Dan Cranmer

Daniel Cranmer was an influential Kwakwaka'wakw hereditary chief and fisherman from Alert Bay on Cormorant Island, British Columbia. Under Section 149 of the Canadian Indian Act, traditional Indigenous potlatches—the cornerstone of Pacific coastal governance, marriage, and wealth distribution—were criminalized by the federal government.

In December 1921, defying the colonial prohibition, Chief Cranmer hosted a massive six-day potlatch on remote Village Island (Memkumlis) to distribute wedding gifts and family coppers. Federal agents raided the gathering, arresting forty-five participants and confiscating hundreds of sacred masks, coppers, and headdresses. Decades later, Cranmer's descendants successfully pressured Canadian museums to repatriate the stolen treasures to the U'mista Cultural Centre.