Yellowknife (Jan 19/07) - It was Jan. 18, 1967 when the federal government officially moved the seat of government of the Northwest Territories from Ottawa to Yellowknife, making the burgeoning town on the north shore of Great Slave Lake the capital of the NWT.

On the surface it appeared that Ottawa was relinquishing more control of day-to-day affairs to Northerners, but then Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Arthur Laing made it clear who still made the decisions.

"These resources are held by the government of Canada for all the people of Canada. All Canadians through the government of Canada and through private enterprise have contributed to the development thus far," he declared in a Jan. 18, 1967 CBC radio story.

The change amounted to a mass move of federal bureaucrats to Yellowknife and the NWT Council - precursor to the Legislative Assembly - making decisions here instead of Ottawa.

While this change of venue would have little immediate effect on the lives of Yellowknifers in 1967, two long-time residents offered a glimpse into what life was like in the NWT's newly-minted capital 40 years ago.

Former mayor David Lovell, who was 18-years-old in 1967, told Yellowknifer the change shook local society.

"Mine managers went from being absolute community leaders to a position where a lot of people didn't know who they were within five years (of Yellowknife becoming the capital)," said Lovell. "What a lot of people forget is that Yellowknife was a modern functioning town before the government even got here."

Lovell went on to describe Yellowknife, its population hovering between 3,500 and 4,000, as a district rather than a city where much of the population lived at mine sites, known as "camps."

"There was Con and Giant Mine, Old Town and New Town... four distinct communities and you would say, for example, 'I live in Yellowknife at Con Mine.'"

Lovell added that the New Town area was nicknamed "Blunderville," a moniker Lovell attempted to revive when elected mayor in 1994.

"The reason it was called that was because old-timers (those who moved here in the '40s) said nobody with any brains would live that far from the waterfront," Lovell recalled with much amusement. "I tried to get it changed back to Blunderville because I thought it was appropriate with city hall and the legislative assembly located there."

Known as part of Canada's frontier by outsiders, Yellowknife exhibited some very Canadian attributes despite being so many miles away from its southern capital counterparts.

"The drug of choice was alcohol and there was quite a hockey rivalry," said Lovell of the Town Indians, Con Cougars and Giant Grizzlies, teams that would play three times a week. "Oh, there was a rivalry like you wouldn't believe; 1,500 people would show up to watch and when it got really heated mines would ask (potential workers) if they could play hockey or not... it wasn't junior A or junior B, but it was a tough little bush league."

And being tough seemed to be a prerequisite for living in Yellowknife regardless of your background. In 1967, Dene elder Muriel Betsina was 23, married with children and living in Ndilo.

"I guess you lived one day at a time because back then, like a lot of native women, I really had to respect my elders," said Betsina, who described how a woman's worth was based largely upon how well she could feed and clothe her family.

"I would sew for my family fancy mukluks, fancy jackets and decorate my children to say that I'm a good woman."

On top of having to wash clothes with a washboard, women tanned hides and made dry meat. Add to that the lack of basic amenities such as plumbing, and in some cases electricity, and it's a lifestyle to which few modern 20-somethings could adjust.

"At that time there were hardly any Ski-Doos so we did everything by dog team so all the time we were busy," she said.

"Now nobody wants to make anything, they just buy it. Then, it was how well we could provide for our family, always trying to make the best for your children and we would challenge one another... my mother would always say, 'You have to sew better than that woman.'"

Unlike today in Yellowknife, where free time is rampant, and social activities centre around shopping, eating out or going for beers, Betsina misses the times when people knew each other, hard work around the home kept people focused on their communities and dropping in on your neighbours was the primary social outlet.

"At that time Yellowknife was so small and everybody knew everybody else," she said. "Mostly everyone was home or visiting one another and we were always so busy making sure children were fed and didn't catch cold."