True North: The Circumpolar World

The University Archives & Special Collection (UASC) hold 23 separate fonds or collections which related in whole or in part to the Circumpolar North. A recent gift to the Library – the Ommaney Collection – is another useful source for researchers interested in aspects of this unique region.

Eight countries form the Circumpolar North: Canada, Denmark (Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States (Alaska). Sápmi, the traditional home of the Sámi people, covers areas of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia.

Materials held in the UASC document various aspects of this region: from its flora and fauna, to the work of Indigenous peoples and organizations, and documentation of Canada’s involvement in the region. The work of the Institute for Northern Studies (INS), and some of the faculty who were involved with the INS, are particularly valuable sources for research into northern Canada and the Arctic.

Issues of climate change, the environment, resources, Indigenous rights and knowledge, and changing international political cooperation, continue to make the Circumpolar North an area of vital interest. 

Finland - MG 621, Harald Finkler fonds

Eli Bornstein and Iceberg - MG 172, Hans Dommasch fonds

Sami Couple [Michael Hertta's family], Norway [ca. 1975 or 1976] - MG 599, Walter Slipchenko fonds

Central Iceland Landscape - MG 410, Courtney Milne fonds, 508-329

Unidentified Inuit Woman [ca.1932 or 1933] - RG 2043, Department of Physics fonds