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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Forty years ago, a pair of exiled scribes were working desperately to bring their newly-founded newspaper project to life ahead of the "biggest ever" Caribou Carnival weekend.

From the very beginning of Yellowknifer's publishing history, young people earned pocket money by selling the newspaper on the streets of the capital city. Here, Carol Ann and Robby McIntyre deliver papers in Northland Trailer Park in November 1973. - NNSL file phoo

It was imperative the infant Yellowknifer hit the streets on Wednesday, March 22 ­ the first of five days of Caribou Carnival festivities. Inside this inaugural edition ­ born on publisher Jack "Sig" Sigvaldason's kitchen table ­ was a six-page schedule of events.

With empty pockets and no government loan, Sigvaldason and his partner Jack Adderley made their deadline and close to 6,000 residents were greeted on that March Wednesday in 1972 with the first edition of Yellowknifer.

"The way the thing was put together was just right off the wall," said Bill Braden, who was 18 years old when Sigvaldason drove by one day in a old beat-up and empty tobacco- packet infested Plymouth Valiant and recruited him off the street.

Braden entered the news business at age 14 with News of the North, and there was plenty of local scuttlebutt concerning Mr. Sigvaldason, who had been pushed out of the previously mentioned newspaper just prior to Christmas under not so amicable circumstances.

Adderley too was a News of the North casualty, having been fired by publisher Colin Alexander in February. Sigvaldason and his family had come North from Winnipeg to work for News of the North in 1969.

Adderley came to Yellowknife in 1959 to work as radio operator at the Yellowknife airport, after which he quickly found himself in charge of a local sports program for CBC radio.

He joined News of the North as a part-time sports columnist in 1965, and as a full-time reporter working with Sigvaldason in 1970.

Both were married, with seven children to feed and clothe between them ­ two for Sigvaldason, five for Adderley ­ as the pair embarked on an ambitious, and admittedly highly risky venture to launch a new Yellowknife-centric newspaper, just five years removed from its designation as NWT capital and two years after the territory's centennial. They had five weeks to scrounge up cash, advertisers and editorial content.

"The layout was done in Sig's home, which was a tiny little house on 54 Street," said Braden.

"We had totally taken over the kitchen table, and there they were piecing this thing together. Sig's son Thor was using an inch-long machine called a strip printer to painstakingly put letters one at a time on photographic film."

Braden's job, meanwhile, was to "soup" black-and-white photos in a makeshift, freezing cold darkroom constructed on the front deck of his parents' home.

The first edition was bundled off to a printer in Edmonton and returned just in time for the carnival.

The newspaper was wildly successful despite its technological limitations and chaotic construct.

A typical Yellowknifer edition in the early 1970s contained Adderley's sports column, an editorial or two, cooking advice by "Milo," an anonymously penned human interest column called "Little Sticks," some interesting ads, including some featuring topless dancers at the Gallery, and of course, local news coverage carrying headlines like "People power perplex politicians," and "The North's largest fire trap."

The latter referred to fears that firefighters would have a hard time fighting a blaze amid the burgeoning crop of multi-family housing units sprouting up around town.

Bush, a cartoon penned by Norm Muffitt, who was working for the RCMP at the time, made its first Yellowknifer appearance on Nov. 8, 1972. Muffitt's cartoons appeared in Yellowknifer and later in five other Northern News Services newspapers, which he continued until his death last year at age 69.

Fran Hurcomb, who moved to Yellowknife in 1975, recalls her surprise seeing carriers hawking newspapers on the street.

"I had never seen little kids running around selling newspapers before," said Hurcomb.

"That really struck me. It was kind of cute. I never had experience with a small town paper before. I was from the Gatineau Hills so it was either big paper or no paper."

Hurcomb was poring over old copies of the newspaper while doing research for her book on Old Town when Yellowknifer spoke with her earlier this week.

"It's really hard to find information except through the paper," said Hurcomb.

Darrell Beaulieu didn't sell newspapers for Yellowknifer but he did for News of the North back in the 1960s. He says the fledgling newspaper gave Yellowknife a voice of its own and residents a much needed source for information.

"Whenever it comes out and whenever I'm in town, I read it," said Beaulieu.

Yellowknifer has served as the launching pad over the years for many a young journalist getting their start in the trade. One of those early reporters was Celine Mackenzie, who took a job with Yellowknifer in 1979.

It was an intimidating experience at first, said Mackenzie, originally from Behchoko and now living in Peterborough, Ont., where she is working on a doctorate degree in Indigenous Studies. The editor at the time was an old-school journalist named Erik Watt.

"I would bring my copy to him and he would fill my papers up with red marks," recalled Mackenzie.

"I always used to feel that the non-aboriginal reporters and writers were quicker than I was. I used to feel pretty bad but he told me one time that it was good to have it this way because I was learning, that I had more contacts with Dene people and leads to news so that was a big plus for him."

Yellowknifer grew quickly in its first decade. Production moved from the kitchen table to an old "reefer" shack in Old Town where, even if the washroom was equipped with just a honeybucket, at least staff had phones.

Growing pains

By 1976, the newspaper had outgrown the facility so the Rex Cafe on Latham Island was purchased and joined to the reefer shack at the corner of Franklin and School Draw Avenue.

Yellowknifer moved again in 1978 to Kam Lake Road before making its final move to the present 50 Street location in 1981.

Not only was the company's physical space growing, so was the enterprise itself. Sigvaldason purchased the newspaper that fired him, News of the North, in 1979. Inuvik Drum was added in 1988, followed by Canarctic Graphics a year later. Deh Cho Drum and Kivalliq News were founded in 1994 and 1995 respectively, Nunavut News/North was launched in 1998, and just last year the Hay River Hub was brought on board.

Adderley left the company in 1975, although he continued to write a popular column ­ Jack's Pot ­ for years afterwards.

Mike Scott, meanwhile, previously in sales, returned from a three-year hiatus in 1982 to become the company's general manager, where he remains today.

"I've been fortunate to have the best job at the paper. I work with a lot of great people" said Scott.

"Sig gave me an opportunity to become his partner in the 1980s and we have never looked back.

"Combined we have a team of over 100 people in two territories. We've had tremendous support from readers and advertisers over the years, which has enabled us to grow both print and online editions of the newspapers."

Premier Bob McLeod said Yellowknife has changed a lot in recent years, which gives all the more reason for people to continue going to Yellowknifer for information.

He's not always happy with the political coverage, but he said he does enjoy the sports and human interest stories.

"Until about 10, 15 years ago Yellowknife was more like a small town. Everybody knew each other," said McLeod.

"If you went south on a plane and were coming back you probably knew 75 per cent of the people on it. Now you get on the plane and you don't know a lot of the people so I think it's grown significantly and not everyone knows each other and I think that's why with (Yellowknifer and News/North), everybody reads them."

Sigvaldason, who turns 78 in June, says Yellowknife has changed a lot since his coming up with a kooky idea to start a newspaper in the dead of winter.

The Caribou Carnival he so desperately tried to meet with his first Yellowknifer edition is gone, ditto the gold mines that birthed this city. It's hard to envision what another 40 years will bring, although one thing is for sure, its rough and tumble days are long gone.

On the flip-side, there is now a new festival in Long John Jamboree to fill the void Caribou Carnival has left.

Yellowknife has stateof- the-art medical facilities and schools, big box stores and grocery stores, even a Tim Hortons.

The territorial council former commissioner Stu Hodgson ruled almost by decree as benevolent dictator has given way to an elected legislative assembly.

"Yellowknife has changed, Yellowknifer has changed, the people have changed," said Sigvaldason.

"It's a lot different than it was in the early days."

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