Renaming the Past, Reclaiming Their Stories: Indigenous Records at the South Peace Regional Archives

Photograph: Sturgeon Lake Café, N.D. SPRA 0175.084.04 Part of Valleyview & District Chamber of Commerce Millennium Photograph collection

The South Peace Regional Archives initiated a survey of the region’s holdings in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) call to actions to locate records within their holdings related to Indian Residential Schools. We found very few records related to residential schools, but we did find several records related to Indigenous people and communities in our region. We decided to expand the scope of our research to look for any records related to Indigenous peoples within our holdings.

Thanks to the efforts of staff and volunteers, we now have a small database of material to share. While we pursue avenues of access, we would like to start sharing some of these images and documents.

This photo (SPRA 0175.084.04) is from the Valleyview & District Chamber of Commerce Millennium Photograph collection; the photographs were gathered by Mary Ellen MacGregor for the “Journey to the Millenium” collection sponsored by the Valleyview and District Chamber of Commerce.

The photo is captioned “Pierre ?, Bella Badger (Joyce), Teddy Desjarlais, and Pete Joyce in front of the Sturgeon Lake Café, also called Taylor’s.”

If you know who Pierre is, have stories about young Indigenous culture, or Sturgeon Lake Café let us know! Please contact us at info@southpeacearchives.org or 780-830-5105 to share any memories or information you have.

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