William Henry Pierce
Encyclopedia
William Henry Pierce also known as W. H. Pierce, was a Canadian First Nations missionary for the Methodist
church and a member of the Tsimshian
nation in northwestern British Columbia
. He is best known for his memoir, From Potlatch to Pulpit, which was the first published book by a Tsimshian.
Pierce was born June 10, 1856, at Fort Rupert, B.C. His father was a Scotsman named Edward Pierce who worked for the Hudson's Bay Company
at Lax Kw'alaams
(a.k.a. Port Simpson, a.k.a. Fort Simpson), B.C., and his mother was a Tsimshian of the Gispaxlo'ots
tribe from Port Simpson who died when he was three weeks old. His maternal grandfather brought him from Fort Rupert to Port Simpson, where he was raised in Tsimshian culture. His "uncle by adoption" was the HBC employee and diarist Arthur Wellington Clah
, and young William witnessed the famous event in which Clah intervened and saved the life of the Anglican lay missionary William Duncan
, whose life was being threatened by Chief Ligeex
of the Gispaxlo'ots, angry that church-bells were tolling on the day of his daughter's initiation into a secret society.
During a stay in Victoria, British Columbia
, Pierce was converted to Christianity by the Methodist missionary the Rev. Thomas Crosby
and later served as his interpreter when Crosby was assigned to Port Simpson. This led to Pierce's own career as a missionary. First informally and then formally after his ordination in 1886, Pierce worked to convert Natives and suppress indigenous customs (like the potlatch
and secret societies) in B.C. coastal villages such as Alert Bay, Bella Bella
, Port Essington
, Greenville, and Klemtu, and even Wrangell, Alaska
. Pierce was missionary at Kispiox for fifteen years starting in 1895, and in 1910 was transferred to Port Essington, where he served until his retirement in 1933. Thereafter he lived in Prince Rupert, B.C.
In 1876 Crosby married Pierce to a Haida woman named Emma Leusate. In 1890 he married again, to Margaret Hargraves, an Englishwoman who was a teacher at the Methodist mission school in Port Essington.
His book, From Potlatch to Pulpit, published in 1933, contains memoirs of his life and conversion as well as substantial information about traditional Tsimshian customs, beliefs, and seasonal round.
Pierce died in 1948.
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
church and a member of the Tsimshian
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...
nation in northwestern British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. He is best known for his memoir, From Potlatch to Pulpit, which was the first published book by a Tsimshian.
Pierce was born June 10, 1856, at Fort Rupert, B.C. His father was a Scotsman named Edward Pierce who worked for the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
at Lax Kw'alaams
Lax Kw'alaams
Lax-Kw'alaams , usually called Port Simpson, is an Indigenous village community in British Columbia, Canada, not far from the city of Prince Rupert. It is the home of the "Nine Tribes" of the lower Skeena River, which are nine of the fourteen tribes of the Tsimshian nation...
(a.k.a. Port Simpson, a.k.a. Fort Simpson), B.C., and his mother was a Tsimshian of the Gispaxlo'ots
Gispaxlo'ots
The Gispaxlo'ots are one of the 14 tribes of the Tsimshian nation in British Columbia, Canada, and one of the nine of those tribes making up the "Nine Tribes" of the lower Skeena River resident at Lax Kw'alaams , B.C...
tribe from Port Simpson who died when he was three weeks old. His maternal grandfather brought him from Fort Rupert to Port Simpson, where he was raised in Tsimshian culture. His "uncle by adoption" was the HBC employee and diarist Arthur Wellington Clah
Arthur Wellington Clah
Arthur Wellington Clah was a Canadian First Nations employee of the Hudson's Bay Company at Lax Kw'alaams , B.C., who was also a hereditary chief in the Tsimshian nation, an anthropological informant, and an extensive diarist....
, and young William witnessed the famous event in which Clah intervened and saved the life of the Anglican lay missionary William Duncan
William Duncan (missionary)
William Duncan was an English-born Anglican missionary who founded the Tsimshian communities of Metlakatla, British Columbia, in Canada, and Metlakatla, Alaska, in the United States...
, whose life was being threatened by Chief Ligeex
Ligeex
Ligeex is an hereditary name-title belonging to the Gispaxlo'ots tribe of the Tsimshian First Nation from the village of Lax Kw'alaams , British Columbia, Canada. The name, and the chieftainship it represents, is passed along matrilineally within the royal house called the House of Ligeex...
of the Gispaxlo'ots, angry that church-bells were tolling on the day of his daughter's initiation into a secret society.
During a stay in Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
, Pierce was converted to Christianity by the Methodist missionary the Rev. Thomas Crosby
Thomas Crosby
The Rev. Thomas Crosby was an English Methodist missionary known for his work among the First Nations people of coastal British Columbia, Canada....
and later served as his interpreter when Crosby was assigned to Port Simpson. This led to Pierce's own career as a missionary. First informally and then formally after his ordination in 1886, Pierce worked to convert Natives and suppress indigenous customs (like the potlatch
Potlatch
A potlatch is a gift-giving festival and primary economic system practiced by indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and United States. This includes Heiltsuk Nation, Haida, Nuxalk, Tlingit, Makah, Tsimshian, Nuu-chah-nulth, Kwakwaka'wakw, and Coast Salish cultures...
and secret societies) in B.C. coastal villages such as Alert Bay, Bella Bella
Bella Bella
Bella Bella may refer to:* Bella Bella, British Columbia, on Campbell Island, also known as Waglisla**Bella Bella Airport, airport north west of Bella Bella**Bella Bella Airport, airport east of Bella Bella...
, Port Essington
Port Essington, British Columbia
Port Essington was a cannery town on the south bank of the Skeena River estuary in northwestern British Columbia, Canada, between Prince Rupert and Terrace, and at the confluence of the Skeena and Ecstall Rivers. It was founded in 1871 by Robert Cunningham and Thomas Hankin and was for a time...
, Greenville, and Klemtu, and even Wrangell, Alaska
Wrangell, Alaska
Wrangell is a city and borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. At the 2000 census the population was 2,308.Its Tlingit name is Ḵaachx̱aana.áakʼw . The Tlingit people residing in the Wrangell area, who were there centuries before Europeans, call themselves the Shtaxʼhéen Ḵwáan after the nearby Stikine...
. Pierce was missionary at Kispiox for fifteen years starting in 1895, and in 1910 was transferred to Port Essington, where he served until his retirement in 1933. Thereafter he lived in Prince Rupert, B.C.
In 1876 Crosby married Pierce to a Haida woman named Emma Leusate. In 1890 he married again, to Margaret Hargraves, an Englishwoman who was a teacher at the Methodist mission school in Port Essington.
His book, From Potlatch to Pulpit, published in 1933, contains memoirs of his life and conversion as well as substantial information about traditional Tsimshian customs, beliefs, and seasonal round.
Pierce died in 1948.