Genealogy is the study of one's ancestors or heritage. With this in mind, the first group met in Sioux Lookout in 1984. Several people had been badgering the librarian at that time ,Peggy Sanders, about interloans of reference material, and how to order census records. Peggy suggested setting up a group to accomplish these aims.

Many join as beginners.  They want to do family research and have no particular goal in mind. Others aim to produce a published history, to organize a family reunion or to visit the homeland of their ancestors.

To make it easier for future genealogists to find their roots in Sioux Lookout, the group has since 1985, done transcribing of the monuments in the local cemeteries, indexed the birth, death, and marriage notices that have appeared in the local papers over the years. A recent search has been at the first burial ground at the base of Sioux Mountain. A rough draft of the area has been done and some of the graves have been identified. This is an ongoing challenge for some very dedicated members. Another project has been the completion of transcribing the 1913 tax roll. We hope to incorporate this in our new website. As a result of the recent amalgamation, researching and listing of local genealogical sources is underway. This entails searching through the archives in the library basement. It is hoped to index these and place them in a database and digitized onto computer.

We recently celebrated the 100th issue of our newsletter. "Rootseekers Gazette". The first edition was printed in December 1987. This was typed on an electric typewriter by the first 'editor' Joanne (Hamlyn) Macleod. For the last few years , it has been created using 'Microsoft Publisher' . Joanne moved to B.C. in 1989, and Rhonda Glofcheski has taken over production duties. Many guest speakers have visited over the years, plus excellent presentations have been made to increase the knowledge of all.

New technology has changed the way we do much of our research. Many of us now use computers, genealogy software, digital cameras, newsgroups. e-mail and of course the Internet.  Genealogy is one of the most popular topics on the 'Net'. Our goal of sharing resources has certainly been achieved. We have purchased a microfilm reader, and filled two cupboards with various books, magazines and videos all related to genealogy. In setting up the new website and coordinating with 'Rootsweb', we will be able to answer queries from anywhere in the world.

All this from a small but very active and dedicated group.