Photograph of a carver carving a dugout canoe with a dog by his side. His back is facing the camera, and there is wood surrounding him at the Village site. Canoe is being prepared for steaming.
Photograph of a carver carving a dugout canoe with a dog by his side. His back is facing the camera, and there is wood surrounding him at the Village site. Canoe is being prepared for steaming.
Notes
Part of series of seven photographs depicting the construction of a canoe using traditional tools and methods.
Slide showing a man in glasses kneeling down behind a little boy with a red coat and grey cap. The boy is holding a ball. Behind them is a grey vehicle of some sort. To the left of the vehicle is piles of wooden planks. There are some people in red visible beyond that, as well as a house. Douglas Channel and mountains in the distance.
James McNay was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, on January 31, 1907. Between 1951 and 1953, he worked in the payroll department for Alcan. He had to leave his wife Effie and his two young daughters, Margaret and Diane, aged 6 and 5 in 1951, at home in Surrey, B.C., during his 3-4 month stints in Kitimat. To fill some of his free time and show his family where he was and what Kitimat was like, he spent many hours walking in the area with a 35mm Kodak camera. He photographed the scenic beauty of the area and parts of the construction of both the smelters and the town. He died in Surrey on August 7, 1983.
Custodial History
Donated by Margaret McNay. Images were taken by her father and sent to their family in Surrey in the 1950s.
Scope and Content
Slide showing a man in glasses kneeling down behind a little boy with a red coat and grey cap. The boy is holding a ball. Behind them is a grey vehicle of some sort. To the left of the vehicle is piles of wooden planks. There are some people in red visible beyond that, as well as a house. Douglas Channel and mountains in the distance.
