Diamond Jenness (February 10 1886 - November 29 1969) was a Canadian anthropologist.

Born in Wellington New Zealand, he was educated at Wellington College, Victoria University College, New Zealand, and Balliol College, Oxford. He led an Oxford University Anthroplogical Expedition to New Guinea in 1911-1912 before being hired as Ethnologist for the Canadian Arctic Expedition of 1913 - 1916. He sailed aboard the Karluk with Vilhjalmur Stefansson.

After this expedition he enlisted in the Canadian Artillery to fight in World War I. He thereupon settled in Ottawa and became a Canadian citizen. He served as chief of the anthropological division of the National Museum of Canada . He was granted numerous honors during his lifetime and others posthumously. In 1968 he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada.

The middle peninsula on the west coast of Victoria Island was named for him by the Canadian Government. This landmark led to his name being attached to a rock examined by Mars exploration rover Opportunity.

He produced a large body of publishings among which are The Indians of Canada, Dawn in Arctic Alaska, and The People of the Twilight.

External links

• http://www.civilization.ca/hist/cae/indexe.html
• http://collections.ic.gc.ca/heirloom_series/volume6/280-281.htm
• http://www.isfa.org/arctic/jenness.htm
• http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20040803a.html