Born in Toronto on March 28, 1906, Murray Adaskin began his violin training at the age of ten. Additional training was received in New York and Paris including periods of composition study with John Weinzweig, Charles Jones and Darius Milhaud. A violinist with Toronto Symphony for ten years, Adaskin also served as director of music for the CPR hotels. As Head of the Music Department at the University of Saskatchewan from 1952 until 1966, and then Composer-In-Residence from 1966 until 1973, Murray, along with his first wife soprano Frances James Adaskin, initiated and supported much of the rich musical life which remains as a cultural focus in Saskatoon today. Among his many honours were Saskatoon's citizen of the year for 1970, a 1980 appointment to the Order of Canada and a D.Mus from the University of Saskatchewan in 1984. Murray Adaskin retired to Victoria in 1973. He was later married to Dorothea Larken (Adaskin). He composed his final work in 2000 and died in 2002 at the age of 96.

Freda I. Ahenakew, a Cree woman, was born on February 11, 1932, at home on Ahtahkakoop First Nation, Saskatchewan. The second of eight children born to Edward and Annie (nee Bird) Ahenakew, Freda spent her childhood on Ahtahkakoop where she attended the Sandy Lake Day School. As a teenager, Freda lived in Prince Albert where she attended the Prince Albert Collegiate Institute, and resided at St. Alban's Residence. In 1951, Freda married Harold Greyeyes from the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation and together they had twelve children (Dolores Carol 1951, Brenda Vivian 1952, Barbara Ruth 1954, Harold Dennis 1955, Judith May 1957, Anita Elaine 1958, Lawrence Edward 1959, Gloria Lynn 1960, Kevin Ray 1962, Spencer Garth 1963, Nancy Cecile 1972, and Josephine Marie in 1975). As a result of her marriage, Freda became a member of the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation. In the early years of their marriage, Freda and Harold lived on both the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation and the Ahtahkakoop First Nation. To earn extra income, Harold went to work in British Columbia in the lumber industry. In the fall of 1956, Freda and four of their children accompanied Harold to British Columbia, where in 1957 their fifth child Judith May was born. The family returned to Muskeg Lake Cree Nation in 1959 where they began operating their own small mixed farm. In 1979, Freda returned to school and received her Bachelor of Education from the University of Saskatchewan. That same year she was the recipient of the Mother of the Year award from the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN). In 1979, Freda's marriage to Harold Greyeyes ended. Freda began her teaching career on the Lac La Ronge First Nation in 1979 and taught there for one year. Freda also taught at the Saskatoon Survival School (now the Joe Duquette High School in Saskatoon) for the 1980-1981 school term. Freda then moved to Winnipeg to study at the University of Manitoba where she received her Masters of Arts in Cree Linguistics in 1984. Freda's published thesis Cree Language Structures has been reprinted seventeen times. From 1983-1985, Freda worked as an Assistant in Native Studies at the University of Saskatchewan, she then became the Director of the Saskatchewan Indian Language Institute from 1985-1989. Freda returned to Winnipeg in 1990 where she began work as an Associate Professor of Native Studies at The University of Manitoba and was appointed Head of the Department of Native Studies until 1995. Freda returned to Saskatchewan in 1995 to work as a First Nations Language Consultant to the Prince Albert Grand Council until she retired in 1997. Throughout her career as an educator Freda has worked to preserve the Cree language. She has authored a number of books including kohkominawak otácimowinawáwa (Our Grandmothers' Lives, as Told in Their Own Words), kwayask é-ki-pé-kiskinowápahtihicik (Their Example Showed Me the Way: A Cree Woman's Life Shaped by Two Cultures) and wisáhkécáhk (Flies to the Moon). Freda has also translated various children's books and produced a number of textbooks and technical dictionaries. Her contributions have helped ensure the survival of the Cree language and culture. Freda has received many awards and honours for her contribution to education and the preservation of the Cree language and culture. These include: the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) Citizen of the Year (1992), an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Saskatchewan (1997), the Order of Canada (1998), National Aboriginal Achievement Award in Education (2001), and the Saskatchewan Order of Merit (2005). Freda is now retired and living on Muskeg Lake Cree Nation where she enjoys spending time with her many children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Wesley Aikenhead was born to Jim Aikenhead and Amanda Aikenhead (Eastman). Wesley worked as an insurance agent. As well, he was a Light Infantry Major in the Reserve Army based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Wesley was foundational in the development in the Melfort and District Museum. His large donations of artifacts made up the bulk of the museum's early collection. Wesley's grandfather, Peter Aikenhead, and his family came to the Melfort area from Ontario in 1982. The following year Peter and two of his sons, including Wesley's father Jim, homesteaded in the area. Jim Aikenhead's homestead was located at the South Quarter of Section 4, Township 45, Range 18.

Dave Aldous was an historian from Saskatoon who had published a book entitled "Barns in Saskatchewan" in 1995-1996. His attempts to save the Bell Barn began in 1997.

Helen Emmeline Shirriff was born 10 January 1898 in Brandon, Manitoba. She married Robert Alexander in 1919; together they farmed at Portreeve, Saskatchewan, until Robert's death in 1955. Helen remained actively involved in the management of the farm until her death. In addition, Helen was a schoolteacher. Her long career in education began in 1916, and took her to various locations throughout the north and west, including Athabaska Landing (1918), Whitehorse (1956), and the Glidden Hutterite Colony (1967). She died in Saskatoon on 6 April 1992.

Alfred Craig was born July 6, 1925 to Chester B. and Sophia Craig in Dilke, Saskatchewan. His education was obtained through the Vaughn school, the Melfort Public School, and the Melfort High School. Alfred married Noreen, who was a teacher, on July 24, 1959 in Meota, Saskatchewan. They had three children. He lived and farmed near Melfort, Saskatchewan for most of his life, and worked for the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool from 1978 - ca. 1988.

Robert Baker Allan was a history graduate student at the University of Regina. His master’s thesis was about Moose Jaw politician John Wesley Corman. Allan conducted some of his research in the Moose Jaw Public Library Archives Department and acknowledges the archives’ staff for their guidance in his thesis. He completed his thesis in 2004 and donated his research papers to the Moose Jaw Public Library Archives Department in 2006. He has a wife, Glenda, and a son, Joseph.

Born in Norland, Ontario in 1904, John Stuart Mill Allely studied Economics at Queen's University, earning a BA in 1929 and an MA in 1930. He did further postgraduate study at Harvard University, receiving an AM degree in 1932. He married Phyllis Parkin in September 1934. Prior to his appointment at the University of Saskatchewan in 1939, he taught at a number of institutions including McMaster University, the Universities of British Columbia, Manitoba, and Alberta, and the Carnegie Institute of Technology. He was on the staff of the Royal Commission on Dominion-Provincial Relations (Rowell-Sirois Commission) in 1937 and 1938. Allely took a leave of absence to serve in the Canadian Army in World War Two. He served in Ottawa in the Adjutant General’s Branch and the General Staff. He held the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the Canadian Army and was seconded to the British Army to serve as the Senior Finance Officer of the Control Commission for Germany (British Element) from 1944 to 1946. Allely returned to the University of Saskatchewan in 1947. Following the Second World War, he served as Officer Commanding of the Saskatchewan Contingent, Canadian Officers Training Corps from 1947 to 1957. Professor Allely retired from the University in 1972 and died in Saskatoon on March 23, 1986.