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First Nations & Indigenous Peoples of Northern BC

This guide showcases the Northern BC Archives collections concerning the First Nations and indigenous peoples of Northern BC.

Using an image from the archives?

A credit line must be given for the publication, exhibition, presentation, or use of reproductions from the NBCA. Credit line to be written in the manner as follows:

Northern BC Archives, UNBC Accession No. ______.

Browse Photograph Collections

Eight indigenous children

Fred Jeffery Photograph Collection - 2009.10 (1921-1933)

Image: Eight indigenous children (2009.10.1.64).
The Fred Jeffery Collection consists of three photograph albums comprising a total of 303 b&w photographs all dating from ca.1924-1933. The subject matter of these images consist primarily of the fishing industry, river & landscapes, salmon cannery images (housing, people, workers, machinery, boats) on the Nass River and North Pacific Coast. Notable are the photographs depicting indigenous (Nisga'a) people and places and Chinese and Japanese cannery workers. Identified canneries featured in these photographs include: Mill Bay Cannery, Namu Cannery, Klemtu Cannery, Shushartie Bay Cannery, Balmoral Cannery, North Pacific Cannery, Nass Harbour Cannery, Port Essington Cannery, Kitwanga Cannery, Port Nelson Cannery, Alert Bay Cannery, Dominion Cannery and ABC Co. Cannery.

Three young, First Nations girls stand in front of a Memorial Pole

James Joseph Claxton Photograph Collection - 2007.17 (1920-1982)

Image: Three young, First Nations girls stand in front of a Memorial Pole (2007.17.6.1).
Collection consists of 140 photographs pertaining to the life and pursuits of James Joseph Claxton over the course of sixty years. Subject areas identified within this collection include: quartz and placer mining in the Cariboo; Kingcome Village; the Royal Irish Contabulary; Roderick's Jewelers, New Westminster; the "M.S. Columbia III"; Kwakiutl petrographs in Fort Rupert; totem poles at Alert Bay; and the Salmon Arm Boy Scouts of Canada group. The Kwakiutl Petroglyphs in Fort Rupert - 2007.17.5 file consists of 2 photographs of petroglyphs believed to be created by ancestors of the Kwakiutl peoples in Fort Rupert, BC. The Totem Poles at Alert Bay - 2007.17.6 file consists of 11 photographs taken by photographer W.E. Nicholson, featuring various totem poles at Alert Bay, BC.

Chief's lodge and totem, Nass River, BC

Archdeacon W. H. Collison fonds - 2009.7 (ca. 1987-ca. 1939)

Image: Chief's lodge and totem, Nass River, BC (2009.7.1.104).
The Photographs - 2009.7.1 series of the Archdeacon W. H. Collison fonds - 2009.7 consists of 315 images pertaining the Collison family, North Coastal First Nations communities, means of transportation along North Coastal British Columbia, and various church structures and religious events.

Kitwanga

Reverend R.W. Large fonds - 2004.2 (1900-1920)

Image: Kitwanga (2004.2.1.64).
Collection consists of 165 black and white photographs depicting Northwest Coast communities including Bella Bella, Rivers Inlet, Port Simpson, and Prince Rupert between approximately 1900 and 1920.