James Deans

James Deans (1827-1905) was a Scottish ethnologist, guide and collector of Victoria, British Columbia, who published several works on the folklore and culture of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas.

Deans joined James Richardson's^[1] expedition to survey Queen Charlotte Islands in 1878, and he was employed by others as a local guide; his collection of ethnographic materials was criticised by some contemporaries for its insensitivity.^[1] He presented an exhibition on the Haida people at the World's Columbian Exposition, showing a model village based on materials he had obtained.^[2] Amongst his works is a paper presented at "The Chicago Folk-Lore Congress of 1893", "The Superstitions, Customs, and Burial Rites of the Tribes of North-Western America".^[3]

References

• "James Deans". Dictionary of Canadian Biography (online ed.). University of Toronto Press. 1979–2016.

1. Cole, John (1995). Captured heritage: the scramble for Northwest Coast artifacts p175. UBC Press. ISBN 9780774805377.
2. Dawson, George Mercer; Douglas Cole; Bradley John Lockner (1993). "Notes". In Douglas Cole, Bradley John Lockner (ed.). To the Charlottes: George Dawson's 1878 survey of the Queen Charlotte Islands. The Pioneers of British Columbia. Vol. 10. UBC Press. p. 451. ISBN 978-0-7748-0415-8.
3. Abercromby, John (Sep 1893). "The Chicago Folk-Lore Congress of 1893". Folk-Lore. 4 (3): 345–348. doi:10.1080/0015587X.1893.9720170. Archived from the original on 2011-06-28.