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In pictures: 1976 in the Northwest Territories

Updated:December 30, 2025

Thursday January 1, 2026 at 6:00am MT

The Rae All-Stars baseball team in 1976. Names are given by the NWT Archives. Top row from left: Leon Football, Don Camsell, Ernie Zoe, Frank Michel, Narcisse Rabesca, Dennis Camsell. Bottom row: Peter Adzin, James Lafferty, Joe Zoe, Gabriel Dryneck, Peter Zoe, John Lafferty, Alphonse Thomas. NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds - Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03653

The Rae All-Stars baseball team in 1976. Names are given by the NWT Archives. Top row from left: Leon Football, Don Camsell, Ernie Zoe, Frank Michel, Narcisse Rabesca, Dennis Camsell. Bottom row: Peter Adzin, James Lafferty, Joe Zoe, Gabriel Dryneck, Peter Zoe, John Lafferty, Alphonse Thomas. NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds - Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03653

As 2026 dawns, wind the clock back 50 years and see what the Northwest Territories looked like – and who was in northern headlines – in 1976.

We’ve rummaged through the NWT Archives to find a selection of the most interesting photos from half a century ago.

You can do the same. Head to the NWT Archives website to browse for any northern topic you like, or check out our previous compilations like Remembrance Day through the ages, photos from the 1930s to the 1950s, and 1975 in pictures.

Here are some of the characters, landscapes and events we chose from 1976.

Reg Gibbs, Justice Berger and Pierre Genest at the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry hearing at the Explorer Hotel in Yellowknife. Tessa Macintosh/NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds - Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03903 — Reg Gibbs, Justice Berger and Pierre Genest at the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry hearing at the Explorer Hotel in Yellowknife. The Berger Inquiry was in full flow in 1976 and returned with its findings a year later. Tessa Macintosh/NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds – Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03903

Downtown Yellowknife with the Precambrian building under construction. Tessa Macintosh/NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds - Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03994 — Downtown Yellowknife with the Precambrian building under construction. Tessa Macintosh/NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds – Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03994

Northern United Place under construction. NWT Archives/YK Photo fonds/N-2019-001: 1805 — Northern United Place, also under construction in 1976 (as can be seen at its base). NWT Archives/YK Photo fonds/N-2019-001: 1805

Steven Kakfwi outside the Explorer Hotel in Yellowknife. Kakfwi was a candidate in the 1983 Dene Nation elections. Catherine MacQuarrie/NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds - Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 11571 — Stephen Kakfwi outside the Explorer Hotel in Yellowknife. Kakfwi was a candidate in the 1983 Dene Nation elections and would later become the NWT’s premier. Catherine MacQuarrie/NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds – Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 11571

Singer Edith Lafferty at the Métis Association's sixth Annual General Assembly, held in Fort Simpson. Tessa Macintosh/NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds - Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 5576 — Singer Edith Lafferty at the Métis Association’s sixth Annual General Assembly, held in Fort Simpson. Tessa Macintosh/NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds – Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 5576

Lloyd Tetaryn taking hair samples for arsenic testing in Ndilǫ. NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds - Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03751 — Lloyd Tetaryn taking hair samples for arsenic testing in Ndilǫ. (Similar testing is ongoing today.) NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds – Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03751

Broomball at the Caribou Carnival on Frame Lake in Yellowknife. Margaret Erasmus/NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds - Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03418 — Broomball at the Caribou Carnival on Frame Lake in Yellowknife. Caribou Carnival was followed by the Long John Jamboree as the city’s spring carnival. The jamboree died out several years ago and the focus is now on YKDFN’s annual spring events. Margaret Erasmus/NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds – Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03418

The Holman Co-op handicraft shop in what is now Ulukhaktok. Bren Kolson/NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds - Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03350 — The Holman Co-op handicraft shop in what is now Ulukhaktok. Bren Kolson/NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds – Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03350

The sawmill in Jean Marie River. NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds - Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03336 — The sawmill in Jean Marie River. NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds – Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03336

Participants in the 1976 Miss Teen NWT pageant. Names are given by the NWT Archives. From left: Sandra Kovatch (Hay River), Blandina Makkik (Frobisher Bay), Fawna Adrian (Yellowknife), master of ceremonies Wayne Collins, pageant co-chair Freda Hein, Pauline Oldfield (Yellowknife), Donna Hagen (Inuvik) and Dorian (Fort Smith). Published in Native Press newspaper on February 13, 1976. NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds - Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03294 — Participants in the 1976 Miss Teen NWT pageant. Names are shown as given by the NWT Archives. From left: Sandra Kovatch (Hay River), Blandina Makkik (Frobisher Bay), Fawna Adrian (Yellowknife), master of ceremonies Wayne Collins, pageant co-chair Freda Hein, Pauline Oldfield (Yellowknife), Donna Hagen (Inuvik) and Dorian (Fort Smith). Published in Native Press newspaper on February 13, 1976. NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds – Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03294

Students in a café in Fort Simpson. NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds - Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03278 — Students in a café in Fort Simpson. NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds – Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03278

Snowshoe trials in Yellowknife for the 1976 Arctic Winter Games. NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds - Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03220 — Snowshoe trials in Yellowknife for the 1976 Arctic Winter Games. This year, the NWT’s Arctic Winter Games team will feature no snowshoe athletes. NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds – Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03220

Nick Sibbeston and Joe LeMouel Sr at the CBC studios in Yellowknife. NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds - Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03252 — Nick Sibbeston and Joe LeMouel at the CBC studios in Yellowknife. LeMouel became a distinguished CBC broadcaster. Sibbeston later became the NWT’s premier, then a senator. NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds – Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03252

Lorayne Menicoche, photographed as part of a Native Press article on Native court worker trainees. Bren Kolson/NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds - Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03469 — Lorayne Menicoche, photographed as part of a Native Press article on native court worker trainees. Bren Kolson/NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds – Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03469

The Yellowknife Old Town clean-up, with Ginette Kidston leaning on a vehicle in Peace River flats. Bren Kolson/NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds - Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03474 — The Yellowknife Old Town clean-up, with Ginette Kidston leaning on a vehicle in Peace River flats. Bren Kolson/NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds – Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03474

The Transair jet for the airline's inaugural service connecting Winnipeg, Yellowknife and Whitehorse. Here, it's on the tarmac in Whitehorse. NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds - Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03541 — The Transair jet for the airline’s inaugural service connecting Winnipeg, Yellowknife and Whitehorse. Here, it’s on the tarmac in Whitehorse. Transair was purchased by Pacific Western in 1979, and Pacific Western itself eventually became Canadian Airlines before being subsumed into Air Canada. NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds – Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03541

Spectators at Long Lake in Yellowknife on Canada Day. NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds - Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03617 — Spectators at Long Lake in Yellowknife on Canada Day. NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds – Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03617

A sign at the Fort Providence ferry crossing. NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds - Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03648 — A sign at the Fort Providence ferry crossing, where a bridge would be opened more than three decades later. NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds – Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03648

Caribou bundles and supplies by Yellowknife's Back Bay. NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds - Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03741 — Caribou bundles and supplies by Yellowknife’s Back Bay. NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds – Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03741

Larry Dick of Aklavik, John Tiapanak of Baker Lake and William Day of Reindeer Station perform the one-hand-reach as a demonstration at the Montreal Olympics. NWT Archives/Northwest Territories. Department of Economic Development and Tourism fonds/G-1979-020: 0041

Offloading supplies from a float plane in Wekweètì. NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds - Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03743 — Offloading supplies from a float plane in Wekweètì. NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds – Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03743

The carpentry program at the Adult Vocational Training Centre in Fort Smith. Names are given as Ronald Coleman, Greg Baird, an unidentified man and Ed Vogt. Tessa Macintosh/NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds - Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03974 — The carpentry program at the Adult Vocational Training Centre in Fort Smith. Names are given as Ronald Coleman, Greg Baird, an unidentified man and Ed Vogt. Tessa Macintosh/NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds – Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03974

Laying out the newspaper at The Native Press. NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds - Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03450 — Laying out the newspaper at the Native Press, which forms the source of many of these images. The Native Press operated in the 1970s and 1980s, then more recently the Native Communications Society donated its entire 200,000-photo collection to the NWT Archives. NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds – Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03450

Tessa Macintosh. NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds - Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03844 — Many of the photos in that Native Press archive are by Tessa Macintosh, seen here in 1976. Some of the most important news photography in the NWT Archives is Tessa’s work. NWT Archives/Native Communications Society fonds – Native Press photograph collection/N-2018-010: 03844

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