British Pathé’s archives include a range of newsreels and other films relating to northern and Arctic subjects. Among them is a seven-part series from 1932 following Bob Bartlett on a trip to Greenland. You can view this reel and find the rest of the films from the series on British Pathé’s website.
Month: April 2012
Northern and Arctic History at the Canadian Historical Association’s Annual Meeting
The Canadian Historical Association will be holding its annual meeting at the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University on 28-30 May 2012. According to the preliminary program, there will be a few sessions dealing with Northern and Arctic history at the meeting, including:
Note: the schedule has changed; see the more recent post with the updated schedule.
Monday, May 28 / Lundi le 28 mai
10:30-12:00/ 10 h 30-12 h 00 Waterloo MC 1085
15 Women, Biographical Narratives and Northern Landscapes in Twentieth- Century Canada / Les femmes, les récits biographiques et les paysages du Nord au vingtième siècle au Canada
15.1 Cyrstal Fraser, University of Alberta
Portrait of a Grandmother : Changing Notions of Aboriginality on the Gwich’in Flatlands
Joan Sangster, Trent University
Irene Baird’s ‘North and South’ in The Climate of Power
15.2 Myra Rutherdale, York University
Intimacy and Surveillance : Northern Canadian Nurses and Boundaries of Medicinal Matters
Facilitator / Animatrice : Nancy Janovicek, University of Calgary
1:30-3:00/ 13 h 30-15 h 00 Waterloo MC 2035
19 Interpreting the First Nations : Whose Past(s)? Whose Knowledge? Interpréter les Premières nations : quel(s) passé(s)? À qui le savoir?
19.1 Angela Byrne, University of Toronto and the National University of Ireland, Maynooth
Interactions of Native and Newcomer Knowledge in Northern Regions, c. 1790-1830
19.2 Emma Battell Lowman, University of Warwick
Whose Wawa is it Anyway? Father JMR LeJeune and the Chinook Jargon at the turn of the century
19.3 Kaleigh Bradley, historical consultant
Taking John’s Photograph : The Afterlife of an Inuit Family Portrait
19.4 Katya MacDonald, University of Saskatchewan
Creating Community through Conflicted Histories : Negotiating Stó:lō Places
3:15-4:45/ 15 h 15-16 h 45 Waterloo MC 4045
30 Memory,Commemoration and Northern Canadian Travel and Exploration in the Twentieth Century / Mémoire, commémoration et voyage et exploration dans le Grand Nord canadien au vingtième siècle
30.1 Christina Adcock, University of British Columbia
‘Alas for those who never sing! : Commemorative practices and lost histories of twentieth-century northern Canadian exploration
30.2 Janice Cavell, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
A Circumscribed Commemoration : Mrs. Rudolph Anderson and the Canadian Arctic Expedition Memorial Plaque
30.3 Misao Dean, University of Victoria
‘Anglo-Saxon Pleasure’ : Late twentieth century recreational wilderness canoeing as a material practice of Empire
Facilitator / Animateur : John English, University of Waterloo
Tuesday, May 29 / Mardi le 29 mai
1:30-3:00 / 13 h 30-15 h 00 Waterloo MC 2054
68. Bilateral Relations at the Crossroads : Reconsidering Canadian-American Relations, Continental Defence, and Soverignty in the Early Cold War / Relations bilatérales à la croisée des chemins : reconsidérer les relations canado-américaines, la défense continentale et la souveraineté au début de la guerre froide
68.1 P. Whitney Lackenbauer, University of Waterloo and Peter Kikkert, University of Western Ontario
Arctic Policy at the Crossroads : Securitization and Soverigntization of the Canadian Arctic, 1946-1955
68.2 Matthew Trudgen, University of Calgary
Cooperating with the Americans: Lessons from the North American Air Defence System, 1950-1956
68.3 Richard Goette, Royal Military College/ Canadian Forces College
Command, Soverignty, and the Creation of NORAD in 1957
Facilitator / Animateur: John English, University of Waterloo
View the entire preliminary program on the CHA’s website.
Acts of Occupation in the Ottawa Citizen
There’s an article in today’s Ottawa Citizen by Ross Fitzgerald about Acts of Occupation being shortlisted for the Canadian Political History Book Prize:
The Canadian Historical Association (CHA) has recognized two Ottawa historians by shortlisting their recent book for the 2012 Canadian Political History Prize.
Dr. Janice Cavell and Dr. Jeff Noakes co-authored Acts of Occupation: Canada and Arctic Sovereignty, 1918-25. The book is about early Canadian Arctic sovereignty.
Read the full article on the Citizen‘s website.
Randy Boswell on Acts of Occupation
Back in August 2011, Postmedia News’ Randy Boswell wrote an article about the book, which we’re sharing with you now, through Nunatsiaq Online:
A new book about the history of Canada’s territorial claims in the Arctic has shed fresh light on the impressive, behind-the-scenes manoeuvring by Canadian officials in the 1920s to secure control over the vast region and its untapped resources — a key part of the current Conservative government’s vision of Canada’s economic future.
Randy Boswell, “New book details Lester Pearson’s role in securing Canada’s North,” Nunatsiaq News, 31 August 2011.
Acts of Occupation shortlisted for 2012 Canadian Political History Book Prize
Acts of Occupation has been shortlisted for the Canadian Historical Association’s Political History Group‘s 2012 Book Prize.
See the entire shortlist on the Political History Group’s website.
Sir Ernest Shackleton and Sir John and Lady Eaton
In Chapter 4 of the book, we talk about the ultimately unrealized plans for the Eatons to help sponsor a proposed Arctic expedition by Shackleton. Whether by luck or by planning, Shackleton and Lady Eaton were fellow passengers on the Aquitania during one of its trips from New York City to Europe. This photograph was likely taken in New York City shortly before Aquitania‘s departure, and shows Shackleton (right) and the Eatons (centre). We discovered it after the book had gone to press, so we’re sharing it with people online.
(Library of Congress, George Grantham Bain Collection, LC-DIG-ggbain-31995.)
Arctic Review of Acts of Occupation
Peter Kikkert reviewed Acts of Occupation in the December 2011 issue of Arctic:
Despite these minor shortcomings, this well-written and readable work deserves a place on the bookshelves of historians, students, and popular readers interested in the Canadian Arctic. High-quality photographs and maps add to the story of adventure, exploration, and intrigue that the authors set out to tell. Moreover, this history is both timely and important. The recent flurry of books on the Canadian North has included several broad and sweeping studies of Canada’s Arctic policy, notably Polar Imperative by Shelagh Grant (2010) and Arctic Front by Ken Coates et al. (2010); however, more detailed works that fully explore the contours of Canada’s Arctic policy are required. Other historians should follow the lead of Cavell and Noakes to describe the progression of Canada’s policy since the country received its Arctic Archipelago in 1880 because many historical policy issues are still germane to debates about the Arctic today.
Read the review on the journal’s website.
H-Environment Review of Acts of Occupation
Adam M. Sowards (University of Idaho) reviewed Acts of Occupation for H-Environment in February 2012:
Much recommends the book. Cavell and Noakes conducted thorough research, digging deep in multiple archival holdings. Because of the narrow time examined, they could follow every lead to its conclusion, often through multiple layers of archives and deliberate misdirections by the cast of characters. Also, Acts of Occupation is a well-written narrative that takes what might have been a dull account of bureaucratic and political wrangling and turns it into an exciting and significant book.
Read the full review on the H-Net website.
Hello world!
Hello world! We’re launching a site related to the UBC Press book Acts of Occupation: Canada and Arctic Sovereignty, 1918-25.
In the near future, we’ll have links to reviews, related websites, online content, and other things that should be of interest to readers of the book and to people interested in Arctic and Northern history.
Acts of Occupation 