William R. Geddes

William R. Geddes (1916-1989) was a professor at the Department of Anthropology, University of Sydney during 1959 – 1981. His first fieldwork in Thailand was among the Hmong in Pasamliem, Chiang Dao district of Chiang Mai province, began in 1957. In 1962 he returned to Pasamliem and found that Hmong villagers had moved to Mae Suk of Mae Chaem district and later to Mae Tho in Hod district. He took a director position at the newly established Tribal Research Centre in Chiang Mai University campus during 1964-1965. In November 1966 he served the United Nations Mission to enquire into the economic and social needs of the opium-growing tribe, aiming to eliminate opium cultivation. It was the end of this year that he took these photos of the Hmong New Year and later made a documentary the Miao Year. His 1976 publication on the Hmong in Mae Tho entitled Migrants of the mountains: The cultural ecology of the Blue Miao (Hmong Njua) of Thailand.