June Helm
June Helm | |
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Born | |
Died | February 5, 2004 | (aged 79)
Education |
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Occupation | Anthropologist |
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June Helm (September 13, 1924 – February 5, 2004) was an American anthropologist, primarily known for her work with the Dene people in the Mackenzie River drainage.
Early life and education
Helm was born in
Personal life
In 1945, Helm married Richard “Scotty” MacNeish, who was a Ph.D candidate in the field of archaeology.[3] In 1949, they moved to Ottawa, Ontario. The two amicably divorced in 1958, at which point Helm returned to Chicago. In 1968, Helm married Pierce King, an architect. The two stayed together until her death.[1]
In 1989, Helm suffered from a stroke, which resulted in partial paralysis. She continued to teach for another decade, however, retiring in December 1999.[2]
Career
In 1945, Helm and MacNeish travelled to
In 1957, during a linguistics course, Helm met
Helm worked as a tenured professor of Anthropology at the University of Iowa, having worked there from 1960 to December 1999.[2] When Helm first joined the department, it was the Department of Sociology and Anthropology; she worked towards the creation of separate departments, which came to fruition in 1969, and she served as chair. Helm also established an American Indian and Native Studies program, and serves as the first chair, from 1993–1996.[3]
In 1996, Helm was contacted by John Zoe, a Dogrib official, and Thomas Andrews, an archaeologist at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, located in Yellowknife, regarding artifacts which had been taken by a graduate student of the University of Iowa in 1894, Frank Russell.[3] Helm assisted in the negotiations for repatriation of the artifacts, particularly a caribou skin tent, which had been too large to exhibit. The negotiations were successful, and the tent was returned to the Dogrib people.
Throughout her career, Helm published 11 books and monographs, and more than 40 articles and chapters.[2] Helm spent the last few years of her life assembling her notes, photographs and records from her fieldwork, and sent them to Yellowknife, to be available to the Dene people.[3]
Honours and accomplishments
Helm served as an adviser to the Indian Brotherhood of the Northwest Territories (now the Dene Nation), assisting them as a consultant in terms of land claims rights and research in the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry.[3]
Helm served as president of several societies and associations; the Central States Anthropological Society for 1970–1971, the American Ethnological Association from 1981–1983, and the American Anthropological Association from 1986–1987.[3]
In 1994, Helm was elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Helm received the F. Wendell Miller Distinguished Achievement Award in 1995.[2]
Helm's contributions to the University of Iowa have been recognized, particularly with the creation of the June Helm Award for Service and Excellence, which is awarded annually to a graduate student.[3]
Publications by Helm
- As a sole author
- The Lynx Point People: The Dynamics of a Northern Athapaskan Band Ottawa: National Museum of Canada, 1961.
- The Indians of the Subarctic: A Critical Bibliography. Don Mills, Ontario: Fitzhenry & Whiteside Limited, 1976. ISBN 978-0-253-33004-8
- The People of Denendeh: Ethnohistory of the Indians of Canada's Northwest Territories. Iowa City, Iowa: University of Iowa Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0-7735-2145-2
- As editor or coauthor
- Pioneers of American Anthropology: The Uses of Biography. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1966.
- Essays on the Verbal and Visual Arts. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1967.
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-252-06084-7.
- ^ a b c d e f g Andrews, Tom. "Died: June Helm (1924–2004)". Arctic Institute of North America. Archived from the original on 2012-11-28.
- ^ JSTOR 3567244.