The Clayton McLain Memorial Museum is a non-profit museum and archives that is volunteer maintained. The museum is open from June 15^th to September 15^th from Tuesday through Sunday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. We offer tours at other times by appointment dependent upon weather conditions.

The Museum Administration and Archives Center (MAAC) is situated on corner of Railway Avenue and Irvine Street (facing south) in Cut Knife. 

Our museum and archives exist in order to record and preserve the history of the Cut Knife area. Our collections include items of early settlers of the area, photos, histories, books, pamphlets, audio interviews, local newspapers (1914 to present), and the Clayton McLain and McLain Family Collections which include local first nations items pertaining to the 1885 events.

PLEASE NOTE: Our archives is under development and we do not have an overall index for public use at this time. A prior explanation of the general area of your research will help us prepare for your visit. Our archive volunteers are familiar with the collections and will be able to retrieve your requests.

Records Retrievals

Material may be requested between the hours of 10:00am to 11:45am and 1:00pm to 3:30pm, on a pre-arranged appointment day. Concurrent days may or may not be possible due to available archive volunteer time. If you are travelling from a distance and may require more than a day, please make request prior to visit.

If you are late for an appointment, the Volunteer Archivist will wait 15 minutes after the appointment time. The appointment will be deemed cancelled.

Some material may take some time to retrieve. Records that are stored at the museum site may take several days depending upon the season.

Registration Procedures

All persons arriving at the Clayton McLain Memorial Museum Archives to perform archival research must complete the registration procedures before being admitted to the reference room. In order to register, persons must be at least 16 years old and must present acceptable photo identification. All bags, backpacks or large containers must be left in Reception Area.

Please do not bring any personal belongings into the Reference Room except writing paper, pencils, notebooks, laptop computers, cameras and cassette recorders. Personal scanning equipment is not permitted.

Use pencils only in the Reference Room; no coloured pencils or ink in any form is allowed.

No chewing gum, food or beverages are permitted in the Reference Room.

There are no public smoking areas in the building.

A washrooms is available in the building.

To receive registration privileges:

Researchers resident in Canada are required to provide acceptable photo identification. Examples include: 


• Provincial driver's license; 


• SK or other provincial ID card;


• Status card;


• Government ID with photograph; 


• Valid university/college student ID card with photograph.

Researchers resident outside of Canada are required to provide acceptable photo identification.

Examples include: 


•Driver's license with photograph; 


• Passport; 


• Valid university/college student ID card with photograph.

The following cannot be used as a form of identification:


• Business card; 


• Library card; 


• Telephone book; 


• Credit card.

Researchers must also complete a registration form, noting their current home address and topic of research.

Individuals unable to provide acceptable photo identification, but who are accompanying a researcher who has acceptable photo identification, will be permitted entrance to the reference room for that day only to accompany another researcher but will not have permission to request original material.

Researchers are required to sign in and out at the Security Desk in the reception area on each visit.

Children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by a registered parent or guardian who will be responsible for the child during the entire visit. The Clayton McLain Memorial Museum Archives reserves the right to refuse to provide original material to children.

The Clayton McLain Memorial Museum Archives reserves the right to refuse to provide service to persons whose motives or intentions appear questionable. Instances of abuse of and damage to material will result in the withdrawal of access privileges. Abusive treatment of Archives Volunteers by patrons or inappropriate and disruptive behaviour, may also result in the withdrawal of access privileges.

Groups of more than five people:

We do not have the physical space to accommodate large groups. Contact us in advance for assistance in organizing a visit.

Handling Procedures

All archival records must be handled carefully. While a record is in your custody, you are responsible for it. Original records must be used within the designated area in the Reference Room. Material is not to be removed from the Reference Room.

Please note the following handling procedures:

• Always use a pencil when writing your notes. Ink can damage records.

• Open only one box at a time. Remove only one folder at a time from a container.

• Always maintain the original order of documents. If records appear to be out of order, inform staff. Do not rearrange or mark in any way.

• Do not remove records from file folders unless they are folded oversize documents.

• Do not remove staples or pins. If this is required to read and/or photograph the documents, ask for staff assistance.

• Keep material flat on the table surface.

• Do not place open volumes face down or prop them up against other records or against the edge of the table.

• Do not take notes on paper placed on top of archival material. Do not trace maps or other records.

• Do not use adhesive sticky notes. Paper strips are available to bookmark pages/documents.

• Avoid licking fingers to turn pages. This is not only bad for the paper but also unhygienic.

• As the oils from your skin can damage or stain fragile records and photographs, cotton gloves may be required for use with these records.

Photocopying and Camera Use

There is no self-serve photocopying of archival material or books. If you need something photocopied, please fill out the appropriate form and mark the pages you need copied with the flags provided for this purpose.

Do not remove pages or files. Keep all records in their original order at all times. Bring the box or container or book with the marked pages to the Front Desk to obtain authorization from the Volunteer Archivist. Authorization is subject to the condition of the material and may be refused if copying will damage it. Canadian copyright legislation and donor restrictions may also limit what may or may not be copied. Please allow up to four weeks for processing your order.

Photographing Archival Material for Your Research

The BC Archives permits the photographic copying of archival material. Self-made photographic images are intended for research purposes only. Standard cameras (digital or traditional film cameras) may be used. A wrist or neck strap is required if a stand is not used. The use of flash photography and tripods is not permitted. Standard records handling procedures (as noted above) apply.

Retrievals

Requests for photos, retrieval of books, manuscripts, government records, sound recordings and moving images must be pre-arranged with Archives Volunteer. Retrieval of onsite material takes an average of 5-15 minutes, but special media (e.g. photographs and maps) can take longer.

A request slip must be submitted for each item required. Four items may be requested by a researcher at one time. Names and registration numbers, as well as acquisition numbers, must be printed clearly to facilitate retrieval and pickup.

Some records or objects may be unavailable because of access restrictions.

Procedures are subject to change at any time.