Camera Workers, 1858-1950

The British Columbia, Alaska and Yukon Photographic Directory, 1858-1950

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Teit, James Alexander[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Male 1864 - 1922  (58 years)


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  • Name Teit, James Alexander 
    • VARIANT NAME: Tait, James Alexander.
    Birth 15 Apr 1864  Lerwick, Shetland Islands, Scotland, UK Find all individuals with events at this location  [6, 7] 
    Gender Male 
    Marriage 12 Sep 1892  Ashcroft District, BC Find all individuals with events at this location  [6] 
    Bride: Lucy Antko 
    Marriage 15 Mar 1904  [7] 
    Bride: Leonie Josephine Morens 
    Home Address/Year late 1890s-1922  Spences Bridge, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Death 30 Oct 1922  Merritt, BC Find all individuals with events at this location  [8] 
    Burial Pine Ridge Cemetery, Merritt, BC Find all individuals with events at this location  [7] 
    Association Vinson, Valient Vivian (Relationship: Undefined) 
    Association Boas, Franz (Relationship: Undefined) 
    Person ID I911  Camera Workers | T, vol. 2, 1901-1950
    Last Modified 17 Feb 2020 

  • Notes 
    • STATUS: Ethnolologist (amateur).
    • BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY: Teit emigrated from Scotland in 1883 and settled at Spences Bridge where he married a Thompson (Nlaka'pamux) woman in 1892 and took up photography as an amateur in the late 1890s. Teit married a second time in 1904.

      Teit was a member of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition (1897-1902) sponsored by the American Museum of Natural History. He assisted ethnographer Franz Boas in 1894 at Spences Bridge and around 1911 helped photographer V.V. Vinson photograph the Nlaka'pamux. The bulk of his work was recorded on behalf of the Geological Survey of Canada for whom he collected ethnographic information between 1911 until his death.

      Teit also assisted Natives with lands claim and self-government issues by organizing and helping managing Native rights associations. Teit's photographs are an invaluable visual record of Interior Salish Natives and their culture.

  • Sources 
    1. [S155] COLLECTION: OONMM.

    2. [S551] James Teit; Franz Boas, ed., Teit (1900), (New York, NY: Jesup North Pacific Expedition, American Museum of Natural History, 1900).

    3. [S552] Leslie H. Tepper, ed., Tepper (1987), (Ottawa: National Museums of Canada, Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1987).

    4. [S373] Laurel Kendall, Barbara Mathé, and Thomas Ross Miller, Kendall (1997), (New York: American Museum of Natural History; Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1997).

    5. [S1077] Wendy Wickwire, Wickwire (2019), (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2019), GN21 T45W53 2019.

    6. [S670] BVIPA marriage registration.
      Registration no. 1892-09-169556 (microfilm reel B11387); digital facsimile URL (accessed 17 Mar 2017): http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/59d7f989-0864-41e7-982d-65d5e483e72a

    7. [S832] Find a Grave (Web site).
      URL (accessed 17 Mar 2017): https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Teit&GSfn=James&GSmn=Alexander&GSbyrel=all&GSdy=1922&GSdyrel=in&GSob=n&GRid=131638704&df=all&

    8. [S652] BVIPA death registration index.
      Registration no. 1922-09-307876