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This fonds consists of one DAT audio cassette and 5 cm of textual material. The DAT audio cassette contains a recording of Dr. Cass in early 1980, dictating letters for her secretary. She discusses her health and her recent trip to Brazil with the International Society of Geographic Opthalmology. The textual material consists of transcripts that contain Dr. Cass' personal observations on the Gwich'in. These observations were made in 1959. Her recollections cover such topics as puberty, religious beliefs, burial customs, personal hygiene, marriage, music and dancing. She has also recorded many of the Gwich'in stories and legends that were related to her by such individuals as Paul Bonnetplume (Aklavik), Annie McPherson (Fort McPherson), Peter Lord (Old Crow, Yukon), Lazarus Sittichinli, Peter Moses and Edward Snowshoe. Although many of the legends relate to medicine men, Dr. Cass also recounts stories about the Willow Man, the Ungrateful Indian, Sakeethuck the "Trickster," the Crow Who Lost His Beak, the Lazy Boy, three stories about Bushmen [Hare and Slavey Indians] and a two hour saga about two brothers as told to her by Edward Snowshoe. The remaining textual material consists of reports written by Dr. Elizabeth Cass. The reports examine blindness and eye problems amongst children and adults in the Northwest Territories. There are charts and graphs included in the reports.

This fonds consists of 2 DAT audiocassettes, 2 audio reels and one centimeter of textual material. The two DAT audiocassettes and 2 audio reels contain recordings done by Father Henri Posset. The first recording was made in September 1957. It consists of drumming and chanting taped in Jean Marie River and Fort Franklin, fiddle music from Fort Franklin and various Slavey legends related by Johnny Betseda of Fort Simpson and Jean Marie Punch of Fort Providence. The second recordings with John Tsetso were made on April 1, 1964 in St. Margaret's Hospital at Fort Simpson. In this recording, Tsetso narrates, in Slavey, the first three chapters of his book, "Trapping is my Life", which was published in February 1964. He also relates two other stories about summer and winter. The fonds also contains two letters written by Father Posset which provide some biographical information on Johnny Betseda, John Tsetso and Jean Marie Punch. There is also a typed transcript of an interview between Father Posset and William Nerysoo, Sr., relating to Gwich'in personal names, which was conducted on November 23, 1987.

This fonds consists of one photocopy of a typed manuscript written by Gwendoline Tremain-Runyard between 1976 and 1988 and 89 copy negatives that were reproduced from an album compiled by Lottie Tremain, during her stay in the Northwest Territories between 1914 and 1919. The photographs document the three Anglican Missions that Reverend W.S. Tremain worked at: Fort Norman, Fort Simpson, and Hay River. The images relate primarily to the mission buildings in each community, and the staff and pupils of St. Peter's Anglican Residential School at Hay River. Some photographs depict Anglican missionaries who visited these communities. In addition, there are images of the "S.S. Mackenzie River", and some of canoes, scows, mooseskin boats, and tugs that plied the Mackenzie River. There are also some images of Dene camps. The manuscript gives a brief history of her family, however, Gwendoline has advised the NWT Archives that later research has made her aware of inaccuracies in that history.

This fonds consists of 291 photographs and 6.2 cm of textual material. There are images of Aklavik and the surrounding area, as well as images that document Mary Saich's trip to Tuktoyaktuk. In addition, there is one scrapbook compiled by Mary Saich; one notebook that includes historical and geographical notes on the Northwest Territories, her curriculum ideas and a manuscript entitled "A Year in Canada's North" which includes copies/originals of articles on the north and copies/originals of Mary Saich's correspondence with her parents.

This fonds consists of 45 DAT audio cassettes, 125 audio cassettes, approximately 7.7 meters of textual material and approximately 1000 photographs.

These records, in the form of textual material, sound recordings and photographs have been divided into eight series: 1) Oral History Interview Transcripts; 2) Audio Recordings which consist of 45 DAT audio cassettes (archival masters) and 124 audio cassettes (original masters) of oral histories, and 1 audio cassette (original master) of Michif language excerpts from the 1994 Michif Language Conference; 3) Archives Photocopies; 4) Subject Files; 5) Family Files; 6) Administrative Files; 7) Photographs; 8) Miscellaneous.

The archives photocopies from Series 3) consist of copies of archival documents such as petitions, treaties, government reports, significant government correspondence, and copies of extracts from books and articles. Photocopies of some of these were placed in subject files (Series 4) and family files (Series 5). These files contain information relevant to certain subjects (i.e. education, communities, Hudson's Bay Company) or families.

The administrative files in series 6 concern the administration of the Metis History Project from 1972 to 1979. As well, eight boxes of primarily administrative textual materials were donated when the Metis Nation ceased operations in 2001.

The materials in series 8 (Miscellaneous) consist of drafts of the Metis History book, index material for this collection and information on how to use this collection. Other textual material includes transcripts of interviews conducted by representatives of the Metis Heritage Association in 1992. Elders interviewed include Beatrice Daniels, Sam Norn, Albert Lafferty, Rene Mercredi, Joseph Masuzumi, Frank Laviolette, Dora Tourangeau, Len Heron, Helena Mandeville and Mable Heron. Also included within this series is the transcript of the Michif Language Conference, held on February 19-20, 1994.

This fonds consists of 163 photographs (47 colour and 11 black and white copy negatives and 105 copy colour transparencies), 111 maps and map fragments and 20 cm of textual material. The 58 copy negatives and Simmons's journal document the construction of a mooseskin boat and its use. The boat was constructed between May 22 and 28, 1968, on the Gravel (Keele) River and taken down to Fort Norman (Tulita). People identified in the images include George and Vivian Pelissey, Gabe Etchinelle, Madeline Karcaji, Fred Andrew, and Jonas McCauley. The 105 colour transparencies date from 1967 through 1980 and depicts aboriginal life in the Mackenzie Mountain region including: caribou hunting, work on a moose hide boat, drying meat, fishing, camps, and Simmons's work with Dall's Sheep. The images includes views of the Moose Horn (Mountain) River, Caribou Flats by the Gravel River, Drum (Wrigley) Lake, and Punk Mountain. Included in the images are views of Gabriel Etchinelle, Jonas McCauley, Vivian McCauley, George Pelissey, Perry Linton, Leon Andrew, Jimmy Mendo, Maurice Mento, Cecile Hatchelle, Madeline Karkagie, Stella Mendo, Joe Blondin, David Yallee, Alfred Lennie and Gordon Yakelaya.

Also included in this fonds are a handwritten and typed English translation of the French article "Les Chitra-Gottineke" by Jean Michea, published in the National Museum of Canada Bulletin No. 190, "Contributions to Anthropology, Part II", 1960. Muriel Cooper, wife of Steve Cooper, Park Warden at Nahanni Butte, did the translation. The 111 maps and map fragments feature communities, lakes, rivers, canyons and mountain ranges from Fort Simpson up to the Mackenzie Delta region, and including the Yukon - NWT border. The field notes that accompany the maps include a 32 page typewritten gazetteer, as well as the handwritten notes for the gazetteer. There are also handwritten lists recording information about traditional place names of features in the Mackenzie Mountains. Simmons informants included Gabriel Etchinelle, Madeline Karkagie, George Pellissey, Vivian McCauley,and Maurice and Stella Mendo. The place names were written in a 'folk' phonetic form but a few are written by the elders are in syllabics. Files include research notes, field notes, drafts of papers and correspondence related to his studies of Dall's sheep in the Mackenzie Mountains in the 1970s, and correspondence with anthropologists such as Beryl Gillespie.

This fonds consists of 10 DAT audio cassettes, 24 audio cassettes and 2 cm of textual material. The original 24 audiocassettes were copied to DAT in December 1995; the DAT audiocassettes now constitute the archival masters. The recordings are of Dene elders and other residents of the Nahanni area. The textual material includes correspondence and some transcribed material from the project. People interviewed include Elsie Marcellais, George Matou, Charlie Yohin, Harry Tesou, Joe Koniseta, Ted Trindell, Laura Vital and Philip Howard.

This fonds consists of 296 reel to reels (original masters) and 678 audio cassettes (original masters) copied to 661 sound CDs (RedBook Audio format - Archival Masters), which contain approximately 1013 oral history recordings and 1.2 meters of transcriptions from the Committee for Original People's Entitlement (COPE). The sound CDs constitute the archival masters. These recordings are in Inuvialuktun, Gwich'in and North Slavey and contain life stories of elders as well as traditional legends. Many of the recordings are part of CBC broadcast programming.

This fonds consists of 5 audio cassettes containing interviews with elders that lived in the Salt River area in the 1920s and 1930s, including Francois King Beaulieu, Maria Brown, Vincent Beaulieu, Liza Schaefer, Francois Laviolette and Fred Dawson. The topics of the interviews include a history of the Beaulieu family, housing construction, animal husbandry, farming and the effect of the flood that took place at the Salt River Settlement in the 1930s. The fonds also contains 3 cm of textual material which includes Chipewyan transcripts and English translations of the sound recordings.

This fonds consists of three letters written by Poole Field to Jack La Flair and one letter written to a member of the Geological Survey of Canada. The letters relate stories of the customs and beliefs of the Mountain Dene and Field's trips in the Nahanni region.

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."

Photographs include images of Inuit constructing igloos, a confirmation ceremony at the Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Yellowknife, a plaquing ceremony in Fort McPherson, the visit of Governor General Lord Tweedsmuir (John Buchan) to Aklavik in 1937, the communities of Aklavik, Fort Simpson, Coppermine (Kugluktuk) and Hay River, and images of Chief Johnny Kay [Kyikavichik], Chief Johnny Charlie, Andrew Kunnizzi, Terry Buckle, Robert Simpson, R. P. Malis, Bishop Archibald Fleming, and Bishop Stringer.

The textual material includes a typed manuscript by Henry G. Cook of the prayers, creeds and blessings translated into the Slavey language, dated 1938 and a handwritten dictionary of the Slavey translations of English words, compiled by Bishop J.R. Lucas in 1914, and an 11-page typescript manuscript written by Mr. Cook entitled "Early Education in the North". Also included are ephemera collected by Rev. Cook including a program of a Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada plaquing ceremony held in Fort McPherson on July 7, 1977; programs, booklets, and correspondence related to Anglican clergy in the NWT; and booklets related to the history of the North, as well as copies of the Captain Al Cohol comic books produced by the Government of the Northwest Territories.

This fonds consists of two identical posters titled "Our Land, Our Life", and 2 cm of textual material. The material is made up of two copies of the "Dene Declaration: Statement of Rights" on broadsides, and one "Public Notice" from the Chiefs in Council. There is also one illustrated calendar produced by the Dene Nation for the 12-month period from May 1979 to April 1980. Included are chronologies of important events in the history of the Dene, descriptions of Dene culture and images of Dene people.

This fonds consists of 24 black and white photographs, approximately 5 cm of textual material, one illustration and 2 handbills generated by the federal Department of Mines and Resources, dating from 1937 to 1950. The records include of a compilation of 18 reports, dated 1948 to 1950, on forestry and wildlife management in Wood Buffalo National Park and the southern and northern Mackenzie Districts. These reports focused on a variety of issues including: numbers and locations of forest fires; the transfer and introduction of various animal species such as beaver, elk and marten; fishing operations and fish levels; buffalo hunts; and the general status of forests and wildlife in these regions. The reports contain 24 black and white photographs and 1 drawing documenting the transfer of beaver and elk to Wood Buffalo Park. Other records include telegrams and correspondence concerning the construction of a landing strip at Wrigley in 1938 and 2 oversize cloth public notices. One warns of the dangers of forest fires; the text is in Dogrib and written in syllabics. The second identifies a native hunting and trapping preserve. An annotation on the front indicates that the Royal Canadian Mounted Policed (RCMP) schooner "St. Roch" may have located this notice in 1944. On the back there is an annotation: "Robert G. Fulton and Gerald Klondike Helicopters on Board M.V. Theta [1931?] Calgary Alberta." In addition, there is a RCAF (Royal Canadian Air Force) Bulletin entitled "A Brief Outline of the History, Customs and Laws Relating to the Indians and Eskimos of the Canadian Arctic and Sub-Arctic" which was produced by the Department of Mines and Resources and a pamphlet of general information about Yellowknife.

This fonds consists of approximately 44 meters of textual records and approximately 70 photographs created and accumulated by the Northern Administration Branch and its various predecessors, from 1923 to 1971. The material was generated by the Federal government's activities in administering the Northwest Territories. Most of the records (over 34 m of textual records) are composed of files transferred from Ottawa to Yellowknife beginning in 1967, and include administrative and operational files. The majority of these files date between 1949 and 1967 and incorporate: correspondence, reports, vital statistic information, financial data, minutes, and a wide variety of reference material kept by the department. The files were classified via a numerical block system. The block system consisted of primary, secondary and tertiary levels such that a composite file number (for example 311-105-93) would represent a progression from general subject matter to a specific subject and/or location. The following primary blocks arrange the files:

100 - Administration;
200 - Economic and Industrial Development;
300 - Engineering Projects;
400 - Forests and Game;
500 - Public Service;
600 - Education;
1000 - General files on settlements, associations, companies, provinces, foreign countries, Inuit affairs, and resources;
20 - Individual case files;
3 - Personnel and organizational files.

None of the 700, 800 or 900 block files were forwarded to the NWT Archives. Moreover, at the time of transfer from Ottawa, it appears that other records from the file blocks brought to Yellowknife were culled in Ottawa. In addition, not all government functions were transferred in 1967, and some files contain records generated after 1967 from the continued administration of a function either by the federal government or from the use of the files by the new Territorial Government. A small number of photographs were located in the files during processing, however, these images have been left in their original files.

Additional accruals to this fonds make up another 10 meters of textual records and include the Northern Administration Branch records from the Fort Churchill district office dating from 1960 to 1970, and Western Arctic education records from 1964 to 1969.

Other records of this fonds consist of: four ledgers kept between 1923 and 1967 documenting fur trapping and fur trading activities, four ledgers documenting fur and game take and value on registered trap lines, various licensing, and scientific research work; budget papers including estimates, expenditure statements and capital substantiation reports for 1966 to 1969; 2 supplementary readers, "Nuna" and "The Story of Papik an Eskimo Boy" compiled by the Curriculum Section of the Education Division from the journals of young Inuit children; and a 1954 report produced by C.C. Johnson, a Resident Engineer from Fort Smith. This report, entitled "Preliminary Report, Mackenzie Highway - Mills Lake Road" includes 31 corner mounted photographic prints and 16 black and white negatives. The report discusses plans to build a road to Mills Landing. In addition, there are copies of the Eskimo Bulletin dated from 1953-1959. The Eskimo Bulletin was produced by the Northern Administration and Land Branch in order to teach Inuit the English language.

This collection consists of copies of 282 photographs in print and negative format, 107 audio recordings and one folder of textual material collected by the Gwich'in Language and Cultural Project in 1983 and 1984. The photographs were loaned to the project by Fort McPherson residents: Effie Thomas, Doris Lester, Mary Wilson, Laura Firth, Mary Jane Kunnizzi, Mary Francis, Louise Snowshoe, Tabitha Nerysoo, and the Chief Julius School. The original images appear to date from the 1940s to the 1970s and feature people and locations in the Fort McPherson area. Most of the audio recordings are from the Committee for Original Peoples' Entitlement (COPE) collection, except for 18 recordings identified as "Land Research Series." All recordings date from 1972 to 1977. The two items of textual material were collected from the Chief Julius School, and along with photographs, made up part of a booklet produced for a class history project. The items are a copy of a 1918 letter from Reverend Alfred J. Vale, and a copy of the poem "The Mackenzie River Band." A photocopy of the booklet is available

This fonds consists of stories and writings from George Blondin, a Sahtu Dene elder. The stories and writings relate to traditional medicine, medicine power, Yamoga, Yamoria, the Giant Wolverine, and wolverine medicine power.

This fonds consists of 35 audiocassettes and 5 cm of textual material generated by the Task Force on Aboriginal Languages. The sound recordings are of community language workshops and public hearings held in a variety of communities including Yellowknife, Rae Lakes, Fort Rae, Fort Resolution, Lutselk'e (Snowdrift), Inuvik, Fort Smith, Deline (Fort Franklin) and Cambridge Bay. The textual material consists of approximately 5 cm of text in the form of transcripts from the workshop and community hearings.

The fonds consist of 48 Betacam videocassettes, 6 audiocassettes and 6 cm of textual material. The videocassettes contain stock footage documenting the construction of a birchbark canoe for the Dogrib Birchbark Canoe Project, which took place in May-June, 1996. In addition, there are 2 professionally produced Tlicho (Dogrib) language (English subtitles) broadcast versions of the project; one version is 0:29 in length, the other 0:40. The broadcast versions were completed in early-1997. The 6 audiocassettes contain Tlicho (Dogrib) language interviews conducted at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, as well as corresponding typed transcriptions. The textual material also includes proposals, project reports, logs for the videocassettes and letters of support.

This fonds consists of 299 colour slides, 19 colour prints and 273 black and white prints. The majority of the photographs are of Frank and Grace McCall's time spent in the Mackenzie Delta (Aklavik - Reindeer Station) in the 1940s, Yellowknife (1940s - 1970s) and Ft. Smith in the (1950s and 1960s). The series of print photographs focussing on Yellowknife include images relating to transportation, recreation, mining, and scenery. Negus Mine, Con Mine, Jolliffe Island, the Wildcat Café, water taxis, floatplanes, and cat trains are featured, along with Yellowknife residents Tom Doornbos and John Anderson Thomson. The series of print photographs focussing on Aklavik include images relating to reindeer herding, transportation, and aerial photographs. A third series of print photographs, entitled Northern Miscellaneous, covers various subjects, including a trip Frank McCall took in his capacity as Regional Administrator to communities such as Banks Island, Holman Island, Coppermine (Kugluktuk), Spence Bay (Taloyoak) and Pelly Bay to talk to residents about a Resource Program. The two textual documents are programs for the official openings of the Yellowknife United Church in 1958 and Bristol Memorial Park in 1970.