“A steadfast friend and ally”

The dispute over Hans Island (Tartupaluk in Inuktitut and Greenlandic) began in 1973 when Canada and Denmark attempted to draw a boundary through the Nares Strait and found both countries could credibly lay claim to the island, which is roughly equidistant to both Canada and Greenland. But the question of Canada’s Arctic sovereignty has an even longer history. 

A century ago, Denmark was considered by some to be a competitor for sovereignty over the islands of the Arctic Archipelago. The American-Canadian explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson, in campaigning for Canadian government support for another of his own expeditions, built his case in part on what scholar Shelagh Grant, in her book Polar Imperative, termed “alarmist and exaggerated” claims about Danish threats to Canadian sovereignty. Ellesmere Island, Canada’s large northernmost island, was, Stefansson argued, “valued enough by Denmark for her to question our title.”

As evidence he pointed to the activities of Danish-Greenlandic explorer Knud Rasmussen, who led an ethnographic expedition, known as the Fifth Thule Expedition, across the barrens of Arctic Canada from 1921-24. According to anthropologist Wade Davis, Honorary Vice-President of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, the expedition was not about territorial acquisition but about “a state of mind, a depth of understanding that would allow Rasmussen to reveal to the world the wonder of Inuit life.” 

John Geiger, CEO of the RCGS, said the timing of the Canadian-Danish accord a century after the Fifth Thule Expedition should tidily resolve any question about Danish motives. Far from being a threat to Canadian sovereignty in the north, Denmark has always proven itself a steadfast friend and ally of Canada, he said.

“Canadians should consider themselves doubly blessed that their two land borders are with the United States, and now with Denmark, in the form of Greenland.”

Aluki Kotierk, president of Nunavut Tunngavik, which represented the Inuit of Nunavut in the Hans Island treaty negotiations, congratulated the assembled diplomats on the successful resolution of the dispute, and said it’s important to recognize Inuit contributions to Arctic sovereignty. 

“As Inuit, we are international peoples; we are one nation that transcends any international borders,” she said. “Arctic nations would not be Arctic nations without us, Arctic peoples.” 

A few matters remain to be settled, such as whether Canada’s land border with Europe means it can now enter the Eurovision Song Contest. As for the bottle of schnapps that Kofod presented to Joly? “It’s going straight to the Museum of History,” Joly said.