Odille Morison

Odille Morison (July 17, 1855 – 1933) was a Canadian linguist, artifact collector, and community leader from the Tsimshian First Nation of northwestern British Columbia.

When, in 1862, the Anglican lay missionary at Port Simpson, William Duncan, relocated a portion of his flock to found the nearby utopian Christian community of Metlakatla, the Quintals moved with him.

In August 1872 Odille, aged seventeen, married Charles F. Morison, an Englishman and a clerk with the HBC.

The Morisons also kept a home in Port Essington, a cannery town whose founder, Robert Cunningham, had been Mary Quintal's brother-in-law.

He facilitated the publication of an article by Odille on Tsimshian proverbs for the Journal of American Folk-Lore in 1889 and over the next few years she gathered for Boas over 140 artifacts to be displayed at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, including two totem poles.

Morison c. 1880
Morison and her children c. 1890