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Rev. George Stallworthy was an LMS (London Missionary Society) missionary born August 16, 1809, at Preston Bissett, near Buckingham, England. He studied at Homerton College and was ordained, October 3, 1833 at Ramsgate, England. Stallworthy was appointed to the Marquesas, and sailed October 27, 1833, arriving in Tahiti on March 23, 1834. On September 11, 1834, Stallworthy left Tahiti with Mr. David Darling (another missionary) to the mission on the Marquesas, arriving at St. Christina on October 6, and settling at Vaitahu. The Marquesas Mission was relinquished in 1841, and Stallworthy left those islands in December 1841, arriving in Tahiti on December 13 and going to Papaoa.

Stallworthy joined the Samoan Mission at Falealisi, Upolu in February 1844. There he married his first wife, Charlotte Burnett Wilson (b. 1817 in Tahiti), the daughter of another LMS missionary Charles Wilson. Charlotte Wilson was already suffering with tuberculosis when she and Stallworthy married, and 18 months later died of it at Upolu on August 2, 1845. She was buried in Samoa. Despite their short marriage, a son, George Burnett Stallworthy, was born in 1844. Charlotte's parents were living near the family in Falealii and raised George Burnett there until 1855, when the ten-year-old was sent back to England to go to school. He later also became a minister.

Stallworthy left Samoa in March of 1846 by the appointment of the directors in order to visit Tahiti and confer with the missionaries there on the distressing circumstances of that mission. On that trip aboard the "John Williams," he met Mary Ann Darling (b. 1819), also the daughter of an LMS missionary. He returned to Samoa at the end of August 1846, and married Mary Ann in Apia, Samoa on October 13, 1847.

As part of a deputation in 1858, Mr. Stallworthy visited the New Hebrides, Loyalty Islands, and Niue, and later Fakaofo, one of the Tokelau group. In January, 1859, Stallworthy moved to Malua to take the place of Dr. George Turner in the seminary there during Turner's absence in England. Stallworthy died at Malua in November 1859, leaving his wife with eight children (along with his first son in England). The family caught the "John Williams" back to Tahiti, later leaving for Sydney in 1860. During this journey, three of the children died of diphtheria (William, Louisa, and Sarah Ann) and were buried on Raiatea. Mary Ann and the remaining children carried on to Sydney, where eventually their health improved, and they carried on to England. Mary Ann (Darling) Stallworthy died in England in 1872.

A descendant, John J. Lewis, wrote a now out-of-print book about Stallworthy's mission called “Wind in the Palms- Mission in the SW Pacific 1817-72- David Darling- George Stallworthy." This book is available in the Museum of Anthropology's library.

Kajima Seibei came from a wealthy business family. Kajima travelled around Japan in the late 1880s and early 1890s, and produced many photographic works that he distributed through various studios. As one of the founding members of the Photographic Society of Japan, he helped finance Ogawa Kazumasa, another important photographer from this period. In 1895, he opened a photo studio in Tokyo.

Jack Lieber (1918-2015) fled Russia with his parents, coming to Canada at the age of six. His mother was the concert pianist Olga Lieber. Enlisting in the RCAF, he flew many missions into Europe and survived the crash of the Lancaster bomber in which he was navigator. After the war, he earned his B.A., Dip Ed. and M.A. at McGill, and worked as a teacher in the Montreal area for many years. The highlight of his teaching career was six years with CIDA at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, followed by a posting to Papua-New Guinea with UNESCO. When he retired in 1984, he and his wife Iris moved to Toronto.

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.

Born in Alert Bay of Kwakwaka'wakw descent, Gloria Cranmer Webster completed high school in Victoria before moving to Vancouver where in 1956 she completed her undergraduate degree in Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. She worked as a counsellor at the Oakalla prison and later at the John Howard society, where she met her future husband, John Webster. She worked for the YWCA as a counsellor in Vancouver, then later as the program director at the Vancouver Indian Centre, before she was hired as an assistant curator by the Museum of Anthropology in 1971. She went on to assist in the development of the U'mista Cultural Centre in Alert Bay. She was heavily involved in the debate over repatriation of cultural items related to the potlatch. She received an honorary doctorate of Law from the University of British Columbia in 1995. She was named an officer in the Order of Canada in 2017.

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.

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.

William Beynon, Nisga'a hereditary chief, ethnographer. Born in Victoria, BC. From 1915 until 1956, he worked as an interpreter and field researcher among the Tsimshian, Nisga'a and Gitksan of British Columbia. With Marius Barbeau, he prepared an ethnographic census of those cultures, particularly their social organization and mythology. For brief periods he also assisted Franz Boas and Philip Drucker. Despite a lack of formal training in anthropology, his field notes supply major data for these cultures.

(From The Canadian Encyclopedia, https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/william-beynon. Accessed February 26, 2020.)

Francis Henry (Frank) Burnett was born in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Scotland on February 15, 1852. His parents were Peter Burnett and Henrietta Bond. His father was a whaler captain. Frank moved to Liverpool at an early age to attend the Merchant Taylor's Grammar School, planning for a career in business, but at age 14 he chose to apprentice on a sailing vessel. During his time as a sailor he travelled as far as Egypt and South Africa. Around 1870 he immigrated to Montreal, Canada. There he tried his hand at various enterprises; married his first wife, Henrietta Cooke in 1878; moved across the country to Manitoba in 1880; and to Vancouver c. 1895. He began making trips to the South Pacific in 1895. He was able to retire in 1901, at which time he outfitted a schooner, the Laurel, which he used to take another trip to the Pacific, collecting artifacts along the way. This 1902 trip is described in Burnett's first book "Through Tropic Seas" (1910). He also wrote "Through Polynesia and Papua" (1911), "Summer Isles of Eden" (1923) and "The Wreck of the Tropic Bird and Other Sea Stories" (1926). In 1912, and again in 1929, he made a small donation of objects to the City Museum (now the Vancouver Museum). From 1920-1927 he travelled in South America and British Columbia, where he also collected artifacts. In 1917 his first wife died; in 1923 he married his second wife, Anne Cooke. On July 25, 1927 he donated most of his collection to the University of British Columbia, where it was initially housed in a room on the first floor of the library. It was installed by Frank and his daughter Nina. (The collection also included a group of Inuit objects collected by Ian M. Mackinnon during three years he spent in the Coppermine River area of the N.W.T.) By 1935, the "Burnett Collection" (as well as several other artifacts held by the University) had been recorded in a booklet titled "The University of British Columbia Catalogue of Ethnographic Specimens". The listed objects became the founding collection of the UBC Museum of Anthropology. In recognition of his generosity, the University bestowed on him an honourary Doctor of Laws degree in November, 1929. Burnett died suddenly on February 20, 1930, while addressing the Canadian Authors’ Association, at the Hotel Vancouver.

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).

Audrey Patricia MacKay Shane was born on August 27, 1922 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She received a diploma in Interior Design from the University of Manitoba in 1942 and worked for the Department of Architecture and Fine Arts at the University for the next three years. In the period between 1962 and 1970, she served in voluntary roles such as secretary of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and treasurer of the Manitoba Archaeological Society. In 1974, Shane received her Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the University of British Columbia (UBC). A year later, she was hired as Archivist/Librarian at the Museum of Anthropology, a position she held until she was appointed Curator of Documentation in 1979. As Archivist/Librarian, Shane was responsible for the documentation of the Museum’s collections for inclusion in the National Inventory of Canada as well as for the cataloguing of the collections.

Shane completed her M.A. in Anthropology in UBC in 1978. Her primary interest was in the art and material culture of the northern Northwest Coast, China, Japan and the Insular Pacific before the 20th century. As the Curator of Documentation, Shane’s responsibilities included ensuring the accurate permanent catalogue records were created and maintained for the Museum’s collections, interpreting the Museum’s collections to the public and students through exhibits, publications, university and community teaching, and representing the museum on a local and international level. She taught a series of laboratory sessions in the Anthropology 431 course, Museum Principles and Methods, a course offered by UBC’s Department of Anthropology and also conducted lectures and seminars for the Museum’s volunteers. Shane has written various scholarly articles and presented many papers in numerous conferences. Her published articles include “Sensibilities: Unsuspected Multicultural Harmonies” which appeared in the March/April 1983 issue of Canadian Collector, “Power in Their Hands: the Gitsontk,” which was published in The Tsimshian: Images of the Past Views for the Present and “Networking: the Canadian Experience,” a paper published for the Western Museum Conference in 1983. Shane has also curated a number of exhibitions and served on the Acquisitions and Collections Committees within the Museum. In addition, she was active in committees formed by professional associations such as the British Columbia Museum Association Committee on Legal and Ethical Questions. She also assumed the role of Signing Expert Examiner in Ethnography for the Canadian Cultural Property Export and Import Board. Shane retired from her position at the Museum in 1987.

Jennifer Kramer is an Associate Professor of Anthropology and Curator, Pacific Northwest at the Museum of Anthropology (MOA) at the University of British Columbia. She received a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from Columbia University in 2003. Her research focuses on Northwest Coast First Nations visual culture in regards to aesthetic valuation, commodification, appropriation, tourism, legal regimes, and museums.

Kramer is the author of publications that include Switchbacks: Art, Ownership, and Nuxalk National Identity (UBC Press, 2006), Kesu’: The Art and Life of Doug Cranmer (Douglas & McIntyre Press, 2012) which won the 2012 British Columbia Museums Associations Museums in Motion Award of Merit and co-editor with Charlotte Townsend-Gault and Ki-ke-in of Native Art of the Northwest Coast: A History of Changing Ideas (UBC Press 2013) which received three awards: the 2015 Canada Prize in the Humanities, Federation for Social Sciences and Humanities; the 2015 Jeanne Clark Award in Northern History, Prince George Public Library; and the 2014 Melva J. Dwyer Award, Art Libraries Society of North America – Canadian Chapter. Kramer is also a co-applicant and partner in a $1 million SSHRC CURA grant (2011-2016) to explore new alternatives for the recovery of Indigenous heritage of two Quebecois First Nations: The Ilnu of Mashteuiatsh and the Anishnabeg of Kitigan Zibi.

Kramer's curated temporary exhibitions include: Layers of Influence: Unfolding Cloth across Cultures (UBC Museum of Anthropology, 2016-2017), Beyond the Cap + Gown: 100 Years of UBC Student Clothing with her ANTH 431 university students (IK Barber Learning Commons, UBC 2016), Together Again: Nuxalk Faces of the Sky with her UBC university students (UBC Museum of Anthropology and the Seattle Art Museum, 2012-2013), Kesu’: The Art and Life of Doug Cranmer (UBC Museum of Anthropology, The Museum at Campbell River, The U’mista Cultural Centre, 2012-2013) and the The Story of Nulis – a Kwakwaka’wakw Imas Mask (UBC Museum of Anthropology, 2010-2012).

Anthony Lawrence Carter, the late author, publisher and photo-journalist, was born on October 22, 1920 in Somerset, England. He and his family emigrated to Wallaceburg, Saskatchewan in 1926 and later moved to Goodsoil, Saskatchewan . The Carter family leased an acre on Lac des Isles where they farmed for a living. In 1938, Carter purchased his first camera and learned how to develop his own pictures using an old developer and instructions from a Kodak booklet. In 1939, he applied to the Royal Canadian Air Force and was accepted a year later. He continued with the RCAF and the British Institute of Sciences and Engineering until he was discharged in 1945. Following his time in the Air Force, Carter held his first public exhibit in Ontario of images he had taken across Canada. He also spent time at the First Nations village in Fort Rupert where he began building a collection of his own photographs of the community. In 1948, Carter began working for MacKenzie Barge & Derrick as a shipwright where he took his first commercial photograph and began selling prints widely. In 1951, he decided to go into child photography, which he did exclusively for three years. Carter was also an active photo-journalist in the marine and logging fields, which led to his contributions to journals such as Western Fisheries, Canadian Truck Logger and The British Motor Journal.

While photography was Carter’s main source of income during the 1950s, he also spent his summers fishing to make a living. Around 1960, Carter purchased a 60 foot fish packer, the Wamega. He was based in Klemtu at this time and collected the history and legends of the Kynoc and Kit-is-tu people, which appeared in his first book. Carter’s publications, which include This is Haida (1969), Somewhere Between (1968), From History's Locker (1968), Wamega (1960s), and Abundant Rivers (1972), were directly inspired by First Nations people and their culture. He also wrote a book called Snowshoeing for Everyone (1975). Carter was a poet and accompanied his photos with his own text. Additionally, he undertook all aspects of designing his books for publication. Carter also worked with the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka, Japan to develop its Northwest Coast collection, and was a consultant to the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver, B.C.

Gordon Miller is a freelance artist who currently lives and works in Vancouver, BC. Miller was born in Winnipeg in 1932 and attended the Vancouver School of Art from 1950 to 1955. In 1977 he began working as a freelance artist, illustrator, and graphic designer, completing major contracts for the UBC Museum of Anthropology, Royal British Columbia Museum, and National Film Board. He also produced illustrations for the UBC Press, Canadian Geographic, Readers Digest, Historical Atlas of Canada, Parks Canada, and the Canadian Museum of Civilization. An avid sailor since his youth, historical sailing ships and maritime scenes are the subject of much of Miller’s artwork.

Gordon Miller has completed a number of commissions for the UBC Museum of Anthropology including contracts for creating large watercolour illustrative panels, many of which were meant to recontextualize material objects from the museum’s collection by showing them in their historical context being used for their original functions.

Fred Ryckman was born in eastern Canada in 1888. As a youth he moved with his family to the Kootenay region of British Columbia where he remained for the rest of his life, residing first in Creston then in Cranbrook. In 1912 Ryckman began his career with the Department of Indian Affairs serving as a constable in that department. During this period he also served in the position of Indian Farm Instructor. In 1931 Ryckman was promoted to the position of Indian Agent, a post he was to hold until his death in 1935. During the twenty-three years of his employment with the Department of Indian Affairs, Ryckman took an active interest in the language and culture of the people with whom he was working, a fact which is reflected in his papers.

No biographical information available.

Rita Steeds (nee Pollock) was born in 1918 in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. She attended business college in Regina and worked in the field of accounting between 1938 and 1955. In 1943, she married James Steeds and moved to Ottawa. She completed training in 1962 to become a medical records librarian. Between 1962 and 1964, she worked as a medical records librarian at the Ottawa Civic Hospital and the Royal National Orthopedic Hospital (London, England). She functioned as the Director of the Medical Records Department of Kingston General Hospital in Kingston, Ontario between 1964 and 1969. From 1969 to 1973, she was Director of the Medical Records Department and the Head of Medical Records Librarian Training at Severance Hospital in Seoul, South Korea. After completing this appointment, she served as a consultant at Silliman University Medical Centre at Dumguetl, Island of Negros, in the Philippines between 1973 and 1976. Prior to her retirement in 1980, Steeds worked as the Head of Medical Records at Wrinch Memorial Hospital, Hazelton, B.C. Rita Steeds is the author of several publications related to medical records in addition to her autobiography, Woman Not Alone.