The “Far” North & Alaska

Physical Geography

• Three physiographic provinces: – The Northwest • An extension of the high mountain Cordillera and the Pacific coastal mountains – The Laurentian Shield • Gentle relief; few hills – The Arctic, including Greenland • Gentle relief; few hills; Expansive views

Physical Geography

• Terrain – Permafrost – Laurentian Shield • Ice-scoured plain; low-lying relief – Arctic • Includes LOTS of different landforms • Many lakes – Greenland • Craton > 3

b

illion years old!

Physical Geography

• Basic characteristics of the Region: – Cold temps, long winters, thin soils, poor drainage, low precipitation • Climate – Subarctic (Dfc), Tundra (ET), ice cap (EF) – Long winters, short & cool summers – Variable precipitation –  distinct biogeographic characteristics

Physical Geography

• Biogeography – Taiga • Boreal forests – Tundra • Lichen, mosses, tiny things – Global climate change } Defined by treeline

Historical Settlement

Aboriginal Peoples • Four main cultural groups: – Algonquin speaking Crees and Ojibways – Athabascan cultures – Aleut – Inuit (eskimos)

Historical Settlement

• Early Europeans – Scandinavian Norse (“Vikings”) Igaliko, Greenland (built on 1000 year-old Viking ruins!)

Historical Settlement

• Early Europeans, Fur and Fish – French fur traders and trappers in the Northeast (16 th & 17 th centuries) – The Hudson Bay Company focused on the Northwest – Both used water transport and built military forts to protect their interests • Alaska’s purchase

Current Settlement

• Aboriginals no longer rely totally on hunting, fishing and gathering • Often occupy

bottom rung

on the social and economic ladder • Native American = in the interior; Inuit = along the coasts and in the Arctic • Native land settlements key issues

Traditional Political Economy

• Aboriginal people lived off the land, rivers, and the sea, relying on hunting, gathering and fishing to achieve sustenance • Euro-Americans looked for three things: animals, minerals, trees • Farming available, but very slim • Fishing

Current Political Economy

• Logging/Forestry – The largest area of uncut forest in North America – Lumber, pulp and paper operations dot the region from Quebec to Manitoba – The spruce forests south of Hudson Bay are the prime source for most paper mills

Current Political Economy: Mining

Alaskan Pipeline Current Political Economy: North Slope Oil

Current Political Economy • Hydroelectricity

– Provides 70% of all Canada’s power – Cheap & abundant – Sells surplus to New York and New England states, competing with the coal-burning power plants of the Ohio Valley

Current Political Economy

Denali, National Park • Tourism – Major attractions • Parks and national forests • Wildlife (big game) • Sport fishing – The areas closest to the US border receive most of the pressure Fly Fishing, Denise Lake Grizzly Bear Relaxing

Alaska, a Political “Island”

Relative Location

Struggle for Alaska’s Land

• Continuous controversies: – Developing natural resources – Safeguarding the last frontier – Protecting and preserving traditional native population’ way of life – State’s rights to pursue economic development through exploitation of its natural resources

Chronology of Key Events

• 1867: US acquires Alaska from Russia • 1884: Alaska Organic Act: victory for Aboriginal People • 1959: Year of statehood • 1959: Alaska Statehood Act annexation of 104

m

illion acres, without regard of Aboriginal claims • 1968: Petroleum discovered at Prudhoe Bay • 1971: Alaskan Native Land Claims Settlement Act, providing one wilderness

b

illion dollars and 44 million acres • 1980: Conservation Act: 104 million acres of parks and refuges and 57 million acres specified as

Aleutian Islands

Integrating Alaska into North America and the World

Resource Management Strategies

• Preservation: – Removing from or limiting use, saving it for the future • Conservation: – Balancing use with protection • Exploitation: – Full or unlimited use • Multiple Use • Wilderness • Boom and Bust Economy – Cyclical rapid growth and catastrophic decline

• Transportation • (Eco)Tourism • Retirees?

Final Thoughts

Readings

• San Francisco Chronicle:

Greenland likes global warming

• Mayer, Audrey, Pekka E. Kauppi, Per K. Angelstam, Yu Zhang, and Paici M. Tikka. 2005. “Importing Timber, Exporting Ecological Impact,”

Science

15 (April): 359 –360.

– An intriguing cultural & political ecology of the Far North.

• Rundstrom, Robert A. 1990. “A Cultural Interpretation of Inuit Map Accuracy,”

The Geographical Review

80 (2): 155 –168.

– Very cool article on how Inuit peoples use “maps” with incredible accuracy!

Discussion Questions

How does continued Euro-American settlement influence the once-balanced lifestyle of the Inuit people?

The Arctic Explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson says the “Far” North & Alaska will become a densely settled and fully-integrated region. Why would he say this? Is it

really

possible? How and why (or why not)?

What kind of effects will occur in the “Far” North & Alaska as the Earth attempts to balance its temperature? Will they be beneficial? Disastrous? Non-effective? Why (or why not)?

Related Books

• Berton, Pierre. 1988.

1818 –1900

Passage.

region.

The Arctic Grail: The Quest for the Northwest Passage and the North Pole,

. New York: Viking.

– The elusive 100-year search for the Northwest • Bone, Robert M. 1992.

The Geography of the Canadian North: Issues and Challenges.

Don Mills, Ont.: Oxford University Press Canada.

– A geographical look at life and landscape of the • Haycox, Stephen. 2002.

Alaska: An American Colony

. Seattle: University of Washington Press.

– Divided nicely into Russian exploration and the American period of settlement.

WebSources

• All Things Arctic http://www.allthingsarctic.com/countries/canada.aspx

• Greenland!!

http://iserit.greennet.gl/bgbw/attractions.html

• Extreme Points of North America http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_points_of_North_America • Tourism, Parks and Recreation http://www.uphere.ca/ • Indian and Northern Affairs Canada http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ch/rcap/sg/sj26_e.html