Peter Simpson

Who was Peter Simpson?

Peter Simpson was a Canadian-born Tsimshian activist for Alaska Native rights, and co-owner of the first Indian-owned business in Alaska.

Peter Simpson was most likely born July 4, 1871, in Metlakatla, British Columbia or Lax Kw'alaams, B.C., though there is conflicting information on his date and place of birth. He was listed as twenty-three years old in 1887 when approximately 800 Tsimshians from "Old Metlakatla," B.C., founded the community of "New Metlakatla," Alaska. He was a member of the Gispwudwada of the Tsimshian and was raised by an uncle and aunt, Henry and Alice Ridley. He was also related to the Rev. Edward Marsden.

He was well liked by the Anglican lay minister William Duncan, founder of the Christian utopian communities at both Old and New Metlakatla. When Simpson was a young man, he was one of the eight people sent in a canoe by Duncan from New Metlakatla to dismantle the church they had left behind at Old Metlakatla. In one version of the story they hacked it to pieces and burned it to the ground and escaped back to Alaska before they could face prosecution. Not all histories of Old Metlakatla record this as the cause of the fire that destroyed the church in 1901; the story may arise from a much earlier incident.