A canvass by mail was ruled out as an effective means of gathering pertinent information. It was felt that response to a mailed questionnaire would be unsatisfactory because

1. there were few, if any, archival repositories outside the NWT Archives for whom many of the Common Core Element questions would be relevant at present;
2. English was not the first language of many of the Northwest Territories native peoples;
3. few residents of the NWT, native or non-native, were familiar with archival concepts or terminology

In all 20 days were spent in visiting 12 communities and some 12,505 km were travelled in the process of gathering data.

Scattered over this extensive landscape, in communities which range in size from a few dozen to several thousand persons each, is a population of some 52,000. The population density of one person per sixty-six square kilometres (one person per twenty-six square miles) is among the lowest in the world.

Except in the extreme south-west corner and along parts of the Mackenzie valley, there are virtually no roads connecting communities. While water transport is used extensively to move goods (along with ice roads in the winter), aircraft is the usual mode of personal travel. Travel by air is particularly expensive in the North, where high maintenance costs are rarely offset by economies of scale.

Transportation and communications are further hampered by extreme weather conditions during much of the year. Mean temperatures range from January lows of -36.4 degrees celsius to July highs of 17.2 degrees celsius. Sudden changes in weather and periods of continuous darkness are additional hazards which northern travellers must contend with.

Cultural as well as physical barriers impede communication. Four major cultural groups exist, Dene, Metis, Inuit and non-native, the ethnic distribution being approximately Dene/Metis, 23%; Inuit, 35%; and non-native, 42%. The NWT is unique in Canada in that native people form a majority of the population.

Many languages have been officially recognized: English, French, Loucheux, North Slavey, South Slavey, Dogrib, Chipewyan, Cree, and Inuktitut. Among native peoples an oral tradition prevailed until comparatively recent times and is, to some extent, still followed by the older generation. As a result of their having been spoken rather than written, the native languages gave rise to no orthography until the advent of European missionaries. Modified roman alphabets have been or are now being added to the century-old syllabic orthography of Cree and Inuktitut.

The economy of the NWT is largely resource and craft based, with tourism becoming increasingly important as a source of revenue. It is heavily dependent on government intervention.

A climate of uncertainty extends, for the time being, to the political sphere, as administration of the Territories is still in a state of transition. The federal government continues to maintain a significant presence in Territorial affairs, although responsibility for programmes initially delivered by that government is steadily being assumed by the Government of the Northwest Territories.

Inuit, Dene and Me~is land claims remain outstanding. While general agreement on a boundary has yet to be reached, some progress is being made toward division of the Territories into an eastern and western part.

Finally, a growing appreciation of their own culture and a strong desire to perpetuate it have created among the native peoples of the NWT a keen interest in heritage institutions. Because language is regarded as the linchpin of culture, "linguistic artifacts" (ie. , documentary records) are recognized as being especially important to the survival of the native identity. Along with iconographic records such as photographs, which speak a universal language, textual and aural records convey immediate information about a unique and cherished way of life. Native organizations and individuals are becoming increasingly aware that archives and archival methodology are the best means of preserving these critical cultural resources and with them a priceless legacy of rights and values.

IQALUIT

Officially renamed Iqaluit on 1 January 1987, the town formerly known as Frobisher Bay lies at the head of that body of water on the south coast of Baffin Island. It has a population of 3,000, 61% of whom are Inuit and the balance predominantly non-native.

An early point of contact between Inuit and Europeans, Iqaluit came into prominence during World War II as an American air base. The United States Air Force again maintained a presence there in the 1950's and early '60's during construction of the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line. It now serves as the Territorial Government's Baffin Region headquarters.

Because of its role as an administrative centre, a good many government records are locally generated. These come within the purview of the GNWT's records management programme and will ultimately be scheduled. The creation of a regional records centre is a distinct possibility.

To date little attention has been paid to private sector records having historical significance. However, interest in these is growing.

The Nunatta Sunaqutangit Museum has begun to accumulate historic photographs and already has a small collection depicting U.S. military activities in Frobisher Bay as well as contemporary Inuit residents. The museum, one of several repositories in the NWT which has received financial support and professional assistance from the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre in Yellowknife, is concerned with interpreting South Baffin culture through displays of artifacts and through educational programmes involving community schools.

A desire to use Inuit culture to promote tourism has led the regional office of the Department of Economic Development and Tourism to press for the creation of a e visitors Centre in Iqaluit. There is some concern that such a centre would compete with the existing museum for historical artifacts and documents, a move that could lead to fragmentation of historical resources in the area.

Much potential archival material remains in the possession of the agencies which created it. Of particular importance are the programme records of CBC Baffin and the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation, respectively. The former's holdings consist of tape recordings of Inuk elders recounting traditional stories and legends and recalling significant events in their own lives. IBC has comparable material in the form of videotape productions on the Inuit way of life. Both of these organizations are aware of the historical value of their material and are anxious to see it preserved for posterity

CAPE DORSET

Located some 400 km. southwest of Iqaluit, Cape Dorset is a community of 800 which has given its name to an Inuit culture which flourished there between 1000 B.C. and 1100 A.D. From 1913, when a Hudson's Bay post was established, until the collapse of the white fox market in the late '40's, the community depended on the fur trade for its livelihood. Since then, native art has become the mainstay of the economy.

The West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative (WBEC), source of the famous Cape Dorset prints and carvings, was founded in 1959 with the help of James Houston. It is the oldest and most successful such enterprise in the NWT.The WBEC is still in possession of its original administrative records as well as a considerable collection of original Inuit drawings. It thus has the potential to develop what might be called a combination business archives and gallery archives.

With the prospect that a Cultural Institute will be developed in Cape Dorset, the WBEC is looking to becoming a community resource, even perhaps building on the nucleus of its own historical records a local (or even West Baffin) archives. For the moment, however, priority is being given to conserving its existing collection of drawings.

RANKIN INLET

Rankin Inlet, a predominantly Inuit community of 1300, is located on the west coast of Hudson Bay. Permanent settlement of the site was encouraged by the opening, in 1955, of the North Rankin Nickel Mine. Since the mine's closure in 1962, the Territorial government's Keewatin regional offices have been concentrated in Rankin, which also serves as the principal transportation and communications centre of the area.

Conversations with various townspeople revealed that Rankin possesses no archives as such at the present time. Both the school/community libraries, however offer a nucleus around which archival material might be accumulated. Much potentially archival material remains in private hands and in many cases is in danger of being lost. Of special note is the collection of oral history tapes among the programme records of CBC Kivallig and a substantial photograph collection built up over the years by Mike Kusugak.

As is so often the case in the north, records associated with southern based projects were largely removed when the projects wound up.

There is general recognition of the need for some kind of repository to house locally important historical material in Rankin. There was also universal willingness among those persons interviewed to cooperate in any venture aimed at recovering and preserving records which documented the town's and area's heritage, both as a means of promoting tourism and of giving the community a better sense of identity.

ESKIMO POINT

The Inuit hamlet of Eskimo Point is located some 241 km south of Rankin Inlet on the shores of Hudson Bay. A seasonal camp for generations, Eskimo Point has slowly evolved into a permanent settlement of 1000. Trapping continues to make an important contribution to the local economy.

The Inuit Cultural Institute located here is one of the few organizations visited which has the avowed intention of developing an archives. While the scope of such a repository remains to be defined, it will, at the very least, seek to reflect the history and culture of Inuit in the Keewatin. Already it holds a small quantity of photographs, sound recordings and other historical records.

Yet to be determined, as well, is whether the Institute will hold original documents or substitute copies. Given the fact that it does not yet possess the facilities required to preserve original material, ICI Director Tommy Owlijoot has indicated that he would prefer, for the time being, to pass on originals to the NWT Archives for safekeeping and receive facsimile copies in return. He is also anxious to ensure that Albert Sulurayok, who has been named Librarian/Archivist for the Institute, receives training in archival practices.

BAKER LAKE

Due to unforeseen circumstances meetings to be held at Baker Lake were cancelled at the last minute.

FORT RESOLUTION

Fort Resolution is situated on the south shore of Great Slave Lake, 153 km S.E. of Yellowknife. Trapping and a sawmill provide the economic base for the community of 471 (58% Dene, 19% Metis, 23% other).

On 1 October 1986 the Assistant Archivist met with Gale Beaulieu, editor of the Fort Resolution Oral History Project. The project sponsored by the Local Education Authority, a committee which functions much like a local school board, with funding provided by the Department of Culture and Communications, was initiated to produce a book about the elders of Fort Resolution for use in the schools as well as by the general public. Father Menez, o.m. i. a long time resident of the community interested in the history of the hamlet, also joined in the discussion.

The oral history project, to date, has created 500 oral history recordings of which 250 are English translations of interviews done in Chipewyan. The tapes have been translated and transcribed and are housed in the offices of the Local Education Authority.

Both Ms. Beaulieu and Father Menez were of the opinion that the oral history recordings could very easily form the nucleus of a local archives. Furthermore Ms. Beaulieu felt that the Local Education Authority might be interested in becoming a member of the NWT Archives Council. At the end of the meeting Father Menez observed that perhaps one of the first duties of the proposed Council would be the repatriation of northern related archival material now in the care of southern institutions.

FORT SMITH

Fort Smith is located approximately 325 km S.E. of Yellowknife on the banks of the Slave River. The former government administration centre for the NWT, it has a population of 2500 (18% Dene1 26% Metis, 3% Inuit, 53% other).

A meeting was held between the Director of the Northern Life Museum, Bill Robbins, and the Assistant Archivist on 28 November l986. The Northern Life Museum is a community museum, controlled by a board of Governors and is staffed with one professional curator, and one part time clerk.

Although its archival holdings are limited, the Northern Life Museum has recently acquired an accession of considerable importance, namely, the papers of Dr. Elizabeth Cass. Dr. Cass was an ophthalmologist with an international reputation who practised for almost thirty years in the north. The acquisition has been initially sorted and boxed and the Director is seeking funds to have it organized and described.

The Curator intends to develop an archival program for the Northern Life Museum. Consequently he is interested in having his institution represented on the NWT Archives Council. He has identified his most pressing needs, as far as archives are concerned, as funding and training.

INUVIK

Inuvik is on the east channel of the Mackenzie Delta, 1000 km N.W. of Yellowknife. An administrative centre for the Government of the NWT, it has a population of 3,166 (11% Dene, 6% Metis, 25% Inuit, 58% other).

On 18 November 1986 a meeting was held between the Assistant Archivist and Ms. Nellie Cournoyea, Director of the Inuvialuit Development Corporation. Ms. Cournoyea is a former officer of the Committee for Original Peoples Entitlement, an organization created to define and establish the rights of native people in the Western Arctic. Ms. Cournoyea has assumed responsibility for some 400 oral history tapes that were recorded or acquired by the Committee for Original Peoples Entitlement, and is in the process of getting these tapes translated and transcribed. Much of this work has already been done and she is looking for funding to finish the task. The tapes are stored in filing cabinets located in the offices of the Inuvialuit Development Corporation.

When the COPE tapes have been translated and transcribed, Ms. Cournoyea hopes to get them duplicated and deposit a set of copies with the Northwest Territories Archives. She then intends to turn the originals over to a proposed Inuvialuit Language Centre to be established in Tuktoyaktuk.

HAY RIVER RESERVE

Hay River Reserve is in the centre of traditional slavey lands on the south shore of Great Slave Lake 200 km S.W. of Yellowknife. The only Reserve in the NWT, it has a population of 298.

The Assistant Archivist met with two representatives of the Hay River Dene Band, Roy Fabian and Alister Mailo on the morning of 5 October 1986. There is currently no archival activity on the Hay River Reserve nor has there been in the past. Both men, however, are involved in formulating an economic development plan for the Reserve, a component of which would be the creation of a heritage centre and archives.

Detailed planning has yet to start. Their basic need at the moment is "seed money" to be used to develop an archival program.

Mr. Fabian indicated that he would be interested in serving on the proposed NWT Archives Council but expressed concern that it might turn out to be a white dominated organization. Both men were of the opinion that unless travel funds for meetings were made available the Archives Council would be "dead in the water".

FORT PROVIDENCE

Fort Providence, at the mouth of the Mackenzie River is 230 km S.W. of Yellowknife. A traditional trapping community it has a population base of 663 (76% Dene, 11% Metis, 13% other).

On 2 October 1986 the Assistant Archivist drove to Fort Providence to meet with Margaret Thom of the Slavey Language Research Project. Working with funds provided by the Government of the Northwest Territories, Ms. Thom and her co-workers are developing teaching materials in Slavey. In the process they have created a number of oral history recordings and acquired a number of photographs.

The material that has been acquired by the Slavey Language Research project is being used by the project workers. Ms. Thom was unsure of how much more material she would be acquiring or of the long term plans for the archives already gathered.

Ms. Thom expressed interest in the NWT Archives Council and asked to be kept informed of developments as they occur.

FORT GOOD HOPE

Fort Good Hope, one of the oldest communities in the NWT, is located on the banks of the Mackenzie River, 800 km N.W. of Yellowknife. Trapping is still the predominant economic activity of this community of 693 (78% Dene, 12% Metis, 10% other)

The Assistant Archivist flew to Fort Good Hope on 17 November 1986. Here he met with Antoine Mountain, Director of the Dene Museum/Library, an institution that evolved out of a language project funded by the Department of Education to produce curriculum materials in Slavey. Part of the project was to acquire documents, both published and archival, on which Slavey school texts were based.

The archival holding, which include over 3000 photographs and 200 oral history recordings, are currently stored in two locked rooms of a heated building owned and maintained by the community. While there are no other environmental controls, the archives are sorted in acid free boxes and each accession is relatively well documented.

Mr. Mountain is currently looking for sources of funding which would allow him to keep his archival programme active. Other than funding, Mr. Mountain identified training as being his major concern. He also expressed an interest in having his institution become part of the NWT Archives Council.

FORT MCPHERSON

Fort McPherson, situated on the Peel River, is over 1100 km N.W. of Yellowknife. The only Gwich' in (Loucheux) community in the NWT it has a population of 693 (78% Dene, 12% Metis, 10% other).

The Assistant Archivist had made arrangements to meet with Sarah Jerome, Director of the Gwich'in Language Project on the 19 November 1986. Unfortunately Ms. Jerome was ill and sent to the meeting, in her place, Sharon Snowshoe, a former co-worker of Ms. Jerome's on the project. The Gwich'in language project is funded by the Department of Education to produce curriculum materials in the Gwich' in language. In order to produce source materials for use in school texts the project has acquired a number of photographs, oral histories and other documents.

The archival material is stored in a locked building and has been placed in archival storage boxes. Some of the material is being used by the residents of Fort McPherson for such things as genealogical research but most is still being actively used by the project to produce school texts.

Ms. Snowshoe was unsure of the future of the Gwich'in Language Project other than the fact that it would continue in one way or another. She did feel that Ms. Jerome would be interested in participating in the NWT Archives Council

The physical constraints alluded to earlier have influenced the course of archival and other development in the NWT. The difficulty and expense of travel and transportation in the North, coupled with the high cost of building and maintaining specialized facilities, would seem to pose a dilemma. On the one hand these factors would seem to argue in favour of leaving archival material in the community of origin, where it would be readily available for local use. On the other, they would seem to point out the desirability of creating a consolidated archival collection in a centre that was easily accessible to researchers from the North and the South. Because documentary records, unlike three-dimensional artifacts, lend themselves to facsimile duplication without appreciable loss of research value, these apparently contradictory alternatives can be easily reconciled. The multiplication and exchange of copies, physically or electronically, will permit the simultaneous existence of information in textual, iconographic, aural or machine-readable form in as many communities as it may be expedient to have it available. Such a solution would also make it unnecessary to construct sophisticated and costly archival repositories throughout the Territories.

SOCIO-CULTURAL FACTORS

Cultural pluralism is a fact of life in the NWT. Though modified irreversibly by generations of contact with European and North American influences, the culture of the native peoples remains vibrant and resilient.

Language is regarded not simply as a means of communication but as the single most important attribute of cultural identity. Thus the survival of the Inuit, the various linguistic groups which comprise the Dene, and the Cree, as discrete cultural entities is seen as being synonymous with the recovery, preservation and evolution of a distinctive tongue.

As was pointed out earlier, language among native peoples was traditionally a vehicle of oral rather than written communication. In consequence it did not require the use of symbols which would visually represent sounds or precepts. Nor did it have to accommodate things which lay outside the aboriginal experience. This is no longer the case. The systematic teaching -of native languages in community schools today has gone hand in hand with the development of distinctive orthographies and updated vocabularies.

The pluralistic nature of northern society and the fact that preserving a cultural identity is an overriding concern of the Inuit, Dene and Metis have important archival implications.

In order to understand the provenance and information content of the documents housed in such an archives, keepers will have to be conversant with the written and spoken forms of the language of record. To render the information accessible to persons not knowing the language, the services of translators/interpreters will be required.

The absence of a written language until fairly recent times has left undocumented centuries of the history of the NWT's aboriginal peoples. It would be wrong to assume that a native perspective on events of the last several hundred years is lacking. Though unable to record in writing information that would one day be historically important, native people were able to do so in other ways. Introduced to the camera in the latter decades of the nineteenth century, certain individuals have produced a graphic record of the environment in which they lived. Also, as heirs to an aural tradition, with powers of observation and facility of expression heightened accordingly, many have become, in effect, a living link with the past. As a result, oral history~ has emerged as a unique way of gathering information about what has gone before. This ex post facto method of documentation is making an important contribution by capturing on tape folk tales and legends handed down by word of mouth through the centuries, as well as personal life stories and genealogies.

ECONOMIC FACTORS

The continued dependence of the NWT on natural resources, renewable and non-renewable, has made it vulnerable to market fluctuations and shifts in public attitudes, and preferences. Short-lived ventures generate little revenue and fewer records.

The fact that the major exploiters of mineral and other wealth (i.e., the Hudson's Bay Company, Imperial Oil, Eldorado, Cominco, etc.) were or are based outside the NWT has meant that little of the wealth they have generated has remained in the territories. Nor did many of the records which grew out of those companies' northern activities. Instead, like ecclesiastical records, they have ~ to corporate archives elsewhere.

The emphasis on tourism, on the other hand, is creating a demand for local records which can be used to enrich the experience of visitors to various regions of the NWT. Visitors centers and interpretive centres are thus becoming the principal users of historical material in many communities and, in some cases, the nuclei around which material is collected.

GOVERNMENT

Though some uncertainty surrounds the workings of the civil government at all levels, the process seems to be directed toward clarifying roles and defining jurisdictions. At the community level, there are a number of different groups within any one community which serve as quasi municipal and settlement governments and the Territorial Government is now attempting to rationalize the systems by which a settlement governs itself. The role of regional councils will play in the future is also one that has to be resolved.

As for the Territorial Government, its approach to culture is also undergoing change. The creation in 1986 of a Department of Culture and Communications and the subsequent appointment of new people to fill the position of Minister, Deputy Minister, Assistant Deputy Minister and Director of the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, of which the NWT Archives is a part has made it an opportune time to reformulate objectives and redefine mandates. As a result, a comprehensive review is currently being made of all heritage legislation (including the Archives Act) with a view to eliminating anomalies and rationalizing programs.

The NWT Archives, a section of the department of Culture and Communications has a permanent staff of five and a budget of approximately $260,000. It is the only Archives with permanent professional staff in the NWT. While its primary responsibility lies with the records of the GNWT, its two other major priorities are the acquisition of documents from the private sector and the development of local and regional archives. The NWT Archives does not have a grant program but it does offer help in the form of professional advice. It also produces security donor copies of documents for smaller archives as well stores documents acquired by other organizations until such time as they have the physical resources to establish their own archives. The NWT Archives also avails itself of the resources of its parent organization the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre to provide advice to local archives concerning conservation and education programs using archival material. Unfortunately the resources of the NWT Archives are extremely limited and consequently its program has not yet had a major impact.

ROLE OF THE ARCHIVAL COUNCIL OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

Acting on its own initiative, without outside support, the Archival Council of the NWT should

• secure due recognition of archives as a unique heritage resource within the NWT
• facilitate cooperative ventures between its member archives and non-archival agencies, both within the government and without
• call attention to the singular importance of government records as a source of historical information for the post-contact period
• promote harmonious relations among native and non-native organizations pursuing the common task of documenting NWT history
• encourage the establishment of archival repositories dedicated to the preservation of the records of native organizations; the principal native groupings of the NWT; NWT-based businesses; and NWT communities
• rationalize collecting policies among the archival agencies which make up the Archival Council of the NWT
• work toward the creation of folklore archives representative of all the native cultures to be found in the NWT in order to facilitate ethnographic and other research

1. each sponsor sanction participation of its archives in the Archival Council.
2. each sponsor recognizes the Archival Council of the NWT as an independent body whose purpose is to represent the interests of archives and archivists in the NWT, without fear or favour.
3. the Government of the NWT consult with the Archival Council when drafting or revising heritage legislation and when considering any matter which relates to archival material, archival institutions or archivists.
4. the Government of the NWT make the President of the Archival Council an ex officio member of any body which may be established to advise the government on heritage matters.
5. that a percentage of the funds at the disposal of the Cultural Affairs section of the Department of Culture and Communications be set aside annually for the support of archival projects in the NWT and that the advice of the Archival Council be sought concerning disbursement of any monies from this allotment.

Canadian Council of Archives assistance will be required to enable members of the Archival Council of the NWT, individually or collectively, to

• establish closer and continued liaison with one another
• offer general and specialized training in archival methodology
• "repatriate" absentee records, either in original or copy form
• make and preserve an enduring record of past events and family histories, the memory of which now exists only in the minds of native elders
• translate into English, and as many of the other official languages as possible, information recorded initially in the native languages in order to promote research into, and a better understanding of, aboriginal history
• copy, and diffuse as widely as possible, all archival records having local significance, especially photographs, sound recordings and videotapes

1. help defray the considerable expense of the Archival Council's holding one general meeting per year
2. increase the overall level of CCA funding for training programmes and, in view of the inordinately high travel costs which prevail in the NWT, increase the annual amount allotted to the Archival Council of the NWT in respect of training
3. make monies available to permit the copying of archival fonds bearing on NWT history which reside in repositories outside the NWT
4. help to underwrite the cost of bringing together existing "oral history" tapes, reproducing them for preservation and distribution purposes, and preparing a comprehensive guide to their contents
5. help to offset the high cost of having documents in the native languages translated into English
6. fund feasibility studies for organizations interested in investigating the possibility of establishing their own archives
7. provide monies which can be used to copy documents -particularly photographs and sound recordings - for distribution to community information centres, as an alternative to constructing and maintaining costly local archival facilities