Hay River historians to document COVID-19 in book of memoirs

A group of passionate historians in Hay River, N.W.T., is documenting people's experiences of the coronavirus pandemic in a book of memoirs.

Tom Lakusta, the chair of the Hay River Museum Society, said residents will be asked one question every week on theHay River Heritage Centre's Facebook page. The questions will continue until the pandemic is over.

Anyone that comments on the post or sends an emailed reply will be added to a book of memoirs.

Lakusta said it's important to document this "historic" pandemic with firsthand accounts so future residents will be able to remember this time.

"I'm pretty sure that five, 10, 15, 20 years into the future, people will want to see this kind of thing captured ... and be able to go back and reflect," he said.

The pandemic has had many local "ramifications," Lakusta continued, including the impacts on families, the regional economy and the general stress level of residents.

Hay River has a population of 3,749, according to the N.W.T. Bureau of Statistics' 2019 numbers. The fact that the community is so small, Lakusta said, factors in to how people in town will experience the coronavirus pandemic.

"In a community this size, the social interactions are really important and how people engage ... with friends and family all the time," he said. "I think it's been tough for people."

The museum currently has a shelf full of books called the Walk of Memorieswith the names and stories of community members who have died. Lakusta said he could see the coronavirus book added to that section.

The last comparable event to the coronaviruspandemic was the 1918 Spanish Flu, Lakusta said. At the time, there was no settlement for the town of Hay River. Members of the K'atl'odeeche First Nation Reserve, he continued, fished at the mouth of the Hay River during the summer and would move to Buffalo Lake in the winter.

Lakusta said the book could be done as early as this summer that is, if the museum is able to open safely by that time.

A full exhibition on the pandemic is not off the table, Lakusta said, but has not been discussed just yet.