By Derek Cornet

Peeking into the past

Archives Day brings images of bygone days in the North into the spotlight

Feb 5, 2019 | 11:45 AM

Four new exhibits on display for Archives Day at the Pahkisimon Nuyeʔáh Library will give attendees a view of what bygone days in northern Saskatchewan were like.

“For the older people who come here, it’s their life,” Archivist Graham Guest said. “This is the background of which they grew up and they will recognize people. For the young people who have no idea of what was here before, this is history. This is enlightening them to what preceded them.”

One exhibit which sat in the archives for 16 years to be displayed for the first time is that of late Father Jean Mégret, a Roman Catholic priest who served across the North from La Loche to Wollaston Lake during a span of 50 years. His photos are from the 1950s and 1960s and feature the everyday life of Dene people. Born in France in 1922, Mégret arrived in La Loche in 1947 after a three-month journey from overseas.

Mégret learned Dene before he learned English and spent his life travelling across the North sharing his faith. Other places Mégret was posted included Black Lake, Fond du Lac, Patuanak, Stony Rapids and Brochet, MB, as well as from camp to camp ministering to the nomadic Dene. In 1996, Mégret celebrated the 50^th anniversary of his ordination as a priest and passed away in 2005 at the Stony Rapids Hospital.

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La Ronge Then and Now shows historic changes throughout the years. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

“A northern Dene researcher by the name of name of Larry Hewitt, who worked for the Department of Northern Saskatchewan, collected [the] pictures from Father Mégret,” Guest said. “Then Lois Dalby, who worked for Saskatchewan Education heard about him and needed Dene material for school curriculum, so she went up to Wollaston and photographed them. If Lois Dalby hadn’t gone to Wollaston and copied them, the old prints would probably be gone.”

Other exhibits at the event include a series of photos from Enid Broome, who worked as a nurse in La Ronge and Pinehouse Lake in the 1940s and 1950s, as well as another series of photos from Rev. Harry Hives, who captured images of La Ronge and Stanley Mission 80 years ago. There’s also a special exhibit called La Ronge Then and Now, composed of historic photos of buildings in La Ronge next to photos of what’s there today.

A portion of the exhibit of Father Jean Mégret. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

Local historians John and Margaret Irving will also be on hand with a display of their own, while Sid Robinson will conduct a PowerPoint presentation at 5:15 p.m. about the fur trade. The event starts at 3 p.m. and ends at 6:30 p.m.

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derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno