This fonds includes records of the McMeekan family, including John "Jock" McMeekan, his wife Mildred (nee Hall) and niece Helene Acikahte (previously Giles, Henderson), dating from the 1930s to 1960, as well as an audio recording of Helene from 1985. The records consist of 5 reels of 8 mm film, 7 Umatic videocassettes copied from the films, 22 photographs, 3 DAT audiocassettes copied from the four original audiocassettes and 6 cm of textual records. These materials document their family and professional lives, including records relating to Jock's publishing and Mildred's teaching activities. The films probably date from 1939-1949, and feature family members, scenes of Yellowknife and environs and subjects such as treaty days, prospecting, and school events. The films were originally on 23 separate reels, however the Public Archives in Ottawa had the footage consolidated on five reels and copied onto 3/4 inch Umatic format videocassettes in 1986. The sound recordings consist of an interview with Helene (Giles) Henderson conducted by NWT Archivist David Rudkin on March 19, 1985 and Helene providing narration for the films. The 4 original cassettes were copied onto DAT cassettes in 1997 for preservation purposes and the audiocassettes are retained as original masters. The photographs show Jock McMeekan, Mildred Hall and other family members. The textual material consists of a typed early draft for a manuscript on the history of Yellowknife, a 325 page photocopied typewritten draft version of the book "Jock McMeekan's Yellowknife Blade", entitled "The Yellowknife Blade & other jottings" and a typed draft manuscript on material published in the newspaper "The Prospector", both written by Jock McMeekan.
McMeekan (family)Records include copies of photographs of Yellowknife. Two of the original photos were taken in 1938 and feature the town of Yellowknife. One image shows a Yellow-knife Bus Line's bus, and one image shows people watching a hockey game at an outdoor rink.
Records include a genealogy of the Beaulieu family, beginning with Francois Beaulieu of Salt River, who was one of the guides leading Alexander Mackenzie to the Arctic Ocean in 1789 and to the Pacific Ocean in 1793. Also included in the text are biographical excerpts on the Beaulieu family taken from a range of oral accounts. At the end of the genealogy are photocopied images of various Chiefs from Fort Smith.
Menez, LouisRecords consist of three menus: one is from the Annual Board of Trustees Yellowknife NWT annual dinner, 1949; the others are two copies of the menu, one with a seal, from the first annual Commissioner's Ball, 1969.
This fonds consists of 83 b&w and coloured photographs documenting Merle's life in Yellowknife between 1947-1949. Subjects include Merle and her co-workers in their professional capacity as nurses, residents in Yellowknife and the surrounding area, and places in Yellowknife including the hospital, the Yellowknife Inn, and Yellowknife Public School.
Shaw, MerleThis fonds consists of material collected and created by the Metis Heritage Association and heritage material collected and created by the Metis Association/Metis Nation. The records are arranged in five series: Governance, Administration, Projects, Constituencies, and Related Organizations. The records include a certificate of incorporation, constitution and bylaws, meeting materials, correspondence, agreements and contracts, financial records, reports, oral histories and transcripts, gathered historical information and photographs, project proposals and photographs, books, and questionnaire and survey results.
Metis Heritage AssociationThis fonds includes records of the Metis Nation (formerly the Metis Association of the NWT) for the period 1974-2000. The records include 981.0 cm and 6.7 MB of textual records, 11 8" floppy disks, 9 maps, 2412 photographs, ca. 950 audio cassettes (partially processed), and ca. 200 video cassettes (partially processed). The records are divided into eight series: Governance, Locals, Chronos, Administration, Membership/Enumeration, Projects, Photographs, and Audio-Visual.
Yet to be processed: Audio recordings include 1800 audio cassettes of oral histories and recordings of the annual general assemblies. Videos include 200 VHS and Umatic format videocassettes with footage of annual general assembly as well as videos produced for the Metis Nation.
Metis NationThe records consist of 0.1 cm of textual records and 76 photographs (black and white prints) that were created by Mitch Jacob during his time in the NWT, primarily in Behchoko (formerly Fort Rae). The textual records consist of Jacob’s mining claims and related materials. The photographs document Jacob’s time and activities in the NWT, and include the tugboat ‘Dease Lake’, barges, dog teams, and prospecting. Communities and locations documented include Behchoko, the Mackenzie River Ramparts, and Fort Fitzgerald, Alberta. The photographs feature Mitch Jacob himself and many members of the Darwish family, particularly Jim Darwish.
Jacob, Michael Mechell (Mitch)The textual records is comprised of a funeral program for Michel Sikyea from December 2002. The photographs, taken by Bill Braden, depict Michel Sikyea cutting fish in a camp setting.
This fonds consists of 564 b&w and colour prints and 75 colour slides taken and collected by Mildred Young Hubbert while living in the Northwest Territories first as a schoolteacher, 1947-1950, and later as a school inspector in the late 1960s. The prints were originally part of photo albums created by then Mildred Young while a Yellowknife schoolteacher in the 1940s. The photographs include scenes from the schoolhouse on School Draw, students in classrooms, public health inoculations, blood donor clinics, Christmas pageants, and fashion shows. Photographs of Yellowknife include the construction of the Gerry Murphy Arena, the opening of the golf course, and scenes at the gold mines. A number of photographs were taken at Indian Village (Dettah), and feature Yellowknives Dene elders and youth. Photographs of the Kugluktuk (Coppermine) area identify Father Ebner and Inuit hunters. Many of the colour prints date from 1984 when Ms. Hubbert returned to Yellowknife for the city's fifty-year reunion celebration. The slides, taken in 1969, are of Fort Good Hope, and include photographs of school children and the community.
Hubbert, Mildred YoungThe slides depict airport radio stations and former Royal Canadian Corps of Signals stations. They were created by Milton Watts during his time as a radio technician in Norman Wells, Fort Smith, Wrigley and Fort Norman (now Tulita) in the 1950s and 1960s.
Watts, MiltonRecords include miners' licenses issued to Leopold L'Abbe in 1937 and Dan P. Cameron in 1938; a mineral claim form issued to Wilfred Duhamel in 1945; and a renewal of miners' licence issued to Capt. Warner in 1943.
This accession consists of 7.5 cm of textual records comprised of academic publications authored by Miriam Leith, as well as a large number of draft and research notes produced by Ms. Leith in her research on northern food and nutrition as well as housing programs. Files also contain correspondence and reports concerning northing housing programs. Related to Ms. Leith's work with the Adult Housing Education Program. Also included in the collection are copies of diet information and recipes distributed to the local people. Some of these materials are written in syllabics.
Leith, MiriamRecords include photographs taken by Monica MacDonald while she was a school teacher living in Fort Good Hope in 1959. The images depict daily life in the community in the springtime, showing housing and children at play. A number of the images show an aerial view of the community and surrounding scenery as seen from a helicopter.
MacDonald, MonicaRecords include photographs of Yellowknife taken in 1945. The images were taken by a member of the Operation Musk-ox Expedition undertaken by the Canadian Army in the winter of 1945. The images, consisting of negative and print formats, show various views of Yellowknife including Con Mine, the school on School Draw, the Wildcat Café, the Yellowknife Hotel, a De Havilland Hornet Moth airplane and a Fairchild 71 airplane on skis.
This accession consists of a typed manuscript collected by Jean Morisset between the years 1974 and 1978. The manuscript represents the life story of Ted Trindell of Fort Simpson. The manuscript, entitled "Ni blanc - Ni Indien" (Neither White - Nor Indian) and compiled from letters, tapes and conversations was edited by Jean Morisset and Rose-Marie Pelletier and contains the words of Ted Trindell. This manuscript was later published in 1984 under the title "Ted Trindell: Metis Witness to the North".
Please note that the manuscript uses a derogatory term to refer to a person with mixed heritage and outdated terms to refer to Indigenous peoples. We have reproduced these terms in the digitized document because they are part of the original historical record.
Records consist of one unpublished paper "Indian Tribal Courts in the United States: A Model for Canada?" The paper is 66 pages long, and was produced for delivery at the Native Law Centre. It was written by B.W. Morse, a professor at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law in 1979.
Please note that the PDF contains outdated terminology referring to Indigenous peoples.
Morse, Bradford W.This accession consists of: the employment contract between Frank Moyle and the Northern Transportation Company Limited, dated May 30, 1938; one pamphlet of rates and sailings for the Radium Line of the Northern Transportation Company Limited, 1939; one pamphlet for Mackenzie River Transport, 1939; and one song sheet from the Oldtimers Banquet & Dance of Feb. 7, 1941.
The map was produced and sold by the Mundy Map Company of Edmonton. The map shows travel routes from Edmonton into the NWT up to Great Bear Lake and as far north as Kugluktuk. The map includes many place names and travel hints, including directions and distances between locations. It also shows air travel routes, RCMP stations, missions, hospitals, mining claims, wireless radio stations, gas caches and the boundaries of mining districts. It shows the position of claims at Echo Bay, Hunter Bay, Dismal Lake and the Camsell River and provides rough information on landmarks such as mountain ranges, the tree line, waterfalls and rapids.
The images show Aklavik and the All Saints' Anglican Mission in Aklavik.
Murray, ThomasThis accession consists of four programmes for Christmas concerts produced by the students of the Federal Day School in Nahanni Butte. The programmes are for the 1963, 1964, 1965 and 1966 concerts. They contain Christmas carol sheets and the text from plays produced by the students during the concert.
Federal Day School (Nahanni Butte, NT)The accession consists of four sheets of matte board with 15 colour photographs and captions showing the tanning method used by Elsie and Jonas Marcellais of Nahanni Butte.
This fonds consists of approximately 35 cm of textual material comprised of correspondence and field research related to Nancy Lurie's ethnographic research with the Tłı̨chǫ (Dogrib) in Behchokǫ̀ (Rae) and Wha Ti (Lac La Martre), NWT. The correspondence dates from 1959-1963 and includes letters to and from June Helm, Susan Messerly and Nancy Lurie regarding fieldwork in Lac La Martre and Rae, as well as correspondence between Nancy Lurie and her husband Edward Lurie, written while she was doing fieldwork in 1959. In addition, there are letters from Alexis Nitsiza and Elsie Simpson that were written to Nancy Lurie while they were attending residential school in Yellowknife and in Fort Smith, as well as several handwritten notes requesting items such as sugar, tobacco and flour that were delivered to Nancy Lurie and June Helm by children in Lac La Martre. The remaining textual material consists of Lurie’s field notes and research papers from her ethnological research that was undertaken in Lac La Martre and Rae in 1959 and 1967. There are also index cards arranged by subject containing handwritten notes and observations made during Lurie’s field research.
Lurie, Nancy OestreichThe accession consists of one typed letter and envelope addressed to a Mr. Roland E. Muirhead, of Glasgow, Scotland, dated March 1st, 1922, which is signed by Fritjof Nansen. The letter thanks Muirhead for his contribution to the Russian Famine Relief appeal.
This fonds consists of 94 black and white interpositives copied from the original negatives. Most of the images depict scenes in and around Tsiigehtchic (Arctic Red River) and Aklavik. There are also photographs taken in Tuktoyaktuk, Hay River, Reindeer Station, Fort McPherson and Fort Simpson. The fonds contains images of Nap Norbert's children, his brothers and sisters. In addition, there are images of community buildings in Tsiigetchic, the hospital and school at Aklavik, and the community dance hall in Fort McPherson. There are also a number of images of barges and tugs, including the "Pelican Rapids" that operated on the Mackenzie River.
Norbert, Nap