A Nanaimo author addresses the “pioneering efforts” made by a B.C. anthropologist whose work encouraged the understanding of consequences of settler colonialism.
In a release for his book, Wilson Duff: Coming Back, a Life, author Robin Fisher noted that Duff was the provincial anthropologist at the Royal B.C. Museum between 1950 to 1965 and devoted himself to understanding First Nations culture of the Northwest Coast and conveying that understanding to an “often uncomprehending newcomer population.”
“One of the ways he did that is a real Nanaimo story,” noted Fisher in the release. “He was an expert witness in the momentous White and Bob land claims case that was heard in the Nanaimo Courthouse. He played a large part in convincing the court that the Snuneymuxw had a valid claim to the land.”
Fisher, a historian and former provost and vice-president academic of Mount Royal University, will also host a Vancouver Island University ElderCollege ‘Saturday Speaker Series’ talk on Sept. 17 on the White and Bob case.
“Wilson was involved in many other initiatives – salvaging and restoring totem poles from the northern coast, building Thunderbird Park in Victoria with Mungo Martin, two ground-breaking exhibitions of northwest coast art and an innovative investigation of meaning in Haida art,” noted Fisher in the release.
Wilson Duff: Coming Back, A Life, published in May, was launched at a ceremony in Thunderbird Park at the provincial museum, hosted by Chief David Mungo Knox of Fort Rupert.
READ MORE: Great-grandson of original carver helps restore totem pole at Royal B.C. Museum
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