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This fonds consists of 0.1 cm of textual records, 859 photographs (242 black and white negatives, 300 black and white prints - original masters; 766 black and white digital files (TIFF), 15 colour digital files (TIFF) - archival masters; 55 black and white negatives, 23 black and white prints - original and archival masters), 15 8mm film reels (original masters), four 16mm film reels (original masters), 19 Betacam SP videocassettes (archival masters), and one 8mm film reel (original and archival master).

The textual records consist of a membership certificate. The majority of the photographs document Sam’s life prospecting, mining, and trapping between 1930 and 1950, while a smaller selection document Sam’s nuclear family life beginning in 1952. There are five main series of photographs: work in the Great Bear Lake region with the Northern Transportation Company and uranium mines in the early to mid-1930s; gold mining, camping, and prospecting in the Great Slave Lake area in the mid-1930s through the 1940s; work on the Canol project in 1942-1943; trapping on the barren lands (tundra) of the Keewatin region near Clinton-Colden Lake and the Back River area in the late 1930s to 1950; and Sam’s nuclear family life from 1952 onwards. Communities documented in this fonds include early images of Yellowknife’s Old Town and Latham Island, Fort Franklin (Deline), Cameron Bay camps, Norman Wells, Fort Resolution, and Fort Smith. The moving images document being on the land, prospecting, and hunting between 1930 and 1960, and town and family life between 1950 and 1970.

The digital files (TIFF) are scans of the original black and white negatives, black and white prints, and colour negatives, while the videocassettes are transfers from the original 8mm and 16mm film reels, all created by Sam Otto and loaned by his son Sheldon in 2000. The majority of the originally loaned items were returned by Sam Otto's daughter Lorraine in 2015, in addition to some newly offered materials.

This fonds consists of 219 photographs of Yellowknife, the Yellowknife region, prospector outposts, some mining operations and road construction. There are also three photos taken in northern Ontario.

This fonds consists of a loose leaf diary of his trip to the NWT in 1929 and thirteen prospecting journals (field books). The diary consists of 25 loose leaf pages detailing Spud Arsenault's journey in 1929 to northern Alberta and the NWT. It includes descriptions of his travel by plane with Punch Dickens to the NWT including Fort Resolution and Fort Rae. The diary also includes descriptions of camp life, hunting, fishing, prospecting and work with Herb Dixon. The field books detail travel and prospecting activities in the Yellowknife area, the Great Bear Lake area, Watson Lake Yukon, northern Alberta and northern Saskatchewan with various mining companies from 1929-1946.

This fonds consists of 7 photographs and 3.5 cm of textual material. The textual material is made up of 3 prospecting field books containing dating from 1926, 1927 and 1953, as well as a small number of Canadian Wildlife Service Bird Band cards dated 1955-1959. In addition there is one five page written report by W.L. McDonald in 1958 on the Mar Mineral Claims at Marian Lake, a number of hand drawn maps that relate to the mining of lithium in the Yellowknife area and a diary found at Jolliffe Island containing weather observations and bird watching notes from 1940-1948. Also included are five pages of handwritten notes on northern birds, found in his cabin on Jolliffe Island. The images include portraits of William McDonald and companions, as well as pictures of eagles. Mr. McDonald collected these images circa 1969 and negatives were copied from the original photographs in 1990.