Chief William Jeffrey
Encyclopedia
Chief William Jeffrey was a hereditary Tsimshian
Chief, First Nations activist and carver born near Lax Kw'alaams, British Columbia, Canada, in 1899. He attended residential school from 1914 to 1917. Though he desired to be a lawyer, his status as a First Nations person and government policy at the time prevented him from attending college for any profession other than the clergy.
In 1930 he co-founded the Native Brotherhood of British Columbia
. "The NBBC advocated improvements to the level of education among Aboriginal peoples, greater recognition in law of their hunting, fishing and logging rights, and the decriminalization of the potlatch."(Treaty Talks in British Columbia: Negotiating a Mutually Beneficial Future p. 25) In 1940 he appeared in the House of Commons to further those aims, also delivering the message:
In 1953, attracted by the message of "peace and justice to peoples of all races, nationalities, creeds and colors," Chief William Jeffrey left behind his political pursuits to become a minister of Jehovah's Witnesses
.
In 1960 he began carving totem poles and replicas of totem poles, joining a movement to revive the practice of Northwest Coast art
once banned in British Columbia. Many of his poles still stand in Prince Rupert and even Adelaide Australia.
Chief Jeffrey was a native speaker of Smalgyax, a Tsimshian language. He also spoke English
and Chinook Jargon
.
Tsimshian
The Tsimshian are an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Tsimshian translates to Inside the Skeena River. Their communities are in British Columbia and Alaska, around Terrace and Prince Rupert and the southernmost corner of Alaska on Annette Island. There are approximately 10,000...
Chief, First Nations activist and carver born near Lax Kw'alaams, British Columbia, Canada, in 1899. He attended residential school from 1914 to 1917. Though he desired to be a lawyer, his status as a First Nations person and government policy at the time prevented him from attending college for any profession other than the clergy.
In 1930 he co-founded the Native Brotherhood of British Columbia
Native Brotherhood of British Columbia
The Native Brotherhood of British Columbia is a province-wide First Nations rights organization founded in the Tsimshian community of Port Simpson , British Columbia, in 1931. The Tsimshian ethnologist and chief William Beynon and Chief William Jeffrey were among its four founding members...
. "The NBBC advocated improvements to the level of education among Aboriginal peoples, greater recognition in law of their hunting, fishing and logging rights, and the decriminalization of the potlatch."(Treaty Talks in British Columbia: Negotiating a Mutually Beneficial Future p. 25) In 1940 he appeared in the House of Commons to further those aims, also delivering the message:
In 1953, attracted by the message of "peace and justice to peoples of all races, nationalities, creeds and colors," Chief William Jeffrey left behind his political pursuits to become a minister of Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
.
In 1960 he began carving totem poles and replicas of totem poles, joining a movement to revive the practice of Northwest Coast art
Northwest Coast art
Northwest Coast art is the term commonly applied to a style of art created primarily by artists from Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Kwakwaka'wakw, Nuu-chah-nulth and other First Nations and Native American tribes of the Northwest Coast of North America, from pre-European-contact times up to the...
once banned in British Columbia. Many of his poles still stand in Prince Rupert and even Adelaide Australia.
Chief Jeffrey was a native speaker of Smalgyax, a Tsimshian language. He also spoke English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and Chinook Jargon
Chinook Jargon
Chinook Jargon originated as a pidgin trade language of the Pacific Northwest, and spread during the 19th century from the lower Columbia River, first to other areas in modern Oregon and Washington, then British Columbia and as far as Alaska, sometimes taking on characteristics of a creole language...
.