Abstract

In this thesis I set out to contextualize an historical event that occurred on the Pacific Northwest Coast almost 100 years ago, in a period of time when Western colonists scoured the colonial frontiers seeking the artifacts of the Aboriginal “other.” The event, which I call the Whalers' House story, is part of a narrative that I have constructed from a rich trail of archival documents, which finds the “father of cultural anthropology”, Franz Boas, caught-up in an ethically problematic movement to collect Aboriginal artifacts while employed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, during the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries.

Finding context for the Whalers' House story is the goal of this thesis. I use the Whalers' House story as a focal point so that we can better understand the legacy of Franz Boas and the museum movement. By locating this event within a broad range of historical contexts, we are better equipped to understand this unique period in the history of anthropology. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)