Chief William Jeffrey (born 1899, date of death unknown) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

hereditary

Tsimshian The Tsimshian (; tsi, Ts’msyan or Tsm'syen) are an Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Their communities are mostly in coastal British Columbia in Terrace, British Columbia, Terr ...

Chief, First Nations activist and carver. 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 Native Brotherhood of British Columbia is a province-wide First Nations rights organization. It was founded on the 13 December, 1931, during a week long series of meetings between Haida representatives from Masset and Tsimshian representatives ...

. "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," Jeffrey left behind his political pursuits to become a minister of

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...

.''Awake'', September 22, 1984 In 1960 he began carving

totem poles Totem poles ( hai, gyáaʼaang) are monumental carvings found in western Canada and the northwestern United States. They are a type of Northwest Coast art, consisting of poles, posts or pillars, carved with symbols or figures. They are usually m ...

and replicas of totem poles, joining a movement to revive the practice of

Northwest Coast art Northwest Coast art is the term commonly applied to a style of art created primarily by artists from Tlingit, Haida, Heiltsuk, Nuxalk, Tsimshian, Kwakwaka'wakw, Nuu-chah-nulth and other First Nations and Native American tribes of the Northwest ...

once banned in British Columbia. Many of his poles still stand in Prince Rupert and even Adelaide Australia. Jeffrey was a native speaker of Smalgyax, a

Tsimshian language The Tsimshianic languages are a family of languages spoken in northwestern British Columbia and in Southeast Alaska on Annette Island and Ketchikan. All Tsimshianic languages are endangered, some with only around 400 speakers. Only around 2,170 ...

. He also spoke

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and Chinook Jargon.

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External links

Totem Poles
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeffrey, William 1899 births Year of death missing 20th-century First Nations people First Nations history in British Columbia Indigenous leaders in British Columbia People from Lax Kw'alaams Tsimshian woodcarvers

See also

References

External links