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Mrs. Yau Chan Shek-ying was born in 1923 in Sheung Kwai Chung village, Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong. She was married at the age of 12, to Yau Shui-cheung, of Kwan Mun Hau village, Tsuen Wan. After her marriage she did heavy manual labour, such as going up into the mountains to cut grass and pine branches for fuel, farming the family's fields and raising pigs, and earning wages for the family by carrying kerosene and other heavy materials at the Texaco Oil Depot. It was during this heavy labour that Mrs. Yau learned mountain songs, both learned from other women and improvised. In 1976 and 1984, Mrs. Yau sang these songs to be recorded by Canadian anthropologist Elizabeth Lominska Johnson. She had eight children, several of which immigrated to Canada. Mrs. Yau began suffering serious health problems in early middle age, for which she was required to undergo kidney surgery. In the 1990s her health declined, and she passed away in 1996.

According to his obituary (from the Vernon News, February 19 1953), Francis Edward Richmond Wollasten was an English immigrant who arrived in the Okanagan in the 1890’s. He started work at the Coldstream Ranch in Vernon, B.C. in 1914, and held the position of manager of the Ranch from 1918 until 1939. He passed away in Victoria B.C. in 1953.

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.

William (Bill) McLennan was born in Vancouver on October 4, 1948. He received a degree in Arts and Merchandising from Vancouver City College and upon graduation, worked for the City of Vancouver, the MacMillan Planetarium, and Vancouver Centennial Museum, all in the area of exhibit and graphic design. In 1975, McLennan began to work at the Museum of Anthropology (MOA) on a contract to photograph the presentation of the visible storage system. In 1976, he became a permanent staff member at the Museum.

His initial responsibilities included exhibit design, graphic design, photography, teaching, and research. In these capacities McLennan held the responsibility of photographing collections at various stages, as well as photographing events and the physical building and exhibition spaces. Being a designer entailed working with curators and artists on exhibits, designing labels, brochures and memorabilia sold in the gift shop. His teaching responsibilities included working with students who interned under his supervision during the school year, giving classes on photography and design to students taking museum studies courses and giving lectures of Northwest Coast painting and photography. In 1993 he began to curate exhibits, McLennan’s first exhibit as curator was The Transforming Image after his discovery through extensive research that infrared film could reveal Northwest coast paintings that had disappeared under the patina of age. In 2001 he officially became a curator/project manager in addition to continuing work in the graphic design department. In addition to these duties, McLennan performed contract work for various museums.

In 1979, McLennan won the Certificate of Design Excellence for exhibit design for Print Magazine Casebooks. In 1983, he received a Canada Council Grant, followed by a BC Heritage grant in 1984 and 85, to research the possibilities of using infrared film to reveal Northwest Coast paintings that had faded with time. This research was interrupted in 1986 when McLennan took a one-year leave of absence from the Museum to work for Expo ’86 as a member of the exhibits team. In 1987, he received a planning and development grant from the Museums Assistance Program in order to develop his previous research on infrared painted images into an exhibit and book. This exhibit came to fruition in 1993 and was called ‘The Transforming Image’ from which a book was published by the same name which won the Award for Outstanding Achievement from the Canadian Museums Association in 2001. He also received a Certificate of Merit from the British Columbia Historical Federation for this book.

McLennan was also the recipient of the President’s Service Award for Excellence from the University of British Columbia in 1995 and the British Columbia Museums Associations Award of Merit for “The Respect to Bill Reid Pole” in 2002.

In 2010, McLennan curated an exhibit displaying the works of Charles and Isabella Edenshaw titled ‘Signed Without Signature: Works by Charles and Isabella Edenshaw’. This exhibit used 3D imaging technology to show the patterns on 3D objects in a flat undistorted perspective.

McLennan retired from MOA on October 31, 2013.

Chief William Jeffrey was a hereditary Tsimshian Chief, born in 1899 near Lax Kw'alaams, British Columbia. Alongside Chief William Beynon and two others, he co-founded the Native Brotherhood of British Columbia in 1931. In 1940 he appeared before the House of Commons to advocate improvements to Indigenous education, the recognition of Indigenous rights, and the decriminalization of the potlach. In 1953 Jeffrey became a minister of Jehovah's Witnesses. Jeffrey began carving totem poles and replicas in 1960.

William Carr was a resident of California who took a boat trip through the Strait of Georgia around 1949-50. In 1995 he donated two rolls of black and white 35 mm film to the Museum shot during this trip for their historical value and possible educational use by First Nations communities.

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.)

Wayne Suttles was an American anthropologist and linguist. He was a leading authority on the ethnology and linguistics of the Coast Salish people of British Columbia and Washington State. Suttles taught at the University of British Columbia from 1952-1963, the University of Nevada-Reno from 1963-1966, and Portland State University until he retired in 1985.

Suttles received his doctorate from the University of Washington in 1951 - the first to receive a doctorate from UW's anthropology department.

Walter C. Koerner was born in what is now known as Czechoslovakia (formerly part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire). In 1939, fleeing the expansion of Nazi Germany, he left Europe and emigrated to Canada. Upon his arrival in British Columbia, Koerner, with members of his family, founded a company known as Alaska Pine. He became a major figure in British Columbia's forest industry. Koerner was a significant collector of art, most notably European ceramics and North American First Nations art. In 1941, Koerner began collecting Northwest Coast First Nations art. He is credited with making important contributions to the artistic renaissance of First Nations art through his philanthropy and patronage. Walter Koerner played a significant role in the development of the University of British Columbia campus, lending financial and political support to several projects including UBC Library, the University Hospital, and the Museum of Anthropology. Walter Koerner died on his birthday July 21, 1995.

No biographical information available.

Virginia Catherine Kehoe was born in the Kitsilano neighbourhood of Vancouver on November 2, 1916. Upon marrying Bruce Kehoe, Virginia travelled with him to Ottawa, Calgary, Toronto and France as his career in the Royal Canadian Air Force lent itself to a significant amount of travel. Virginia Kehoe trained as an artist, and became close friends with Kwakwaka’wakw artist and carver Douglas Cranmer. She assisted in taking care of Cranmer’s store The Talking Stick on South Granville in Vancouver for part of its existence. Kehoe and her husband moved to Vancouver Island after Bruce Kehoe retired from the RCAF, first settling in Sooke and then moving to Victoria. Towards the end of her life, after the passing of her husband Bruce, Virginia Kehoe moved to Riverwest in Ladner, B.C. to be closer to family. Virginia Kehoe died in Ladner on September 15, 2008.

No biographical information available.

Victoria Yip joined the Chinese Times in Vancouver in 1929 and was responsible for local Vancouver and Canadian news. She was also the part-time editor for the cultural and literary columns and she later assumed the role of Advertising Manager.

Victor Othello dos Remedios was born in Macau in 1893. He spent most of his life in Shanghai, China until 1951. He was trained as an accountant and worked for most of his adult years at the Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank of Commerce and at an American-owned pulp and paper mill. He married his first wife at the age of twenty-four and had a son who developed polio and was sent to Switzerland for schooling and health care. He married again at about the age of forty and had a daughter in 1938. At age fourteen he registered in the Shanghai Volunteer Corps and served until 1942 when war broke out. He took photographs of two bombing incidents in Shanghai in the 30s as a member of the Corps. In 1942, Victor along with his wife Valentina and daughter Elizabeth were interned at one of many of the camps set up by the occupying Japanese forces in Shanghai for expatriates. They were released in April 1945 and had no place to live as their house was occupied by Korean allies of the Japanese, so they remained for another year in the camp.
The family eventually repossessed their home and Victor resumed work at his previous job as a manager of the pulp and paper mill. With the impending threat of invasion by the recently formed Red Army, his wife and daughter were sent to Hong Kong to live with relatives. Victor stayed in Shanghai until he had trained a Chinese replacement to manage the mill. In 1950, he was able to join his family and after a short stay in Hong Kong the family immigrated to Canada. In 1981, Victor passed away in a care facility in Victoria, BC. As of March 2014, his wife Valentina still lives in Victoria.

Vickie Jensen and Jay Powell are partners in both life and work. Since the early 1970s they have worked together in Washington State and British Columbia to study, document, and help revitalise indigenous languages in the communities in which they were active. In addition to language work, the couple promoted Indigenous artists and assisted First Nations in their efforts to achieve self-determination.

James V. Powell (Jay) completed his first degree in archaeology at Wheaton College in Illinois in 1959. He then studied Near Eastern languages at the National University of Mexico, the University of Chicago, and Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Between 1958 and 1965 he worked on excavation sites in Mexico, Jordan, Egypt, Israel, Pakistan and Afghanistan. In 1965, seeking a quieter life, he began a degree at the University of Denver studying Archival Science, which he completed a year later. He then took a research librarian position at the New York Times and published two books on the translation history of the bible. In 1968 Powell began graduate studies in linguistics at the Pacific and Asian Linguistics Institute, University of Hawaii. In 1969 he began to conduct research on the Quileute language in La Push, Washington State for his M.A. and PhD degrees in Anthropological Linguistics. His dissertation, Proto-Chimakuan: a Reconstruction was completed in 1974.

Jensen earned a B.A., magnum cum laude, in English from Luther College in 1968. She then went on to do a Master of Arts in Teaching at the University of Iowa, which she completed in 1970. For her Master’s degree she specialised in education for children and youth that have trouble fitting into mainstream schools. During this period she also studied photography. She was employed in alternative education programs, and while teaching in South Dakota worked with Sioux adults. These experiences led to her strong conviction that teaching materials should reflect the students’ own environments and that language education should be pragmatic and realistic in its goals. She felt that incorporating photography that the students could relate to would lead to success in achieving these objectives.

In the summer of 1972 Jensen travelled to La Push to visit Powell, with whom she had been corresponding. While there, she photographed the community. In December of the same year she immigrated to Canada to join Powell in Vancouver where he had taken a teaching job at the University of British Columbia (UBC). At that time, the two began their collaborative work with Northwest coast communities, travelling to the villages in which they produced educational materials during Powell’s breaks at the University. Powell taught linguistics at UBC until his retirement in July 1999. Throughout his career he researched the languages of a number of indigenous groups and produced approximately 130 publications in linguistic, anthropological, pedagogical and popular journals, and books. Jensen’s first job in Canada was at the Gallery of Photography in North Vancouver where she worked and taught. In addition to a number of other photographic projects, many as part of her collaborative work with Powell, Jensen was editor of Westcoast Mariner Magazine from March 1988 – June 1991, and for Office @ Home from 1997 – 1999. Between 1995 – 2001 she published a number of articles and books on marine themes, focussing on underwater vehicles.

In addition to their work in the Northwest Coast, Jensen and Powell have also photographed and conducted research in communities around the world. This includes work in the USA, Mexico, South America, as well as four sabbatical years that took the couple and their two sons through Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa. As well as research trips, Jensen and Powell have spent recent years lecturing on cruise ships and travelling for pleasure.

Powell has remained active as an ethnographic and linguistic consultant throughout the Northwest coast since his retirement from UBC. He and Jensen continue to work with communities with which they have established relationships, on both a formal and an ad hoc basis. Powell has an ongoing contract with the Haisla, and there will likely be more work with the Quileute, in addition to casual projects that come up periodically.