Artists

Back in the winter of 2007, Northern Folklore in collaboration with the Canmore Museum and GeoSciences Centre joined in the tradition of preserving and promoting the oral history of the Rocky Mountain region with the “CANMORE CASSETTE PROJECT”

The stories on these cassettes, recorded in the late 1980’s, are mostly from Canmores elderly residents who spoke of the times and events which had shaped the town into what it is today. They spoke of the first automobile to arrive in the area, of how the mining industry shaped town-life and of personal experiences which were touching and contained lessons which could be passed on to future generations. But they were not being passed on. They were sitting in shoeboxes hidden away from the general public in a medium which is now considered obsolete. The “Canmore Cassette Project”, spearheaded by Matthew Lovegrove in co-ordination with Edward Van Vliet of the Canmore Museum, was a local history project concerned with bringing the stories on these audio documents to the residents and visitors of Canmore in order to show the quickly changing community some of the stories which have helped it become what it is today. It is our hope at Northern Folklore to continue in the tradition of the preservation of the oral tradition of the Rocky Mountains by further work and promotion of the CPP as well as development of new recordings in the coming years.

Please visit the Canmore Museum and GeoSciences Centre in person to sample some of the 20 plus audio recordings preserved in digital format…