Archives open house showcases northern history
- Linda Mikolayenko | February 12, 2016
The
Northern Saskatchewan Archives Open House drew over 100 visitors in just three
short hours earlier this month.
Among those
visitors was Myles Charles. As he looked closely at the display of family
photographs from the collection of Robert Keighley, Charles remarked, “He’s got
a history!” and then added, “We all do – but we don’t all have the resources
like these photographs.”
There are
over 144,000 photographs in the Northern Saskatchewan Archives that help tell
the collective history of the region.
“The
mission of the Archives is to preserve ‘the old stuff’ so that future
generations can enjoy it,” said archival historian Graham Guest.
The Keighley
collection was one of three new displays at this year’s open house in celebration
of Saskatchewan Archives Week. The others were from the collections of Anne
Hryniuk (Chris and Ida Olsen family) and the McKay family.
These three
collections represent quite a comprehensive view of La Ronge from the 1920s to
the 1960s, said Guest.
In addition
to photographs, the archives has audio and video recordings and print
materials. When The Northerner
newspaper ceased publication last summer, a significant number of back issues
were added to the archives.
Another
unique feature of the recent open house was a table of Hudson Bay Company
artifacts and fur trade goods from the personal collection of Chris Collins of
Besnard Lake.
The
Northern Saskatchewan Archives are housed in the headquarters of the Pahkisimon
Nuye?áh Library System (PNLS) in Air Ronge. Over 6000 pictures and documents
have been digitized.
“We are looking at a way of having an index this year and automating the index to the archives so that we can find things more easily,” said PNLS Director Audrey Mark. “At some point in the future, we’re hoping to have that available on the internet.”