The Records of the NWT Archives
The NWT Archives’ mission is to identify, acquire, preserve and make accessible, unpublished records which document the history of the NWT. Documents in which the Archives are interested can take many forms. Our holdings include: government records, private diaries, correspondence, maps, charts and architectural plans; photographs; oral history, audio tapes, film and video, newspapers, and an extensive library of publications related to the history of the NWT.
The NWT Archives acquires records in two ways. First it functions as the archives of the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT). It surveys all the records created or received by the government and acquires the approximately 3% to 5% required for the long term accountability of government and for historical purposes. Secondly it identifies, acquires and preserves records created by the private sector, necessary to present a fair and balanced view of the development of the NWT.
Government Records
Government records are separated between the executive or political bodies, and the administrative organizations tasked with implementing the political decisions. Our earliest records are of the Territorial Council and date from 1921 to 1951. The Council was responsible for governing the NWT and for its first 30 years was comprised of Ottawa based bureaucrats. The records deal with all facets of the government involvement in the NWT. They consist of signed minutes for the majority of the sessions, agenda and reports ordinances. Also included are minutes of the Yellowknife Board of Trustees and some interdepartmental committees. In the 1950s the Territorial Council started to evolve in to the Legislative Assembly whose records we now acquire.
The GNWT was not created until 1967. Prior to that the NWT had been administered by the Northern Administration Branch of the federal government. We have 44 meters of textual records created and accumulated by the Branch and its various predecessors, from 1923 to 1971. The majority of files date between 1949 and 1967 and incorporate correspondence, reports, vital statistic information, financial data, and minutes.
As for the the GNWT, almost a kilometre of records has been transferred over the last 20 years from different departments. There is usually a 20 to 30 year lag from when records are created to when they are accessioned into the Archives. Consequently, records of relatively recent origin are in the custody of creating departments. Please be advised that access to government records is governed by the Access to Information and Privacy Act. For more information contact Archives staff.
Non Government Records
The NWT Archives has records from a wide variety of individuals and organizations throughout the NWT. These include the cities of Yellowknife and Hay River, personal papers from private citizens such as Robert (Bobbie) Porritt, a politician and businessmen in the South Slave region; former teachers Mary Saich and Marjory Hinds; and John Parker, once the commissioner of the NWT. We are preserving records of businesses such as Giant Mine as well as the NWT Chamber of Mines. Unions are well represented, with records from the Union of Northern Workers and the Canadian Auto Workers. Records from non-government organizations such as the Fort Resolution Community Education Council, and the NWT Council for the Disabled, are in our holdings as well.
Photographs
There are approximately 250,000 photographs in our collection but only 80,000 are described and accessible. While our photographs date from the turn of the 20th century until the 1990s most fall between 1930 and 1980. Some of earliest collections include those of C.W. Mathers 1901-02 and Henry Jones 1905-1930. Significant collections from the 1930s and 1940s include Bishop Archibald Fleming and Richard Finnie. Images created by Henry Busse provide thorough coverage of Yellowknife during the 1950s. For the 1970s, Rene Fumoleau’s 15,000 images taken throughout the Territories are an excellent source of information. This of course, is a very small sample of the hundreds of photographers represented in our collection.
Moving Images
Moving images, i.e. video and film, in our holdings are an excellent source of information on the history of the north. Approximately 1000 hours of the 4000 in our collection were created by the GNWT. Featured television programs include "The Tube" and "The People." In addition, there are a variety of unique productions about northern subjects, traditional knowledge, and coverage of major political and social events in the NWT. For example there are 27 videos produced by the Department of Economic Development and Tourism entitled Dene Arts and Crafts. Other notable holdings include films by Rene Fumoleau (Dene Nation and I Was Born Here) and Goldi productions (They Fish the Great Slave and Dene Family), as well as programming by the CBC Northern Service.
Audio
Oral history interviews play a significant part in the documentation of the history of the NWT. Our largest collection of 1600 tapes relate to the people of the Mackenzie Delta. Other notable collections were created in communities such as Fort Simpson and Fort Resolution. Many of these collections, for example one from Lutselk’e, include Dene fiddle, drum dance and hand game music. Our earliest oral history recordings were made in Fort Good Hope and feature Dene chants recorded in 1957. Academics like the staff of the Summer Institute of Linguistics and anthropologist June Helm have also generously donated recordings done during their research.
Cartographic (Maps)
Our holdings of cartographic and architectural records are not extensive. There are numerous settlement maps, a map outlining the ‘Mackenzie boundary’ when it was first proposed to split the NWT in the 1960s. Department of Interior maps predating 1930, maps related to the mining industry i.e. claims etc. survey maps by John Anderson Thompson and a few marine navigational maps.
Library
Our reference library consists of approximately 6000 books and other publications related to the history of the NWT. It includes an extensive collection of rare and out of print books with our earliest volume dating back to 1617.
More Information
To search for items in our collection, check the databases. For more information please telephone (867) 873-7698; email nwtarchives@learnnet.nt.ca or visit our website at www.nwtarchives.ca
