Joanne McSporran
I was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. As a kid I spent my
summers canoe tripping n the stunning country to the north. I studied drawing,
print making and photography at the Ontario College of Art for two years.
During the summers I worked in Quebec and Ontario at summer camps, - kitchen
to canoeing. At the age of 21 I came west for a visit. I stayed.
I was so overwhelmed by the sceanery that I stopped drawing and painting.
I had no need of it. Rather than sliding down a line in my mind while
drawing I took a job as a ski lift operator and slid down the mountain.
For 2 years I worked, explored and taught (canoeing, kayaking, wilderness
survival at Strathcona Park Lodge) in the high and wild places of Vancouver
island. A need to keep learning drove me back to school, this time to the
Universities of Victoria and Calgary to study anthropology and archaeology
(and more photography). I continued in outdoor persuits, running
out tripping programs for kids etc., and eventually took up drawing again,
doing technical illustrations of archaeological artifacts. During
the university years and since graduating I have worked as a field archaeologist
in the arctic, the mountains near Banff and the B.C. coast and northern
interior.
One evening , when my oldest daughter was
about 8 we waved good bye to Daryl as he left for field work near Banff.
At midnight I put Edana on a plane to Toronto to spend the summer with
her grandparents and at 6:00 the next morning I was on my way to Tuktoyuktuk
to catch a helecopter to the site I would be digging for the next 6 weeks.
I reflected on our lives. For as much as 7 month a year we were not
all togther. Usually Edana came with me but not always. So
I tried working only on projects with Daryl. The problem was that
he worked for the federal government which has rules against husbannds
and wives working togther. I volunteered so we could be togther.
This was somewhat successful though not very lucrative. Since the mid 80's
I have juggled seasonal field work in archaeology with part time professional
photography, archaeological illustration, data entry and raising Edana(who
has been on her own for a few years now), Freia and Bryn. Over the
last few years my focus has returned more and more to art. I have been
taking a number of refresher courses, learning new techniques as well as
setting up and working my own studio here in Victoria. In addition to art
and archaeology a big part of my life over the last decade has been design,
construction and more construction at our cabin on Read Island in the northern
Strait of Georgia.
Skills: Archaeology, art, photography, technical illustration, canoeing
Daryl Fedje
I was born and raised on Vancouver Island. In my early years I lived with my parents in remote logging camps on the west coast of ‘The Island’. When I was 16 the family moved to Nanaimo and I went to Malaspina College. During college years I worked in commercial fishing and logging during the summers. After college I worked in a sawmill for a year and then went overseas and toured Europe and North Africa for two years. I then returned to B.C. and enrolled in the Archaeology programme at Simon Fraser University. After finishing my B.A. I worked as a consulting archaeologist for a few years before moving into a full-time job as an Archaeologist with Parks Canada. I met my partner, Joanne, in the early 1980s and since then, with her, worked at archaeology and raised our three girls. I have been working for Parks Canada for 20 years now with the first ten years mostly in the mountain parks at Banff, Jasper and Waterton and the last ten on the west coast. While with Parks I enrolled at the University of Calgary and completed my Masters degree there in 1993. Most recently my work has focussed on Haida Gwaii and Hecate Strait where I have worked with my wife, Joanne, and a team of archaeologists on archaeological surveys and excavations. I have also been working with scientists from other disciplines in paleoenvironmental research in the Hecate Strait area.
Skills: Archaeology, paleobotany, technical writing, sailing (novice).
Edana Fedje
Skills and interests: Tae kwon do (black belt),
gymnastics, ballet, travel, languages (fluent in French and Norweigan,
English, and some Greek), geology, archaeology.
Freia Fedje
Freia was born in Calgary. When we moved to B.C. she was one of two children in grade 2 at the one-room school on Read Island. In January we came to Victoria and she continued in the French emersion program for 3.5 years before switching to South Park, a great alternative school. She is now starting high school. Freia has been with us on archaeology projects since she was a little tyke. In 2000 she spent the summer in Norway with her big sister. In 2001 Freia worked with her dad on an archaeological excavation and in some caving expeditions.
Skills and interests: Rock climbing, hiking, canoeing, photography, art.
Bryn Fedje
Bryn was born in Calgary and, with the rest of us, moved to Read Island in 1995 and then Victoria the following January. Bryn started school at Surge Narrows on Read Island, went into French immersion in Victoria and then home-schooled for a year before joining Freia at South Park School. As with her older sisters, Bryn has spent her summers and holidays between our cabin on Read Island and archaeological expeditions in Haida Gwaii.
Skills and interests: especially good with younger children and has completed the babysitting course with a score of 100%, highland dancing, choir, rock climbing, cooking, writing stories, art, dragons and fantasy.