Collections & Research
First Nations Collections
The History of Collecting BC First Nations Materials at MOA
When MOA was established in 1947 it received existing UBC collections, including a large collection gathered by F. Burnett of mostly South Pacific materials, which also contained 60 Northwest Coast objects and some archaeological artifacts; and the Buttimer collection of 130 First Nations baskets. Today, there are approximately 6,000 BC First Nations objects in MOA's collections; of these, 5,400 are from the Northwest Coast. Of the Northwest Coast objects, almost 2,000 were donated to MOA, approximately 3,100 were purchased by MOA, and the source or mode of acquisition of about 300 objects requires further research.
MOA was founded relatively late compared to other museums; because of this and the history of its collections formation, it holds very little documented pre-1900 ethnological material Over 1,000 archaeological artifacts have been transferred from MOA to the Laboratory of Archaeology between 1954 and 1988.
Important Northwest Coast collections at MOA were acquired through purchase with funds received from H.R. MacMillan. The majority of the over 2,000 objects purchased with MacMillan funds were acquired directly from First Nations families or through First Nations agents in the communities between 1948 and 1965; over 800 of these objects are from the Kwakwaka'wakw people. Many of these were sent to the museum by their Kwakwaka'wakw sellers. This collection represents an important phase in the 20th-century history of Kwakwaka'wakw visual expression. Documentation of this collection continues with the assistance of Kwakwaka'wakw artists and community members. MacMillan funds also allowed MOA to purchase about 15 collections of Northwest Coast artifacts assembled by missionaries and others. These include the Rev. G.H. Raley collection of over 600 objects (1948); the Revs. Collison collection of almost 200 objects (1960), and the Edith Bevan Cross collection of almost 700 objects (1962).
Both MacMillan and his colleague in the lumber industry, Walter C. Koerner, financed the acquisition of totem poles and other monumental carvings collected as part of the BC Totem Pole Preservation project in the 1950s, which brought 37 massive carvings to UBC, which were later transferred to MOA. Both MacMillan and Koerner provided cedar logs for the Haida houses and poles carved by Bill Reid and Doug Cranmer for UBC between 1959 and 1962, which form an important part of the Museum's collection of contemporary works.
The Walter and Marianne Koerner Collection of over 300 historical and contemporary objects was donated to MOA in the 1970s. The Koerners had purchased these objects over many years, primarily from dealers, with the intent of having them brought back to BC. It was the promise of this gift which inspired the federal government's 1971 centennial gift to BC to build the new Museum of Anthropology building.
One of the centrepieces of MOA's contemporary collection is Bill Reid's sculpture, The Raven and the First Men, which was commissioned by Walter Koerner for the Museum (1980). Other notable donations of objects to MOA include Bill Reid's donation of 128 objects (1950s on), the Beecher collection of 54 objects (1952), and the Tom and Frances Richardson bequest of 122 objects (1990s).
From MOA's founding in 1947 through the 1970s, numerous donations and small grants funded the purchase of over 300 objects. Through federal government programs, UBC and several of its graduating classes, and the UBC Alumni Association, MOA was able to purchase 86 objects. Over 150 important historical and contemporary objects, including such items as jewellery by Bill Reid, and a 19th-century Chilkat robe, were acquired from about 30 different donors and certified by the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board. Since 1979, MOA's shop volunteers have funded the purchase of 600 objects, many of these contemporary artworks. Other contemporary pieces have been purchased and directly commissioned from Northwest Coast artists with the support of both individual and corporate donors as well as the Canada Council. MOA continues to acquire Northwest Coast objects, both historical and contemporary, through donations, bequests, purchases, and commissions.
Ancestral Remains
There are no Canadian First Nations ancestral remains in the MOA ethnology collection.
Collections of ancestral remains are held in trust at The UBC Laboratory of Archaeology (LOA) of the Department of Anthropology and Sociology, in its MOA facilities. The collections are managed by the Laboratory of Archaeology according to its own policy. See www.anso.ubc.ca/loa/arch_ugrad.htm#lab
