A Faith of Stone: Gravestones, Missionaries, Culture Change and Continuity Among British Columbia’s Tsimshian Indians
British missionaries were active among the Tsimshian-speaking peoples of the Nass and Skeena River valleys from 1858 on. Although their purpose was the Christianization of the First Nations peoples in the area, their vision of Christianity included what one might now consider secular realms, such as...
| Published in: | Journal of Canadian Studies |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
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University of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress)
1991
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| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3138/jcs.26.3.80 https://utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/jcs.26.3.80 |
| Summary: | British missionaries were active among the Tsimshian-speaking peoples of the Nass and Skeena River valleys from 1858 on. Although their purpose was the Christianization of the First Nations peoples in the area, their vision of Christianity included what one might now consider secular realms, such as economic reform and the memorialization of the dead. The combination of missionary tolerance towards some areas of Tsimshian culture and the Tsimshians’ own determination in adapting new practices to their own cultural traditions allowed for syncretistic tendencies in Tsimshian memorial art beginning in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. |
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