A new collection of historical photos are now available through the NWT Archives.
This latest collection comes from the Bishop Arthur Henry Sovereign fonds. The collection consists of a total of 133 images. Many of the images depict early life in the NWT, spanning from 1900 to the 1950’s. Aircraft, Indigenous families, dogsleds, sternwheelers and other watercraft are commonly featured in these images.
(Photo from the NWT Archive)
Bishop Arthur Henry Sovereign served as the Anglican Bishop of Athabasca after his appointment in 1932. The Athabascan region covered approximately 600,000 square miles, which included Northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories.
Caitlin Cleavland, the Minister of Education, Culture, and Employment, said in a statement that she is “pleased to see that this Northern collection has come back to the Northwest Territories. Through the NWT Archives database, Northerners can access them no matter where they live. I appreciate the work of the Museum and Archives of Vernon and NWT Archives to make Northern archival material accessible to residents.”
(Photo from the NWT Archive)
The NWT Archives have made it one of their priorities to bring back material that is relevant to the history of the North. They work to digitize and make rare photos available in their database. The photos from this latest collection will be shared with the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre for the next two months. In total, the NWT Archive has more than 115,000 photos of the NWT’s past, all of which are available online.
