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Wilson Duff was born on March 23, 1925. After serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force as a navigator, Duff attended the University of British Columbia and graduated with a B.A. in 1949. Two years later, in 1951, he completed his M.A. in Anthropology from the University of Washington. Duff’s professional research concentrated primarily on the native cultures of the Northwest Coast and he was instrumental in the development of scholarship in this area. His influence on the study and appreciation of Northwest Coast art was also very profound as he inspired artistic work and in some ways was an artist himself, as evidenced by his poetry and the poetic nature of some of his writing.

In 1950, (prior to being awarded his M.A.) Duff was appointed Curator of Anthropology for the British Columbia Provincial Museum, a position he would hold until 1965. From 1960-1965 he directed the British Columbia Government Anthropology Program. In 1965 Duff left the Museum to become a professor of Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at the University of British Columbia. Throughout his career, Duff maintained a close association with museums and galleries, helping to plan buildings and exhibits, and he was involved in the early stages of planning of the new Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. Two major exhibits by Duff include “Arts of the Raven” shown at the Vancouver Art Gallery (1967) and “Images Stone B.C.” (1975) shown locally in Vancouver and Victoria before travelling to art galleries across Canada.

Duff was active on a number of committees and he was a founding member of the British Columbia Museums Association where he served as Vice-president from 1962-1963 and as President from 1963-1965. Duff also served on the joint British Columbia Provincial Museum and University of British Columbia Totem Pole Preservation Committee that purchased and salvaged some of the last remaining poles in the Queen Charlotte Islands in the 1950’s. In addition, he chaired the provincial government's Archaeological Sites Advisory Board from 1960-1966 and served on the provincial government's Indian Advisory Committee. During this time he led support for legislation to protect British Columbia’s archaeological remains and worked on the draft of British Columbia’s first “Archaeological and Historic Sites Protection Act” that was passed in 1960. In 1960 Duff acted as a consultant for the Kitwancool tribe and served as an expert witness in the Nishga land case before the B.C. Supreme Court in 1969. That same year, on behalf of the Alaska State Museum and the Smithsonian Institution, he surveyed the totem poles of southwest Alaska. Two years later, in 1971, Duff directed a project to record the history of southeast Alaska Indians for the Alaska State Museum.

Throughout his academic career, Wilson Duff wrote a number of articles, manuscripts and books. From 1950-1956 he was the editor of Anthropology in British Columbia and his first publication in 1953 was based on his Master’s Thesis on the Upper Sto:lo Indians. Published articles and book reviews by Duff can be found in Anthropology in British Columbia no.1, 2, 3, 4, 5; The Crowsnest 9(3); Victoria Naturalist vols. 7, 8, 16(7); B.C. Historical Quarterly, July-October 1951; American Anthropologist vol.54, no.4; Canadian Art 11(2); Anthropology in British Columbia Memoir no.4; Western Museums Quarterly 1(3); Museum Round-up no.12, 16; Anthropologica vol. 6, no.1; B.C. Studies no.3, 19; and Northwest Anthropological Research Notes 3(2). Although many of Duff’s manuscripts remain unpublished, a number of his books are considered to be foremost reference sources in their field. Such publications by Duff include: Thunderbird Park, Victoria B.C., (Government Travel Bureau, 1952), Selected List of Publications Pertaining to the Indians of British Columbia (with J.E.M. Kew, 1956); British Columbia Atlas of Resources (maps 12, 13a, 13b, 1956); Anthony Island, a Home of the Haidas (1957); Histories, territories and laws of the Kitwancool (1959); The Killer Whale Copper (A Chief’s Memorial to His Son (1960); Preserving British Columbia’s Prehistory. Archaeological Sites Advisory Board (1961); Indian History of British Columbia: The Impact of the White Man (1965); Thoughts on the Noot ka Canoe (1965); Arts of the Raven: Masterworks by the Northwest Coast Indians (1967); Indians before the arrival of the white men, the Indians after the arrival of the white men (1967); Indians of British Columbia: Selected Bibliography (1968); Totem Pole Survey of Southeastern Alaska (1969); Bibliography of Anthropology of B.C. (1973); and Images Stone B.C. Thirty Centuries of Northwest Coast Indian sculpture (1975). In 1996, Bird of paradox: the unpublished writings of Wilson Duff was published.

Wilson Duff died August 8, 1976 leaving behind his wife, Marion and his two children, Marnie and Tom. In 1981, “The World is as Sharp as a Knife: An Anthology in Honor of Wilson Duff” was published by the British Columbia Provincial Museum and contained essays, reminisces, artwork, and poetry celebrating Duff’s accomplishments, research and friendships.

Carol Elizabeth Mayer was a curator at the Museum of Anthropology (UBC) from 1987-2022. She is a Canadian citizen. Her educational background includes a Diploma in Arts & Sciences (honours) from Vancouver City College in 1972. In 1974 Carol completed a Bachelor of Arts (honours), majoring in Anthropology, at the University of British Columbia. In 1976 she received a Certificate in Social Anthropology from Cambridge University in Cambridge, UK and in 1996 she received a Ph.D. from the University of Leicester, UK in Museum Studies.

Carol began working at the University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology (MOA) in 1987 as Curator of Collections and held that position until 1990 when she was appointed the Curator of Ethnology/Ceramics, a position she held until 2005. In 2005 she was appointed Curator of Africa/Pacific, and Curatorial Department Head. As of 2016, she is Curator of Oceania & Africa. In 1993 Carol also became an Instructor in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology. She was the co-founder and the Director of the Museum Studies Certificate Programme for MOA and the Department of Continuing Studies in 1996 and 1997. She has participated in several committees at MOA such as the Acquisition Committee, Collections Committee, Research & Teaching Committee, Executive Committee, and the Renewal Project Team. As Head Curator she is responsible for researching her area of specialty, publishing and presenting papers, representing the Curatorial Department on committees, constructing and overseeing departmental budgets, developing exhibitions and collections, and developing acquisitions policies.

Outside of UBC Carol is an instructor at the University of Victoria in the Faculty of History of Art (1989 to present), and at Emily Carr College of Art and Design in the Visual Arts Department and Art History Department (1993 to present). Previous to MOA Carol worked at The Vancouver Museum where she held several positions from 1975 until 1987.

Carol Mayer has published internationally on curatorship, exhibition, design and ceramics. She is active in provincial, national and international museum associations and has served on boards at all these levels. She has chaired and organized BC Museums Association Conferences as in the year 2000 where she was on the Planning Committee. The Canadian Museums Association awarded her in 1984 with the National Award of Merit for Curatorship and in 1991 with the National Award for Outstanding Achievement. In 2009 she received the International Council of Museums Canada International Achievement award. Many of her exhibition projects have involved collaborative work with communities and their artists, whether they be local or far afield.

Pam Brown was a curator in the Pacific Northwest Department of the UBC Museum of Anthropology (MOA), where she was responsible for the Heiltsuk, Wuikinuxv, Tahltan, Ktunaxa, Tsilhqot'in, and Tlingit collections. She has curated and co-curated a number of exhibits at MOA including ‘Mehodihi: Well-Known Traditions of Tahltan People’ (2003) and ‘Telling Our Stories, A Profile of Tahltan/Tlingit Artist Dempsey Bob’ (2001). She has worked closely with the Heiltsuk community on many projects and has contributed to the creation of a number of MOA sourcebooks, including ‘The Honor of One is the Honor of All’ (1996-2005) and ‘My Ancestors Are Still Dancing’ (2003).

Brown graduated with a Master of Arts degree from the University of British Columbia in 1994, having written a thesis and curated an exhibit at MOA entitled ‘Cannery Days: A Chapter In The Lives of the Heiltsuk,’ about the lives of Heiltsuk men and women in the BC fish processing industry. In 1994-1995 she was involved with the design and implementation of the Aboriginal Museum Internship Program (AMIP) and the Aboriginal Cultural Stewardship Program (ACSP) at MOA, two programs which provided native participants with practical training in how to develop low-cost, effective displays and resource materials on cultural subjects for their communities. In 1999, Brown coordinated a ‘Repatriation Forum’ which brought 180 First Nations members and museum professionals to UBC’s First Nations House of Learning to discuss the shared experiences of repatriation between First Nations in B.C. and tribes from the USA. Since 1999, Brown has also acted as supervisor of the Native Youth Programme.

Brown retired from MOA in the summer of 2020.

A Kwagu'l (Tsaxis) carver, married to Mary Hunt. Godfrey's parents were Kenneth Hunt and Minnie Wallas. On his father's side his grandparents were David Hunt and Sarah Lalaxsa; great-grandparents George Hunt and Lucy Homiskanis. (Information from Dean Bradley, grandson of Godfrey Hunt.)

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.

Formally incorporated on December 23rd 1977, the Friends of the Museum of Anthropology at U.B.C. (University of British Columbia) was a society that had four main objectives:

• To promote interest in, and acquaint the public with the Museum of Anthropology at U.B.C.
• To provide for the holding of educational lectures, exhibitions, public meetings, classes and conferences on the subject of anthropology
• To acquire, accept, solicit or receive any gift or real or personal property as a contribution or addition to the funds of the society
• To receive, hold, distribute, invest and reinvest contributions from donors for the collections of and operation of the Museum of Anthropology at U.B.C.

The operations of the society were physically carried out in the museum. The affairs of the society were managed by a board of 24 directors; six were directly tasked with its initial establishment, while another 18 were elected at the first annual general meeting. Various committees and sub-committees were established, including the executive committee, who had the power to exercise the will of the board. Other committees included the membership committee and the sub-committees on Finance and Fundraising. Michael Ames, then-Director of the Museum of Anthropology, worked as the secretary for the society for most of its life-span. The society was directly involved with a 1981 benefit concert that took place in the Haida House to raise funds for a special gallery for a Haida canoe they wished to acquire. The friends’ peak of activity was from 1978-1982, after which time it became less and less active; dissolution occurred sometime around 1985.

The Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) was created by Royal Charter in 1670. For the most part of its history, the HBC was a fur trading business that played a significant role in the British colonization of North America.
During the second half of the 20th Century, the company gradually transformed into a department store chain.

Robert W. Reford was the heir to the Reford shipping and navigation business. In 1889 he journeyed from Montreal to British Columbia in order to assist with his family’s business there. He stayed in the province until 1891. Though centered in Victoria, Reford made several trips along the coast of British Columbia, into the interior and in to the Arctic. Reford was an amateur photographer and while in British Columbia he took a large number of photos, both of his acquaintances and of the local scenery and inhabitants.

No biographical information available.

In spring of 1983, Karen Duffek received her Masters of Arts in Anthropology from the University of British Columbia with a thesis titled The Contemporary Northwest Coast Indian Art Market. Karen Duffek’s relationship with the Museum of Anthropology has spanned over twenty years. From 1985 through 1999, Duffek was a Guest Curator and Research Associate, during which time she worked closely with Marjorie Halpin. In 1999, she took on a role as Interim Manager in Administration at MOA. In 2000, she was hired by the Museum of Anthropology as a Curator of Contemporary Visual Arts & the Pacific Northwest. Since 1985, Duffek has published numerous articles, essays, and anthologies addressing issues in Native Art. She has written multiple exhibition catalogues, including The Transforming Image: Painted Arts of Northwest Coast First Nations (UBC Press, 2000), which she co-authored with Bill McLennan. The Transforming Image won the Canadian Museum Association’s 2001 Award for Outstanding Achievement in Publications, and the British Columbia Historical Federation’s Certificate of Merit for Historical Writing in 2000. In 2005, Karen Duffek co-edited the anthology, Bill Reid and Beyond: Expanding on Modern Native Art (Douglas & McIntyre, 2004).

As the Curator of Contemporary Visual Arts & the Pacific Northwest, Karen Duffek has curated some major exhibitions at the Museum of Anthropology, including Border Zones: New Art across Cultures (2010), and Robert Davidson: The Abstract Edge (2004).