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The Science Institute of the Northwest Territories (SINT) was established April 1, 1985 by the NWT Legislative Assembly as a non-profit corporation operating at arm’s-length from the GNWT. SINT was headed by an Executive Director, reporting to a Chairman and Board of Directors. The Board consisted of seven to thirteen members, 50 percent of whom had to be NWT residents.

SINT grew out of the Science Advisory Board, which had filled the need to provide advice to the Legislative Assembly on scientific, engineering, and technology matters from 1976 to 1984. By the time the Science Institute Act was passed in May 1984, the desire for a Science Institute was already well-established, being discussed previously in the Legislature and by the federal Department of Indian and Northern Affairs.

SINT was established “to foster science in the Northwest Territories, to increase public awareness of scientific activities and ensure northern participation in scientific and technological research, programs and activities.” SINT aimed to assist the scientific community, identify, coordinate and conduct research, provide advice, and license scientific research under the NWT Scientists Act. The first meeting of the SINT Board took place in August 1985 under Chairman Dr. James M. Harrison, a former member of the Science Advisory Board. Robert R. (Bob) Janes was appointed to the position of Executive Director later that year and began work in March 1986. Harrison was succeeded as Board Chairman by John H. Parker, former NWT Commissioner in March 1989. Janes was succeeded as Executive Director by J. D. (Doug) Heyland in August 1989.

Activities of SINT included: advising Legislative Assembly, licensing scientific research, publishing papers and a newsletter, training, conducting research and studies, engaging in liason and committee work, encouraging science fairs and creating resources, running cross-cultural science camps, teaching and participating in workshops and seminars, writing newspaper and radio scripts on northern science topics, delivering the National Research Council’s Industrial Research Assistance Programme (starting in 1989), and directing the Technology Development Program (starting 1990) to seek technologies which could be adapted for use in the NWT. In 1988, the Northern Scientific Resource Centres of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, located in Inuvik, Igloolik (Iglulik), and Iqaluit, were transferred to SINT, which continued to operate them to provide logistical support to scientists in the field.

In June 1992, the Government Leader announced decentralization of some government areas, including the Science Institute, to various communities outside Yellowknife. Options were proposed and debated by the SINT Board and NWT government. In March 1993, direction was given by the Minister Responsible for SINT to examine the relationship between SINT, Arctic College, and the Department of Education to see how relations could be strengthened. The amalgamation of SINT and Arctic College began to be discussed. At the end of May 1993, the Minister announced that Arctic College and the Science Institute would be integrated. Executive Director Heyland was requested to retire early and Mark Cleveland, president of Arctic College, was appointed in his place. Steve Richards became the new Chairperson of Board when John Parker’s term ended in April 1993.

After the division of the Territories into NWT and Nunavut in 1999 and the resulting division of Arctic College, SINT devolved into the Nunavut Research Institute at Nunavut Arctic College and Aurora Research Institute at Aurora College.

Peter Schwerdt was a prospector in the Yellowknife, Great Slave Lake Region from 1937 to 1941. In 1941, while working with his brother Chuck, they collected an estimated $50,000 in gold in about four months in the Indian Lake area.

Dr. Herbert T. Schwartz was employed as a medical doctor on the Distant Early Warning (DEW) line, and published several books on the legends of indigenous peoples.

Warren Schmitke, Director of the Norman Wells Historical Centre in the 1990s, travelled to Camp Canol several times between 1976 and 1978. During these visits, he took many photographs of the camp. In the summers of 1977 and 1978, the federal Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development burned down many of the buildings in the camp.

Dr. Otto Schaefer was born on October 2, 1919 in Betzdorf, Germany. He graduated from high school in 1938 with the intention of studying medicine; however in September 1939 he was drafted into the German Army and served as medical personnel at the front in France and in Russia. During the war he was able to pass his medical and surgical examinations and in the fall of 1944 he functioned as a field medical officer until April 1945 when he became a prisoner of war until July 1945. After the war, he practiced medicine in Betzdorf and resumed post-graduate studies in 1946 where he worked in several different hospitals in Germany obtaining his internal medicine specialist degree in 1950. He immigrated to Canada in June 1951 with the aim of assisting with the healthcare of the aboriginal people in the Canadian North. Before being able to practice medicine in Canada, he had to pass basic science examinations and in the fall of 1951 he moved to Edmonton where he worked at the Charles Camsell Hospital. In July 1952, Dr. Schaefer's wife joined him in Edmonton and the couple moved to Aklavik in January 1953 where she assisted him in the laboratory and accompanied him during the Eastern Arctic Patrol aboard the "C.D. Howe" between 1955-1957. Dr. Schaefer worked for two years in both the Western Arctic, Eastern Arctic and the Yukon and after further post-graduate work at the Camsell and University Hospitals in Edmonton he passed specialist examinations and became a Fellow of the Canadian and American Societies of Internal Medicine. In 1964, he became the Director of the newly created Northern Medical Research Unit. He also spent several months each year in the late 1960s and early 1970s conducting community health and nutrition surveys in the NWT and visited many communities as a member of the Water Board and Science Advisory Board. Dr. Schaefer has received several awards and honors for his work in the North and in the field of internal medicine, including the Jack Hildes Medal and Award in 1987 (Canadian Society for Circumpolar Health and the Donner Foundation); Order of Canada (1976); and the Commissioner's Award for Public Service at the Highest Level GNWT, 1985); and Centenary Medal and Award for Northern Science of Canada (1985). Dr. Schaefer currently resides in Edmonton, Alberta.

The Sanavisak Guild was formed on September 8, 1965 by a group of women from Pine Point. The objectives of the guild were twofold; to allow women to meet on a regular basis and work together on handicraft projects; and to provide instruction for women who wanted to learn new craft skills. The first executive consisted of Esther Scarborough (President), Bubbles Hodgson (Vice-president), Dolores Logan (Secretary), Muriel Hampton (Treasurer), and Dolly Lovlin (Class convenor). The guild remained in operation until the town of Pine Point was closed in 1987.

Samuel Hearne Secondary School (SHSS) began operating in 1966 and was officially opened two years later by Minister Jean Chretien. Prior to 1966, Inuvik students from all grades attended Sir Alexander Mackenzie School, which continued operating as an elementary school after SHSS opened. The school was originally administered by the federal government; it was transferred to the Government of the Northwest Territories in 1969, and then to the Beaufort-Delta Divisional Education Council, which was established in 1989 to administer regional schools.

The original high school building included two science rooms, a library, industrial arts and home economics facilities and a gym. A 10 classroom addition was completed in 1972, and several trade shops were added in the early 1980s to meet the needs of a vocational certificate program, including an auto shop in 1982, carpentry shop in 1983, and general mechanics shop in 1984.

In addition to residents of the town of Inuvik, the student body at SHSS also included residential school students brought from communities across the Beaufort Delta region and the Arctic to stay at the two major Federal hostels, Stringer Hall (which closed in 1975) and Grollier Hall (which closed in 1996). After the closure of the hostels, students from some small communities continued to attend SHSS for the upper high school grades while boarding in private homes in the town.

SHSS closed in 2012 when it was replaced by the new East Three Secondary School, and the building was demolished in June 2013.

In 1993, Sandra Dolan co-ordinated an oral history project with Clayton Burke and Dora Unca to record the reminiscences of elders who had lived at the Chipewyan village near Fort Smith. It was anticipated that the recordings would be used in the production of a history of the Salt River settlement. A portion of the funding for this project was derived from the Government of the Northwest Territories Oral Traditions Project.

Mary Saich was born in Quill Lake, Saskatchewan on November 26, 1913 to parents Dr. Alexander J. Saich and Alma T. Saich. She was educated at the University of Saskatechewan Normal School. In August 1940, she travelled on the S.S. Distributor to Aklavik where she had accepted a teaching position at All Saints Residential School. She taught in Aklavik for two years and returned to Biggar, Saskatchewan at the end of her teaching contract. Her career included the position of Assistant Superintendent in Kindergarten and Primary Education in the Greater Victoria School District, however she spent her last two years prior to retirement teaching in the classroom at View Royal Elementary School in Victoria, B.C. She died on July 29, 2002 in Victoria, B.C.

The provision of western education in Fort Providence began at the Providence Mission School in 1867, sometimes known as “Our Lady of Fort Providence Residential School” but more consistently known as the “Sacred Heart Mission School” or “Sacred Heart Residential School” (“École du Sacré-Coeur” in French). The school was operated by the Grey Nuns and initially was meant to provide a boarding and day school for Hudson Bay Company employee children. It soon focussed on orphaned and needy children and is known as the first residential school in Canada’s north, although other sites of shorter duration possibly predate Sacred Heart.

Sacred Heart Residential School took in both day pupils and residential boarders. It was chronically under supported, and the Grey Nuns threatened to close or possibly did close it in 1881/82, and reopened with Federal Government funding later in the 1880s. The original log structure was expanded in 1912, and a new three story school built in 1930. An extension was added to this in 1948.

Students came from communities throughout the north, and even as far south as Fort McMurray and Fond-du-Lac. In later years children came from primarily the Deh Cho region; home communities included Fort Providence, Fort Simpson, Fort Liard, Wrigley, Norman Wells, Tulita, Ptarmigan Point, Yellowknife, Fort Smith, Trout Rock and Hay River, and sometimes others. It is unclear when the residential school closed, as historical sources give dates ranging from 1953 to 1960, but the Federal Elizabeth Ward Elementary School opened in 1958 and Sacred Heart Residence likely closed in 1959.

In 1858, the Roman Catholic Church opened the Sacred Heart Mission at Fort Providence. From there, missionaries were sent to various communities along the Mackenzie River. In 1858, Father Henri Grolier became the first member of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (O.M.I.) to visit Fort Simpson. His visit was followed by the arrival of Bishop H. Grandin in 1861 and Father Emile Grouard in 1866. In 1867, the first Grey Nuns arrived at Fort Providence to work with the Oblate Fathers. Between 1858 and 1894, many other members of the Oblates visited Fort Simpson to conduct religious services. In 1894 Father Laurent Brochu became the first resident priest at Fort Simpson, remaining there until 1903. The mission at Fort Simpson continued to grow and eventually the headquarters of the Sacred Heart Mission was moved to Fort Simpson from Fort Providence. In 1916, the Roman Catholic Mission opened its first hospital in Fort Simpson, l'Hopital Ste. Marguerite [St. Margaret's Hospital]. When this accidentally burned down in 1930, a second facility was built and was in operation by 1931. In 1917, the Sacred Heart Mission opened its first school, a residential school, in Fort Simpson. Other members of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate who worked at the Sacred Heart Mission in the early twentieth century were J. Turcotte, Father J. Sareault, Father L. Gosselin, Father H. Tesniere, J. Dessy, Father F. Turcotte, J. Lusson and Father Henri Posset.

The Sachs Harbour School was constructed in the summer of 1968, first opening in fall 1968 to students in grades 1-6 and originally operated by the federal government. Prior to the school being built, children were sent to Shingle Point, Aklavik, then Inuvik for schooling, and after its construction, older students continued to go to Inuvik for later grades. This school was transferred to the GNWT when it assumed responsibility for education in 1969, and was replaced by Inualthuyuk School which opened in 1973.

Dr. George Nelson Rysgaard was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on October 28, 1917. He received an undergraduate degree in science from the Hamline University and graduated with an M.S. from Michigan State in 1941. From 1941 to 1946, Rysgaard served in the U.S. Army. After his military service, he entered medical school, interned at the Minneapolis General Hospital and maintained a private practice in Northfield, Minnesota from 1951 until his retirement in 1985. Dr. Rysgaard has held a life-long interest in natural history. During his college years, he was an assistant at the University of Minnesota's Bell Museum of Natural History. In 1937, he helped establish the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union. Following his graduation from Hamline University, Rysgaard continued to work at the Bell Museum teaching programs in ornithology and mammalogy. Rysgaard made four trips to the Northwest Territories: Great Bear Lake and Tree River in 1966, Colville Lake in 1968, Victoria Island in 1969 and the Thelon River in 1970. Although the trips were primarily recreational, Dr. Rysgaard also recorded his interest in the natural history of the areas with slide and film.

Joan Ryan was born in 1932 in Montreal. She completed a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at Carleton University in 1957 and a Master of Education in Psychology in Fairbanks, Alaska in 1959.

Ryan spent her early career employed as a Northern Service Officer and teacher with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. She taught in Whatì (Lac La Martre) from 1957 to 1959 and George River (northern Quebec) from 1959 to 1960. In 1964 she left government service and enrolled as a PhD student at the University of British Columbia. In 1967 she accepted a professorship at the University of Calgary in anthropology, a position she held until retirement in 1987.

Upon retirement she was affiliated with the Arctic Institute of North America (AINA) for many years, pioneering participatory action research (PAR) projects. She was involved in several NWT projects including working as a trainer, coordinator, and researcher for community development projects in Fort McPherson from 1988 to 1990. She returned to Whatì (Lac La Martre) from 1990-1993, publishing 'Doing things the right way: Dene traditional justice in Lac La Martre N.W.T.' (1995). She later worked with the Deline Uranium Team. Joan Ryan died October 29, 2005, in Calgary. She was survived by two adopted daughters.

John Russell, known as Jack, was born in Digby, Nova Scotia, June 28, 1886. By 1910, he established a homestead in Hope, British Columbia but abandoned homesteading to become a surveyor. Between 1914 and 1930, he worked as a Dominion Land Surveyor, surveying northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories. In the early 1930s, Russell returned to Nova Scotia and worked for the Highways Department doing road surveys. He married twice but had no children. It is believed he died in 1962.