THEBACHA/FORT SMITH
By looking at the collection of black and white faded photographs, the viewer is taken back in time to when life for Northern children was quite different than the life they know now.

"Slavey family, Hay River, circa 1896-1908" is the only information attached to this portrait exhibited at the Northern Life Museum and Cultural Centre. It is on display until Dec. 15. - photo courtesy of Northern Life Museum and Cultural Centre.

A Century of Northern Children is a collection of archived images on display at Fort Smith's Northern Life Museum and Cultural Centre.

In partnership with Yellowknife's Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, 15 archived images along with the Northern Life Museum's collection create a display to give people a taste of how everyday life has transformed over the years.

"It's depicting children over a century and you can see some of the different activities and ways of life and how they have changed," said Rachel Dell, Northern Life Museum's curator.

The collection includes pictures taken between 1896 and 1994 from communities across the territory.

The museum combined their 12 images of young people in the past along with artifacts they have from the previous century. That includes toys and dolls children would have played with at the time, some of which date back to the 1920s, said Dell. Some of the dolls are wearing traditional attire with fur hoods surrounding their faces.

Although the photos give very little background information on the image itself, it shows children helping their parents with things like laundry, fishing, plucking feathers and learning from their parents how to tan hides.

"It helps to see how children were taught and learned to do these traditional activities," said Dell.

In contrast, other photos taken later include images of children taking part in a ski club and doing things that are more familiar to modern society.

"It's a small window into a place in time," said Dell. "It's wonderful how moving and powerful these photos are."

The museum held an event last week, offering tea and a chance to get a look at the archived images.

With equipment from the once popular game stickball, visitors were allowed to play across the museum. Both children and elders took part in the game, said Dell.

"It's wonderful to have play time in the museum," she said.

The game is similar to baseball and dates back to 1750. However, it was widely popular in the 20th century up until the 1980s.

Stickball requires two sticks and a wicker ball often made of roots, explained Dell.

The exhibit is on display from Nov. 17 to Dec. 15.