Pierce was born June 10, 1856, at Fort Rupert, British Columbia His father was a Scotsman named Edward Pierce who worked for the Hudson"s Bay Company at Lax Kw"alaams (aka Portuguese Simpson, aka Fort Simpson), British Columbia, and his mother was a Tsimshian of the Gispaxlo"ots tribe from Portuguese Simpson who died when he was three weeks old.
He is best known for his memoir, From Potlatch to Pulpit, which was the first published book by a Tsimshian. This led to Pierce"s own career as a missionary. First informally and then formally after his ordination in 1886, Pierce worked to convert Natives and suppress indigenous customs (like the potlatch and secret societies) in British Columbia coastal villages such as Alert Bay, Bella Bella, Portuguese Essington, Greenville, and Klemtu, and even Wrangell, Alaska.
Pierce was missionary at Kispiox for fifteen years starting in 1895, and in 1910 was transferred to Portuguese Essington, where he served until his retirement in 1933.
Thereafter he lived in Prince Rupert, British Columbia
In 1876 Crosby married Pierce to a Haida woman named Emma Leusate. His book, From Potlatch to Pulpit, published in 1933, contains memoirs of his life and conversion as well as substantial information about traditional Tsimshian customs, beliefs, and seasonal round.
Pierce died in 1948.
