Field work – Northern D'Entrecasteaux From 1911 to 1912, as an Oxford Scholar, he studied a little-known group of people on the
D'Entrecasteaux Islands in eastern
Papua New Guinea. He would be one of the two anthropologists on board; the other was Henri Beuchat. In June of that year, having barely recuperated from
yellow fever contracted while in New Guinea, Jenness boarded , a
brigantine formerly used as a
whaling ship, along with 12 other scientists. The ship steamed up the British Columbia coastline towards
Nome, Alaska, where they met up with Stefansson who had purchased two
schooners to assist in the expedition work. The three vessels then proceeded towards their rendezvous point,
Herschel Island, just east of the mouth of the
Mackenzie River,
Northwest Territories. With the ship gone, the hunting party set off on foot towards
Utqiagvik, Alaska (then known as Barrow), away, hoping to meet the two other vessels involved in the expedition: the
Mary Sachs and
Alaska. This group of people had had very little contact with Europeans, and Jenness, now the only anthropologist, was solely in charge of recording the
Indigenous way of life in this area. Furthermore, Jenness's camera, anthropometric instruments, books, papers and even heavy winter clothing had all remained on board the ill-fated . The CAE scientists kept daily diary logs, took extensive research notes, and collected samples which were shipped or brought back to
Ottawa. Jenness collected a variety of ethnological materials from clothing and hunting tools to stories and games, and 137
wax phonographic cylinder song recordings he had made. Eight of Jenness's recordings could be heard at the
CKUG-FM website, located in
Kugluktuk,
Nunavut, Canada. The website also features a short video demonstrating how Jenness recorded these songs with the technology available in 1913.
Copper Inuit subgroups studied by Jenness Several subgroups were reported on by Jenness and they include: •
Akuliakattagmiut •
Haneragmiut •
Kogluktogmiut •
Pallirmiut •
Puiplirmiut •
Uallirgmiut (
Kanianermiut)
Origin of the Copper Inuit and their copper culture In his article in
Geographical Review, Jenness described how the
Copper Inuit are more closely related to tribes of the east and southeast in comparison to western cultural groups, basing his conclusion on archaeological remains, materials used for housing,
weapons, utensils, art, tattoos, customs, traditions,
religion, and also linguistic patterns. He also considered how the dead are handled: whether they are covered by stone or wood, without any artifacts, as in the west, or "as in the east, laid out on the surface of the ground, unprotected but with replicas of their clothing and miniature implements placed beside them.". Jenness characterized the "Copper Eskimos" as being in a pseudo-metal stage, in between the
Stone and
Iron Ages, because this cultural group treated copper as simply a malleable stone which is hammered into tools and weapons. He discussed whether the use of copper arose independently with different cultural groups or in one group and was then "borrowed" by others. Jenness goes on to explain that indigenous communities began to use copper first and following this, Inuit adopted it. He cited the fact that
slate was previously used among Inuit and was replaced by
copper at a later time after the indigenous communities had begun to use it. Being of slight build and short of stature, he was assigned to duties other than direct combat.
Field work and writing In December 1918, Jenness applied and received military leave to finish writing his Papua studies report in
Oxford, (delayed due his having joined the CAE and then the war). While in Oxford, he received word that his unit was one of the first to be sent home from the war. Jenness returned to Ottawa in March 1919, and the next month married his fiancé, Eileen Bleakney. After their honeymoon in New Zealand, Jenness set about writing up his Arctic reports, and produced eight government reports in five volumes, totalling 1,368 pages. Richling states: "The scientific results of the Canadian Arctic Expedition filled fifteen volumes. One-third of them contained the product of Jenness's investigations."
Canadian First Nations A year and a half after his return from the war, the
Government of Canada made his employment at the Victoria Memorial Museum permanent, and he was assigned to study many of the
First Nations tribes of Canada. (Jenness's employment had previously been on a yearly contract basis.) The
Tsuutʼina Nation (then known as Sarcee), on the
Tsuu T'ina 145 reserve in
Calgary, Alberta, were the first of many First Nations in Jenness's fieldwork. That experience also provided his first encounter with the deplorable conditions
Canada's Indigenous peoples experienced on
Indian reserves. After the Tsuutʼina, Jenness undertook fieldwork study of the
Sekani,
Beothuk (extinct),
Ojibwe, and
Coast Salish. Collins and Taylor refer to Jenness's
Indians of Canada (1931c) as "the definitive work on the Canadian aborigines, dealing comprehensively with the ethnology and history of the Canadian Indians and Eskimos". and the
Old Bering Sea culture in
Alaska (in 1926), for which he later was named "Father of Eskimo Archaeology." These archaeological findings were fundamental in explaining migration patterns, and Jenness's views were thought to be "radical" at that time. Helmer states: "These theories are now widely accepted, having been vindicated by
carbon-14 dating and subsequent field research." Other administrative duties during this time include representing Canada at the Fourth Pacific Science Congress in 1929, and chairing the Anthropological Section of the First Pacific Science Congress in 1933, held by the
Pacific Science Association. Jenness also served as Canada's official delegate to the
International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences in
Copenhagen, 1938.
Second World War and its aftermath In 1941, eager to contribute to the war effort, he was seconded to the
Royal Canadian Air Force, where he served until 1944 as civilian deputy director of
Special Intelligence. In 1944, he was made chief of the newly established Inter-Services Topographic Section (ISTS), the non-military section of the
Canadian Department of National Defence (patterned after a similar British military intelligence organization, the
Inter-Service Topographical Department.) Jenness retained this position when, in 1947, the Canadian ISTS unit changed its name, becoming the Geographic Bureau, and was placed under the
Department of Mines and Resources. ==Retirement years (1948–1969)==