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Subject: Anthony Williamson, 69, Human Geography Expert


Author:
Newfoundland
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Date Posted: January 11, 2005 11:05:19 EDT

H. Anthony Williamson, a scholar in human geography, who developed innovative techniques to help the indigenous inhabitants of Labrador and the Canadian Arctic press land claims and express their concerns to the government, died on Dec. 29 in St. John's, Newfoundland. He was 69.

The causes were complications of colon cancer, his family said.

Mr. Williamson was founding director of the Labrador Institute, a center for northern studies based in Goose Bay. He administered Memorial University's outreach programs in Labrador and was known for developing the use of film and later videotape as a catalyst for community development. In the technique, named the Fogo process after an island where he first tried it, he filmed villagers telling their stories, then invited them to view the raw footage and suggest what should be emphasized or changed. The visual documentation of conditions in their villages was then presented to the government.

In his work, he traveled about the Arctic, often by boat, dog sled and cross-country skis, while researching the native use of renewable resources and the impact of resettlement on traditional life. He gathered environmental, economic and cultural data to create a template for evaluating the land claims of northern aboriginal people.

He also assessed the health of seal fisheries along the Labrador coast and the whitefish and sea trout fisheries on the east coast of James Bay. He documented indigenous concerns in Labrador, including mining projects and training flights by military jets that disturbed the traditional way of life.

Mr. Williamson was born in New York City and raised in Pawling, N.Y. As a junior at Dartmouth College, he sailed aboard the Blue Dolphin, a research schooner, doing hydrographic research along the coasts of Labrador and Greenland, igniting his passion for the Arctic. He also studied under the Arctic scholar Vilhjalmur Stefanson.

He earned a master's degree in geography at McGill University in Montreal, and later became a Canadian citizen.

After retiring from Memorial University, Mr. Williamson was asked by the Labrador Inuit Association and the Federation of Newfoundland Indians to continue working as a consultant. He also applied his community development techniques in India and Southeast Asia.

Mr. Williamson is survived by his wife, Sharon Taylor of St. John's; a son, Eric, of Vancouver, B.C.; a daughter, Alexandra, and two stepdaughters, Victoria and Zoe Balsom, of St. John's; three sisters, Barbara Hollander of Sherman, Conn., who was his twin, Eileen Morrison of Pawling, N.Y., and Roberta Williamson of Nashville; and a brother, John E. Williamson, the president of Sterling College in Craftsbury, Vt.

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