SESSION 2.1: The James Hepburn Northwest Coast Collection at the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

• Main Author: Fisher, Lydia
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Digital Commons @ TRU Library 2019
• Subjects: Fort Simpson; Metlakatla; Tsimshian; Tsimshian*
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.library.tru.ca/bcstudies/may2/program/7

This presentation introduces the James Hepburn Northwest Coast collection held at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge, England. James Hepburn (1811-1869) was a naturalist and collector based in Victoria and San Francisco who undertook ethnographic collecting on the HMS Devastation at Sitka, Fort Simpson and Metlakatla during Autumn 1862. The 1860s were a period of intense cultural change on the Northwest Coast with an influx of newcomers, introduced infectious diseases and an increasing missionary presence. The Tsimshian of Metlakatla and Fort Simpson, and the missionary William Duncan are central to this story. During the 1862 smallpox epidemic, Duncan encouraged the Tsimshian to relocate their community and relinquish items connected to their sacred histories and ceremonies that were incompatible with Christian values. William Duncan sold some of these items to James Hepburn which became part of the founding collections at MAA, and their first from the Northwest Coast. This collection is one of the earliest to emerge from Metlakatla and provides a compelling account of missionary encounters and cultural change. The Hepburn collection includes masks, soul catchers, clappers, dishes and items of personal adornment.