We regretfully acknowledge the passing of Git'ksan elder and scholar, Doreen Jensen, on September 18. Regarded as an authority on Git'ksan language, history and culture, Doreen was an important and influential woman, both locally and internationally. She was born on May 13, 1933 in the town of Kispiox.
In 1983, she curated a major exhibition at the Museum of Anthropology, titled Robes of Power: Totem Poles on Cloth and wrote an accompanying book on Northwest Coast art. She was a founding member of the 'Ksan Village Association and the Society of Canadian Artists of Native Ancestry. In 1992, she received an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of British Columbia. Doreen then went on to receive the Woman of Distinction Award for Arts & Culture from the YWCA in 1993. In 1996, she co-curated the Topographies: Aspects of Recent BC Art exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Doreen originally met Leona Lattimer in Hazelton, and they had been friends for more than forty years. She had always been a close friend of the gallery.
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Doreen was a cherished member of the jury that selected the design for the Women's Monument which was later built in Thornton Park in Vancouver. The jury included artists and activists - Rosemary Brown, Nicole Brossard, Irene Whittome, Haruko Okano, Maura Gatensby, Wilma Needham and Doreen Jensen.
Thank you for your wisdom, courage and grace.
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