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Articulating the Arctic: contrasting state and Inuit maps of the Canadian north

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 May 2016

Mia M. Bennett ,
Wilfrid Greaves ,
Rudolf Riedlsperger  and
Alberic Botella
Mia M. Bennett
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles, 1255 Bunche Hall Box 951524, Los Angeles, California, 90095, USA (mbennett7@ucla.edu)
Wilfrid Greaves
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University of Toronto, 100 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G3, Canada
Rudolf Riedlsperger
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Science Building SN-1020, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador A1B 3X9, Canada
Alberic Botella
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5, Canada
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Abstract

This paper compares four maps produced by the Canadian government and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the indigenous peoples’ organisation representing Inuit living in the four recognised Inuit regions (Inuit Nunangat) of Canada. Our analysis is based on publicly available maps, documents, and records and extends the rich existing literature examining the history of definitions of the Canadian north. Distinctly, our research aims to understand the different ways in which the Arctic has been articulated as a geographic, political, and social region during the Harper government (2006–2015) and the effects these articulations have had on northern policy and people. We find that the federal government maintained a flexible definition of the Canadian Arctic as a region when in pursuit of its own policy objectives. However, when it comes to incorporating areas outside the boundaries of Canada's three federal territories, particularly communities along their southern fringes, those boundaries are inflexible. The people who live in these areas, which the state considers to be outside the Canadian Arctic, are marginalised within Arctic public policy in terms of access to federal funds, determination of land use, and a sense of social belonging to the Canadian Arctic. Our goal in this paper is to demonstrate that national-level disputes over what constitutes ‘the Arctic’ can significantly impact the day-to-day lives of people who live within and just outside the region, however it is conceived.

Type
THEMED SECTION: Arctic in the Anthropocene: sustainability in a new polar age
Information
Polar Record , Volume 52 , Issue 6 , November 2016 , pp. 630 - 644
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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