father was Johnnie Bob (Raven). He began carving in 1970, and although he prefers wood, he also works in metals. Dempsey studied first with Freda Diesing and then at 'Ksan. Dempsey has focused on creating contemporary works that are classic Tlingit in style. His finely detailed carved wood masks translate into powerful bronze works. He went to Cara, Italy and studied with artisans working in bronze in the classic Italian tradition; this knowledge helped refine his style for bronze casting in which he is now an acknowledged master.

Biographical information not available.

Deborah Taylor, on graduating from the University of British Columbia, went to Nigeria in the early 1970s for her MA in primitive arts.