Referred to as the Wilson Duff Papers, these records are microfilm copies of primarily the original research and field notes of Wilson Duff who was curator of Anthropology at the British Columbia Provincial Museum from 1950 to 1965 and deal with the ethnology of aboriginal peoples in British Columbia. Some field notes of other museum anthropologists are also included. The original papers consist of approximately 1.5 meters of textual records. The majority of them were microfilmed in order to make the contents available to clients of the then British Columbia Archives and Records Service. The Royal British Columbia Museum retained the original papers including some maps, typescripts and oversize material that were not microfilmed.
Wilson Duff received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of British Columbia (UBC) and a Masters Degree in anthropology from the University of Washington (Seattle) in 1951. From 1950 to 1965 he served as Curator of Anthropology for the British Columbia Provincial Museum (now the Royal British Columbia Museum). He also directed the British Columbia Government Anthropology Program from 1960 to 1965. From 1965 until his death in 1976 he was a Professor of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. During his term as Curator of Anthropology with the Museum, Wilson Duff conducted the research work documented in these papers. The papers are a diverse collection of material, consisting of field notes, maps, official and unofficial records, and copies of published and unpublished works. Records of later museum anthropologists also form a part of this collection. The Wilson Duff Papers document many aspects of Indigenous history and culture, and include important linguistic information. They also document the activities of Wilson Duff and other staff of the Provincial Museum.
