Graham Guest has been an archivist at PNLS since 2003. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

remembering the past

Archivist protecting northern history for all to see

Jul 30, 2019 | 5:19 PM

“The past is the basis of the future.”

Those are the words of Pahkisimon Nuyeʔáh Library System (PNLS) Archivist Graham Guest, who has been with the organization since he joined in 2003. It’s his job to preserve the history of northern Saskatchewan and every year he receives donations from individuals or groups wanting to keep memories of their past alive.

Guest is the first archivist to be hired by PNLS as it mostly focused on library services before its current building was constructed. He stated the archives started when the system accepted a large donation of materials from the Department of Northern Saskatchewan (DNS) in the 1990s, which consisted of approximately 40,000 slides, 1,000 films, as well as documents and books from 1972-1983. Guest noted the collection was taking up needed space at Mistasinahk Place, so management wanted it gone.

“They luckily gave them to PNLS rather than having them recycled somewhere or sent to the dump,” he said.

At the same time, a committee was formed by former DNS employees Lois Dalby and Lynda Holland, along with Churchill Community High School teacher Alf Weins. They realized the value of the collection and also wanted to see the materials kept safe. Guest mentioned everything seemed to come together and an archivist room was constructed when PNSL built its new space in 2002.

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When Guest first started as an archivist, he didn’t have any experience whatsoever as he previously worked for DNS as an information officer since the mid-1970s and before that as a school teacher. He was immediately sent for training, however, and in the last 16 years he has taken more than a dozen programs and workshops through the Saskatchewan Council for Archives and Archivist on subjects such as digitization, accessioning and preservation.

The Pahkisimon Nuyeʔáh Library System building in Air Ronge. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

“I receive collections from all over and they are often slides or photographs and some documents and other memorabilia,” Guest said. “A lot of people have slide collections from their lives or somewhere else, but they can’t view them so they are happy to donate them to the archives. Once they are scanned, you can look at them on a computer.”

Since 2003, the PNLS archives has grown to include 150,000 photographs, 18,000 print materials, 2,000 audio and videotapes documenting countless aspects of life in northern Saskatchewan. A lot of work Guest does on a daily basis consists of digitizing slides and photos, enhancing images and ensuring the archive remains accessible to the public and researchers.

The work Guest does is important to the residents of northern Saskatchewan, PNLS Director James Hope Howard said. He noted if there wasn’t someone to care for such materials, they could be “left to die to the ravages of time.”

Howard mentioned it’s valuable to have the knowledge on hand because it helps to tell the story of the entire region.

“Graham’s contributions have been invaluable both to the northern Saskatchewan archives and PNLS as a whole,” Howard said. “His historical approach, his institutional knowledge, his rigorous fact-checking and investigating and diligent research, to everything that comes through the archive is a tremendous asset for us and we’re incredibly lucky to have him.”

Guest, who was born in Chipstead, England in 1935, immigrated to Crystal Springs, Saskatchewan, in 1968. He taught for a while and earned two degrees at the University of Saskatchewan before moving to Southend in 1973. Guest moved to La Ronge in 1977 where he met his wife, Suzanne. The couple has five children, two of which still live in the tri-communities.

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derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno