Editing Edward Sapir (section)

====Canada's Geological Survey====
As director of the Anthropological division of the Geological Survey of Canada, Sapir embarked on a project to document the Indigenous cultures and languages of Canada. His first fieldwork took him to [[Vancouver Island]] to work on the [[Nuu-chah-nulth language|Nootka]] language. Apart from Sapir the division had two other staff members, [[Marius Barbeau]] and Harlan I. Smith. Sapir insisted that the discipline of linguistics was of integral importance for ethnographic description, arguing that just as nobody would dream of discussing the history of the Catholic Church without knowing Latin or study German folksongs without knowing German, so it made little sense to approach the study of Indigenous folklore without knowledge of the indigenous languages.<ref>Darnell 1990:50</ref> At this point the only Canadian [[First Nations in Canada|first nation]] languages that were well known were Kwakiutl, described by Boas, Tshimshian and Haida. Sapir explicitly used the standard of documentation of European languages, to argue that the amassing knowledge of indigenous languages was of paramount importance. By introducing the high standards of Boasian anthropology, Sapir incited antagonism from those amateur ethnologists who felt that they had contributed important work. Unsatisfied with efforts by amateur and governmental anthropologists, Sapir worked to introduce an academic program of anthropology at one of the major universities, in order to professionalize the discipline.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Murray | first1 = Stephen O | year = 1991 | title = The Canadian Winter' of Edward Sapir | journal = Historiographia Linguistica | volume = 8 | issue = 1| pages = 63–68 | doi=10.1075/hl.8.1.04mur}}</ref>

Sapir enlisted the assistance of fellow Boasians: [[Frank Speck]], [[Paul Radin]] and [[Alexander Goldenweiser (anthropologist)|Alexander Goldenweiser]], who with Barbeau worked on the peoples of the Eastern Woodlands: the [[Ojibwa]], the Iroquois, the [[Wyandot people|Huron]] and the [[Wyandot people|Wyandot]]. Sapir initiated work on the [[Athabascan languages]] of the [[Mackenzie valley]] and the [[Yukon]], but it proved too difficult to find adequate assistance, and he concentrated mainly on Nootka and the languages of the North West Coast.<ref>Darnell 1990:74–79</ref>

During his time in Canada, together with Speck, Sapir also acted as an advocate for Indigenous rights, arguing publicly for introduction of better medical care for Indigenous communities, and assisting the Six Nation Iroquois in trying to recover eleven [[wampum]] belts that had been stolen from the reservation and were on display in the museum of the University of Pennsylvania.  (The belts were finally returned to the Iroquois in 1988.) He also argued for the reversal of a Canadian law prohibiting the [[Potlatch]] ceremony of the West Coast tribes.<ref>Darnell 1990:59</ref>