The series consists primarily of material accumulated and/or created by Gillian Darling Kovanic during her travels abroad, both as a student of anthropology and a filmmaker. This series includes field research conducted by Kovanic with the Kalash in Pakistan, the Kom/Kati tribes in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Orissa in India, the Haida on the Queen Charlotte Islands [Haida Gwaii], British Columbia and the Kwakwaka’wakw in Alert Bay, British Columbia. Much of her fieldwork is made up of a study of the languages and cultural practices of the people being studied.

Included in the series are eleven field notebooks, a handwritten Kalash’a dictionary, a notebook containing information on the ethnographic materials collected by Darling, which now reside with the Royal Ontario Museum, and approximately 4502 photographs, including slides, negatives, prints and digital photos. Also included are a number of academic and popular articles collected by Kovanic, which compliment her field research, including a unique, handwritten article by Wazir Ali Shah, secretary to the last ruler of Chital, Mehtar, in 1977, which was written after the original manuscript was lost. The series also contains published material, comprised of a teaching kit titled “Kalash Bread-making: From Field to Feast” and the Wakhi Language Book by Haqiqat Ali.

File consists of images from a Kwakiutl potlatch for artists Tony Hunt, in Alert Bay, BC.

File consists of images from the Nass River valley in British Columbia. Subjects include scenery, people, and village scenes.

File consists of images of First Nations adults and children in Bella Coola, Klemtu, Bella Bella, Haida Gwaii, and Hartley Bay, BC.

File includes one drawing and two photographs of MOA Object ID A1780 and A1781 which are carved figures. The photographs are annotated with handwritten information about their original repositories. The contents of this file were used to create object labels for MOA's Great Hall.

File consists of Carter's press pass and a media itinerary and information booklet from Prince Charles' visit to Alberta in 1977.

File consists of slides depicting First Nations chiefs and elders, Carter's wife Minn Sjolseth with August Jacks, Johnny Seaweed, miscellaneous images from Mount Currie/Lil'wat First Nation, and a photograph labeled "Potlatch Masset 60s".

File consists of slides labeled "August Jack," and one photograph labeled "Liz"

File consists of images of Alert Bay, a village located on Comorant Island, off of the northeast coast of Vancouver Island, BC. Subjects include a memorial and memorial pole raising for Kwakiutl Chief Mungo Martin, scenery from the area, a cemetery, totem poles, and Chief Johnson of Fort Rupert BC.

Image of two young Musqueam boys kneeling down at the edge of the Fraser River. The boys are facing away from the camera. A different image of the same scene is printed on page 59 of Carter's book "Abundant Rivers."