The Northern Saskatchewan Archives was set up in 2002 in La Ronge by the Pahkisimon Nuyeʔáh Library System to provide a safe home for documents and images relating to the north. It contains more than 100,000 photographs, 2,000 audio and video tapes, and 14,000 periodicals, reports, and books on Aboriginal and Northern topics.
It began with the donation of the large Department of Northern Saskatchewan collection of publications, audio-visual materials, and photographs from the 1970s, including the Larry Hewitt collection of Dene materials. It now houses many more materials dating back more than 60 years, donated by other people and agencies.
Included are:
- The Department of Northern Saskatchewan Collection from the 1970s of 46,000 photographs, 1,000 audio and video tapes, and many publications.
- The Larry Hewitt Collection from the 1970s of taped interviews with Dene elders and 1,800 photographs of the Dene traditional lifestyle.
- The Saskatchewan Learning Collection from the 1980s and 1990s of 4,000 photographs, 400 video tapes, and various studies and reports.
- The John Finch Aviation Collection of materials assembled by northern aircraft engineer John Finch, including taped interviews, 500 photographs, filmfootage, and print materials.
- The Elders Gatherings and Cultural Camps Collection including materials gathered during several gatherings in the 1990s, including 2,000 photographs, 60 videos, and many taped interviews.
- The Robert Tanner Island Falls Collection of 1950s materials gathered while he was employed at the Island Falls hydro-electric station.
- The Gordon Koshinsky Fisheries Collection of over 400 studies, reports, and files relating mostly to the commercial fishing industry, collected by Gordon while a researcher with the provincial government in the 1970s.
- The Mel Jamieson Collection, including 515 slides and twenty 8mm films taken while he was a trapper in the Wollaston Lake region in the 1960s and 1970s.
- The Don Neilson Agriculture Collection, including 727 slides from the 1950s and 1960s of 4H activities in 12 northern communities, including farming, gardening, and northern families in their gardens and attending fairs.
- The Bill Layman and Lynda Holland Collection, including trip notes and over 5,000 photographs from 15 years of paddling into the Dene’s 'Land of the Little Sticks', the Barren Lands.
Archival Historian Graham Guest provides tours and displays for members of the public, school classes, and other interested groups and holds an annual Open House during Archives Week in February. He has also responded to hundreds of requests for information and photographs. During a project with the University of Saskatchewan, the Northern Saskatchewan Archives digitized over 1,000 slides, print materials, and audio and video tapes relating to the north’s Aboriginal people, for inclusion in the ‘Our Legacy’ website.
For more information, please contact Graham Guest at (306) 425-6646 or [email protected].
Archive Links
Archives CanadaCanadian Council of Archives / Conseil canadien des archives
Hudson's Bay Company Archives (HBCA)
Indigenous Studies Portal (iPortal)
Connects faculty, students, researchers and members of the community with electronic resources: books, articles, theses, documents, photographs, archival resources, maps, etc.
Northern Research Portal - University Of Saskatchewan Archives
This website offers resources on the Canadian north.
Material relating to First Nations, Metis, and Inuit peoples, found in Saskatchewan cultural and heritage collections.
Resources for Aboriginal Studies - University of Saskatchewan Libraries/Archives
A project of indexing and digitizing archival and published materials relating to Aboriginal and Metis studies.
Saskatchewan Archival Information Network (SAIN)
Saskatchewan Council for Archives and Archivists (SCAA)
Virtual Museum of Metis History and Culture - Gabriel Dumont Institute
The Virtual Museum of Metis History and Culture was developed to better share its extensive archival, cultural and learning holdings with the public. Site contains oral histories, photographs, archival documents and audio and video files.