Wilson Duff facts for kids

Wilson Duff (born March 23, 1925, died August 8, 1976) was a Canadian expert who studied ancient cultures, people, and museum collections. He was born in Vancouver.

He is well-known for his studies of First Nations cultures on the Northwest Coast. He focused on groups like the Tsimshian, Gitxsan, and Haida. He was especially interested in their art, such as totem poles. Along with Bill Holm and Harry Hawthorn, he helped bring Northwest Coast art to worldwide attention in the 1950s and 1960s.

Early Life and Education

Wilson Duff earned his first degree from the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 1949. He then got his master's degree in anthropology in 1951 from the University of Washington in Seattle. There, he studied with a teacher named Erna Gunther.

His master's project was based on his work with the Stó:lõ Salish people near the Fraser River in British Columbia. In 1952, he worked with Charles E. Borden to create the Borden System. This system helps identify and name archaeological sites.

Working with Museums and First Nations

From 1950 to 1965, Wilson Duff was the Curator of Anthropology at the British Columbia Provincial Museum. This museum is now known as the Royal British Columbia Museum (RBCM) in Victoria. He was also a founder of the British Columbia Museums Association.

In the 1950s, he worked hard to save the last remaining totem poles on Haida Gwaii. This area was once called the Queen Charlotte Islands.

Saving Totem Poles in Gitanyow

In 1958, Duff and his assistant, Michael Kew, made an important agreement with the Gitksan community of Kitwancool. They arranged for some of the village's totem poles to be moved to the RBCM for safekeeping. In return, the museum provided copies of the poles. They also published books about the Kitwancool people's history, lands, and laws.

During this project, Duff and Kew worked with Constance Cox. She was part Tlingit and helped translate for the Gitksan people.

Studying Tsimshianic Languages

In 1958 and 1959, Duff was a professor at the University of British Columbia. He worked with anthropologist Marius Barbeau in Ottawa. They organized many notes and materials about the Tsimshianic-speaking peoples. These groups include the Tsimshian, Gitksan, and Nisga'a.

Duff believed these notes were very important. However, he did not agree with some of Barbeau's more debated ideas about how people first came to the Americas.

Expert Witness in Land Claims

In 1960, Wilson Duff did more research in Gitksan and Nisga'a communities. Later, in 1969, he was an expert witness in a court case. This was the Nisga'a land-claims case called Calder vs. Attorney-General of B.C. It is famously known as the "Calder case."

Later Studies and Legacy

In his later years, Duff focused deeply on Haida art. He explored its complex patterns and meanings. He worked on this with his friend, the Haida artist Bill Reid. However, he never fully published all his ideas on this topic.

He became so involved in understanding the Haida way of thinking that his friends worried about him. He wrote in the early 1970s that his colleagues "are concerned about my sanity and reputation."

One of his students was the anthropologist Marjorie Halpin. Wilson Duff passed away on August 8, 1976.

Selected Books and Papers

• (editor) (1959) Histories, Territories, and Laws of the Kitwancool. (Anthropology in British Columbia Memoir no. 4.) Victoria, B.C.: Royal British Columbia Museum.
• (1964) "Contributions of Marius Barbeau to West Coast Ethnology." Anthropologica (new series), vol. 6, no. 1, pages 63–96.
• (1964) The Indian History of British Columbia: Volume 1 The Impact of the Whiteman. BC Provincial Museum.