Series C - Native Ministries

The Native Ministries files contain material dating back to 1965, but the majority of the records were generated in the years 1971 and following. The small amount of pre-1971 material consists of files retained by the Native Ministries Board after reorganization. These files contains the following records: Youth Opportunities Unlimited (YOU) files (including those generated by Roger Groening and Clarence Nepinak during the years 1974-1976), reports from local mission stations (Loon Straits, Manigotogan, Hole River, Cross Lake, etc. ), social issues files (exploitation of Native migrant labours, alcoholism, etc.) and environmental issues files (which relate largely to Hydro development in the North). There are pamphlets from and correspondence with organizations such as Mennonite Foundation, The Mennonite Central Committee, the Manitoba Indian Brotherhood, and the Northern Canada Evangelical Mission.

In 2007 materials created in the 1990s were brought to the archives (accession 2007-079). A few files have much earlier records, usually dealing with property issues form the 1950s and 1960. Files deal with topics such as, such as hydro electric dam proposals, Meech Lake accord, Oak crisis, uranium mining, native spirituality, United Native Ministries, native camp, and Walnut Receiving Home. Files on various communities include Bloodvein, Cross Lake, Hole River, Hollow Water, Manigotogan, Matheson Island, Paungassi, Pine Dock and Riverton.

The collection is of interest for Canadian studies. These records could be of considerable use in the study of the conditions of native Canadians and attitudes towards them. The records detail life in several Native communities and how the church worked in these communities. Furthermore, correspondence with a variety of Native organizations pertains to their social concerns. These records, along with the Board of Missions files, provide a case study of the kind of transformation which many denominational mission organizations underwent in the 1960s and 1970s. A researcher working on the history of missions in Canada could find considerable useful materials in these files.