Archivist Graham Guest hosts the event for the public every year. Here, he works on a display. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

Northern History

Crowd expected for Archives Day at PNLS next week

Jan 31, 2020 | 12:31 PM

Archivist Graham Guest has been busy for months working on new exhibits for the 12^th annual Northern Saskatchewan Archives Day.

There will be five new displays focusing on various people or subjects including former Hudson Bay Company employee Joe Lucio who spent a year in Patuanak in 1956, former Resource Officer Jim Clouthier’s life in Carrot River, Buffalo Narrows and La Ronge in the 1950s and ’60s, the Island Falls hydro-electric power plant near Sandy Bay in the 1950s, and photos of west side vegetable gardens by Don Neilson from 70 years ago.

Local historian John Irving will also present the early history of Lac La Ronge Anglican Church, along with a model, then Saskatchewan researcher and writer James Winkel will talk about female pilots Berna and Joan Studer. The event is scheduled to be held Feb. 4 between 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Pahkisimon Nuyeʔáh Library System headquarters in Air Ronge.

“They have been very popular and up to 100 people have come,” Guest said about Archives Day. “I think it will be very good again. I have always done new displays for each open house.”

Those wanting to learn more about the history of La Ronge will be particularly interested in the Jim and Loretta Clouthier collection. The couple moved to the community in 1954 after spending some time working in Buffalo Narrows and Carrot River. Guest noted Loretta took photos of everything they did and the family lent him her scrapbook to make the display a reality.

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It was a busy time during their six-year stay in La Ronge as Guest said tourism was beginning to peak, camp sites were in high demand, forest fires were numerous and there were four sawmills in the region. Jim would also assist archaeologists in finding historical sites, which began a lifelong interest in collecting artifacts.

Jim Clouthier spend years in northern Saskatchewan as a resource officer. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

Jim Clouthier collected Indigenous artifacts throughout the years. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

“He and Loretta collected them. He had a whole cabinet full of Indigenous artifacts,” Guest said. “You’re not allowed to collect those privately anymore. Any artifacts collected of Saskatchewan’s past belongs to the province. They donated their whole collection to the province, but in their days, there was no restrictions about doing it yourself.”

While the couple left northern Saskatchewan for Prince Albert in 1960, they did return to their cabin on Wadin Bay for many years. He later became one of the top resource officers in the province and spent hundred of hours flying to northern settlements. Loretta passed away in 2019 and Jim passed away in 2002.

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derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno