MARIUS BARBEAU
1883 - 1969
MCC/CMC No. J4992
I Was a
Pioneer
- Marius Barbeau's first research interest was the Native peoples of
Eastern Canada, especially the Hurons. His research in the field of Native
studies soon grew to include work on the songs, customs, legends, art, and
social organization of Native cultures in the Western and Prairie regions.
Next he turned to French Canada, popularizing the distinctive songs, folk
legends and popular and traditional art through numerous books and articles.
His interest in Native and French-Canadian art led Barbeau to work with
such artists as A.Y. Jackson, Emily Carr and Ernest MacMillan. Whatever
his research, Barbeau remained an inveterate collector - from French Canada
some 400 folk tales and 7,000 songs were collected, along with 2,000
artifacts from across Canada. His writings total over 1,000 books and
articles and he has left 40 linear feet of manuscripts and more than 100
linear feet of research notes.
- A self-proclaimed pioneer in the fields of anthropology and folk culture, Barbeau's work won international acclaim. He was a three-time award winner of Quebec's prestigious Prix David, the recipient of honorary doctorates from the Universities of Montreal and Oxford, and was named a Companion of the Order of Canada.
- A special exhibition entitled "I Was a Pioneer", was presented by the Canadian Museum of Civilization (at that time, the National Museum of Man) in 1983 on the occasion of the centennial of Marius Barbeau's birth date. In 1985 Marius Barbeau was recognized as a "person of national historic importance" by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, and a plaque, making official this designation, was unveiled in 1990 in the Salon Marius Barbeau in the Canadian Museum of Civilization. Finally the highest point in the Canadian Arctic, a mountain on Ellesmere Island, was given the name "Barbeau Peak", in his honour.
Note:
The impressive documentation generated by Marius Barbeau's work is now available for consultation at the Canadian Museum of Civilization Archives. Finding aids are being prepared that will allow users easy access to the Barbeau collection.- For an immediate introduction, we invite you to meet Marius Barbeau in an interview where he tells us about his fascinating career.
- A self-proclaimed pioneer in the fields of anthropology and folk culture, Barbeau's work won international acclaim. He was a three-time award winner of Quebec's prestigious Prix David, the recipient of honorary doctorates from the Universities of Montreal and Oxford, and was named a Companion of the Order of Canada.
Barbeau was born on March 5, 1883, in Sainte-Marie de Beauce, Quebec, Canada. He obtained a law degree from Laval University and went on to win a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University, where he obtained a degree in Anthropology. In 1911, as an anthropologist, Barbeau joined the National Museum (at that time a part of the Geological Survey of Canada) and worked there until his retirement in 1948.
Source material compiled by: Benoit Thériault, Information
Management Services
Web pages created by: Sara Lytle; Chris Kirby
