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Alexander Philip (Pi) John Kennedy was born in Fort Smith on December 9, 1926, the first son of Philip Kennedy and Leoni Mercredi. In 1932 his mother died of tuberculosis at the age of 23. Pi went to residential school in Fort Resolution for two years, but his father took him out in 1934 to help trap. In 1936 his father built a cabin near Nataway Lake. Around that time, at the age of ten, Pi started driving a dog team, which would start a lifelong dedication to mushing. In 1944 Pi's father died of tuberculosis.

Throughout his life Pi generally trapped through the winter and spring on his trapline (sometimes partnering with someone else for the spring hunt) and got various seasonal summer work around Fort Smith. This included jobs such as crushing rock, digging and setting power poles, putting in the Fort Smith water system, working for Forestry, or in construction. In years where the trapping was good he did not need to take summer work.

Pi started taking photographs in earnest in the 1960s, and he also documented his life on Super8 film. Not only did he document aspects of life as a trapper and dog musher, but he also documented the community of Fort Smith, parades, fastball tournaments, special events and his extended family. His keen interest in radio, baseball, animals and dog mushing is documented as well. Pi notably trapped exclusively with a dog team until 1986. Even after buying a snow machine he continued to use dogs in the bush.

In 2010 at the age of 84, Pi suffered a stroke out on the trapline. After this, he moved himself and his dogs to Fort Smith permanently. Multiple books have been published about his life, including a series of children’s books in Cree published by the Northwest Territory Métis Nation in the 2000s, and a biography published with Patti-Kay Hamilton in 2023, launched on his 97th birthday.

Jean Boulva was born in Montreal and completed his Bachelor of Science degree from the Université de Montréal in 1968. He continued his studies at Dalhousie University, Halifax, earning a master’s degree in marine biology and a doctorate in biology. Dr. Boulva was employed as a professor of marine ecology at Université Laval, Regional Science Director for the Quebec Region in the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), then Director of the Maurice Lamontagne Institute (MLI) in Mont-Joli, Quebec. Dr. Boulva is the author of numerous publications, has lectured on marine biology, served as a board member for teaching and research agencies, and been a guest expert on advisory committees.

During the summers of 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, and 1968, Jean Boulva worked as a summer student for the Fisheries Research Board of Canada onboard the M. V. Salvelinus, a 12 meter research vessel.

In the summer of 1964, along with Captain Ingram Gidney and summer student David Patriquin, he was directed to prepare and sail the M. V. Salvelinus some 1000 kilometers from Cape Parry to Cambridge Bay. Jean took many photographs on the journey north, while staying in Inuvik for nine days (June 18-27), and while delayed in Cape Parry nearly 2 months (June 27-August 16) due to poor ice conditions. He also spent time on bird and plant studies. At the time, Cape Parry had a church, Hudson’s Bay store, and was the site of a DEW line station, PIN-Main. In later years, the population of Cape Parry relocated to Paulatuk, further south. They travelled from Cape Parry via Coppermine and southern Coronation Gulf, arriving on August 25 in Cambridge Bay, where they studied oceanography and marine fish populations until beginning their return trip on September 19.

In 1965, the same team returned for the summer (June 27-September 11). They conducted oceanographic and fishery work first in Cambridge Bay and then in Bathurst Inlet (August 9-12), and traveled alongside the patrol vessel R.C.M.P. Spalding from Cambridge Bay to Baychimo (Bay Chimo). They took a side trip to a field camp at Keyhole Lake (50 kilometers northwest of Cambridge Bay) to study a landlocked arctic char population.

From July 2 to September 17, 1966, Ingram Gidney, Jean Boulva, and David Curtis (also a summer student) conducted research in Cambridge Bay and at a site in Dease Strait near Starvation Cove (69° 09' 41"N 105° 58' 50"W, 36 kilometers west of Cambridge Bay), where they built a small laboratory to support a multi-year study of arctic marine waters and small arctic lakes. On August 19, the trio visited a commercial char fishery at Wellington Bay.

From June 19 to September 25, 1967, Ingram Gidney, Jean Boulva, Steve McColl, and David Curtis (also summer students), and Moses Koihok (a local Inuit assistant) continued the research from 1966 in Cambridge Bay and Dease Strait near Starvation Cove. During the sea ice breakup period, David Curtis and Steve McColl coordinated scientific field work at Starvation Cove while Moses Koihok, Jean Boulva and Ingram Gidney worked on fisheries, oceanography and preparing the M.V. Salvelinus in Cambridge Bay.

From June 16 to September 8, 1968, a larger group carried out scientific research, including Ingram Gidney, two Fisheries Research Board of Canada (F.R.B.C.) technicians (Marsha Joynt and Shirley Leach), two F.R.B.C. scientists (Ken Muth and Jay Wacasey), the scientist head of the M.V. Salvelinus research program (J. Gerald Hunter), as well as two summer students, Gary Atkinson and Jean Boulva. The group carried out studies of marine and freshwater productivity near Starvation Cove, and fisheries research in Cambridge Bay. The group took a trip to Bathurst Inlet “with a lot of bad weather from August 5 to 11”; on August 11 Ingram Gidney departed due to an arm injury; on August 16 the vessel’s transmission broke down and became inoperable until the end of the season.

Bill Largent lived from 1920 to 1951 in the Yellowknife and Hay River area. Bill's parents were Charles Largent and Estelle [maiden name unknown]. In the summer, they travelled north and traded furs. In winter, they ran a trading post, the location of which is unknown to the donor.

Growing up in the north, Bill learned to speak a multitude of Aboriginal and Inuit languages, and often assisted the RCMP with translations. As a teenager he had his own dog team and worked a trap line. As an adult, he owned and operated a gravel truck out of Hay River. Here he met his wife, Judy Rabchak Geyer. In 1951, Bill and Judy sold the gravel truck and moved to Vancouver Island to be closer to family. They visited Yellowknife again in 1970, but resided in British Columbia for the rest of their days. Bill passed away in Nanaimo on July 25th, 1981.

Poole Field was a trader, trapper and prospector in the Yukon and Nahanni Butte region. He was born near Regina in approximately 1880. He joined the Royal Northwest Mounted Police (RNWMP) as a young man and transferred to the Yukon during the gold rush in the late 1890s. After three years, Field left the RNWMP and went to Alaska for about five years. He returned to the Yukon and during this time, he met and married Mary Atkinson (nee Lafferty). Field made at least one trip into the Nahanni region in 1905 but returned to the Yukon. Mary and Poole moved to the Nahanni Butte region in approximately 1914 after coming into the possession of a letter written by Martin Jorgenson claiming he had found gold. In 1915 or 1916, Field and his companions found the remains of Jorgenson at his burned cabin near Virginia Falls. According to Dick Turner, author of the book "Nahanni", Field spoke Cree and Slavey fluently and was an excellent woodsman. In approximately 1924, Field began operating as an independent trader and ran a store at Trout Lake for three years before returning to Nahanni Butte where he operated an independent trading post from 1928 to about 1935. In the 1940s, Field worked as a river pilot during the summer and trapped during the winter seasons.

Ole Andreasen came to the North on a whaling ship that was possibly captained by his brother. He was a trader who operated the trading post at Shingle Point in the Richardson Islands in the early 1930s for T.C. Pederson. He also had a post at Point Atkinson (Nuvoraq) in the early 1920s. He traveled with Vilhjalmur Steffanson on several of Steffanson's expeditions in the Canadian Arctic and owned the ship the 'Gladiator'. He married Susanna, also known as Atugpik and had two sons, David and Jasper.

Norman Lubbock (Robbie) Robinson was born on July 18, 1890 in County Wicklow Ireland. He spent over two years with the Northwest Mounted Police prior to World War I, and then five years in the army; first with the 19th Alberta Dragoons and then with the British Army in 1915. After returning to Edmonton in 1919, he worked as an Inspector with the Soldiers Settlement Board before traveling to the Northwest Territories where he spent five years working as a trapper, guide and purser aboard the steamer "Mackenzie River." In 1925, he returned to Edmonton with the intention to rejoin the Northwest Mounted Police, however, due to poor eyesight he was denied a position. He moved to British Columbia where he married in November 1928 and operated a timber business near Kamloops. During the Depression, he accepted a position as a Game Warden with the British Columbia Provincial Game Department. He held this position until 1938 and worked in Kamloops, Quesnel and Lillooet, British Columbia. In 1938, Robinson and his wife moved to Ireland for two years where he worked for the Turf Development Board on Clonsast Bog in Leix, Ireland. They returned to Canada in 1940. At the time of his May 1952 death in Calgary at age 61, he was an employment claims officer for the Unemployment Insurance Commission.

Nap Norbert was born in Tsiigehtchic (Arctic Red River) on January 29, 1917. His parents were Manual and Caroline Norbert. Nap had two sisters, Agnes and Mary Anne, and one brother Harry. Nap's mother, Caroline married Louis Cardinal after Manual Norbert died. Caroline and Louis had four children, Sonny, Billy, Alma and Rose Cardinal. Nap's stepfather, Louis Cardinal had six children with his first wife Catherine Firth: Agnes (Cardinal) Blake of Fort McPherson, Ethel Cardinal, Violet (Cardinal) Jerome of Inuvik, Rudolph, Alice Margaret and adopted son John. Nap attended school in Fort Providence for approximately five years, returning home to Tsiigehtchic in 1929. He married Mary Norman in 1940 and they had seven children: Henry, Caroline, Bertha, Agnes, Archie, Lucy and Annie Rose. After Mary Norbert died, Nap married Annie (Moses) Niditchie of Tsiigehtchic in 1952. Annie and Nap had three children: James, Lawrence and Dennis. Nap Norbert spent approximately 15 years working on boats operating on the Mackenzie River. During this period, he spent some time working on the "Pelican Rapids", a Hudson's Bay Company boat. During the winter, Nap earned a living as a hunter and trapper. Nap Norbert passed away in 200[3?].

Knut H. Lang was born on July 21, 1895 in Silkeborg, Jutland, Denmark. He worked his way to Canada via land-clearing in England and as a farm labourer in New Zealand. In 1928, he came to the north by cutting timber for a ship's fuel as it travelled down the Mackenzie River. He eventually settled in Aklavik where he operated a small trading post and also worked as an independent trapper. He was elected to the Northwest Territories Council in August 1957 to represent the Mackenzie Delta and remained a member until the last session which closed in November 1963. He died on April 13, 1964 after a long illness.

John Armour Knox was born on April 13, 1885 in Ireland to John Leon Knox and Julia Knox (nee Ellis). He moved to the Northwest Territories and became a trapper in the Fort Resolution region in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1929, he was appointed Game Officer of Fort Smith. He died in December 1976.

Albert Faille was born in 1888 and was raised by foster parents on a farm in New Salem, Pennsylvania. He never knew his real parents and at the age of 8, left the care of his foster parents and ended up in Tower, Minnesota where he was looked after by a hobo who taught him how to trap. Faille spent his youth employed in lumber camps, as a tourist guide on canoe trips and trapping. During World War I, he went to France with the United States Forestry Engineers. Upon his return in 1918, he married Marion Carlson and moved to Winton, Minnesota where he continued to trap, guide and cut timber for the St. Croix Lumber Mill. Marion gave birth to a baby boy named Harry but when the lumber mill closed Albert Faille and his partner Fred Mayo left Minnesota and moved to the Northwest Territories where they spent the winter trapping on the Beaver River. Faille sent for his wife and son during this time, however, she refused to move to the north. He spent almost 50 years as a trapper and prospector in the Fort Simpson - Nahanni Butte area. He was known as an excellent woodsman and for his navigation of fast flowing mountain streams. In the winter he trapped fur-bearing animals in order to pay for his supplies and equipment. In his later years and after a back injury prevented him from travelling on the Nahanni in his search for gold, Albert Faille, worked for Dr. Truesdell, the Indian Agent in Fort Simpson, as his boat engineer and handyman. After the doctor retired, Albert took odd jobs as a river guide, store clerk, caretaker and weekend jailer, however, once his back was healed he began to travel the waters of the Nahanni again. In 1961, the National Film Board produced a film documenting Faille's repeated attempts to find gold in the upper reaches of the Nahanni. There was no script, the crew merely filmed what took place during the eight week trip. Albert took his boat through heavy six foot waves at Figure Eight Rapids and carried his gear including a 70 lb. motor around Virginia Falls. The eighteen minute short film won numerous awards and brought the Nahanni Region into the spotlight. Albert Faille died on December 31, 1973.