Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
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- Graphic material
- Sound recording
- Textual record
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Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
-
[193-], 1984-1985 (Creation)
- Creator
- Fort Resolution Community Education Council
Physical description area
Physical description
19 photographs : b&w negatives
20 cm of textual material
353 audio cassettes
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
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Archival description area
Name of creator
Administrative history
In the early 1980s, the community of Fort Resolution began developing programmes dedicated to preserving both the use of the Chipewyan language and the history of their elders. Although a Chipewyan language programme was established in the local school, the community council decided that they needed to record the recollections of their elders before that knowledge was lost forever. The Deninoo (Fort Resolution) Community Council then sought funding from the Local Education Authority and the Government of the Northwest Territories to finance the project. A list of all community residents over the age of 60 was compiled and people over 80 years of age, who were sick, were selected to be interviewed first. Eighteen elders were finally chosen: Harold Balsillie; Philip Buggins; Virginie Beaulieu; Virginie Calumet; Fred Dawson; Isidore Edjericon; Albert Fabien; Caroline Fabien; Joe Fabien; Rose Fabien; Judith Giroux; Pierre Hilaire; Joseph Jerome; Francois King; Mary Louise King; Victor Lafferty; George Sanderson; and Noel Yelle. A questionnaire was designed which was broken down into thirteen modules: Section I: Demography; Section II: Social and family structure; Section III: Spiritual activities; Section IV: Lifestyle; Section V: Alcohol; Section VI: Health; Section VII: Government; Section VIII: The Mission; Section IX: Wage Economy; Section X: Communications; Section XI: Legends, stories, and local wisdom; Section XII: Geography\weather; and Section XIII: Highlights. Each of the interviews was based on the format established in the questionnaire. In the summer of 1984, five interviews were conducted. In 1985, after receiving funding from the Government of the Northwest Territories, a further twelve elders were interviewed. The interviewers were Doris Beck, Mary Rose Boucher, Elizabeth Giroux, Frederick Lafferty and Dora Unka, and the translators were Mary Rose Boucher, Dora Cardinal and Frederick Lafferty. Joe Fabian eventually withdrew his consent for the release of the material gathered during the interviews with him. That material was returned to the Fort Resolution Community Education Council. From the information gathered during the interviews, a book "That's the Way We Lived" was published in 1987.
Custodial history
Scope and content
The fonds consists of 353 sound cassettes (items :0001 to :0353) generated during interviews with 17 elders; 19 black and white negatives (items :0354 to :0372); 20 cm of textual material consisting of English transcripts of the interviews (box\file 1-8 to 1-18 and 2-1 to 2-6); and other textual materials related to the planning, funding, and administration of the project (box\file 1-1 to 1-7). The fonds has been divided into four series: 1) sound recordings; 2) administration files; 3) transcripts; 4) negatives. The 181 sound cassettes are in Chipewyan and the remaining 172, (which are verbatim translations of the original Chipewyan cassettes) are in English. Subjects covered in the interviews include Chipewyan stories and legends, spiritual beliefs, traditional medicines, child-rearing, child birth, attitudes to alcohol, family histories, hunting and fishing techniques, traditional forms of self-government, attitudes toward southern forms of government, the Roman Catholic Church and the Residential School in Fort Resolution. The photographs depict the staff and pupils of the Roman Catholic Mission School in Fort Resolution, and elders in the community - some of whom were interviewed during the project. The fonds also contains a copy of the questionnaire, which was used as a basis for each interview and a copy of the publication "That's the Way We Lived."
Notes area
Physical condition
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Language of material
Script of material
Language and script note
Recordings in Chipewyan.
Location of originals
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No access restrictions.
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Finding aids
A finding aid is available.
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Possible copyright restrictions.