Canada, Denmark make peace in ‘Whisky War’
Countries settle 50-year dispute over Tartapaluk, an Arctic island both claimed
Denmark’s foreign minister Jeppe Kofod presents Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly with a gift to formally mark the ending of the so-called ‘Whisky War’ between the two countries after a 50-year dispute over Tartapaluk, also known as Hans Island, a 1.3-square-kilometre island situated between Ellesmere Island and Greenland. (Image courtesy of CPAC)
Updated on Wednesday, June 22, 2022 at 4:45 p.m.
Canada and Denmark made peace in the so-called “Whisky War” — a 50-year dispute over the Arctic island of Tartapaluk, also known as Hans Island, with each country agreeing to a half of the land.
“It brings a lot of clarity,” Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly said at a signing ceremony Tuesday in Ottawa.
The two countries have both laid claim to the 1.3-square-kilometre rock island located between Ellesmere Island and Greenland in an Arctic sea passage.
The dispute has been dubbed the ‘Whisky War’ after a tradition in which Canadian and Danish military personnel removed each other’s flag whenever they visited the island, and placed a bottle of an alcohol for the next time the other country visits. The longstanding tradition had Canadians leave whisky while the Danish left schnapps.
With Tuesday’s agreement, Canada and Denmark will have the longest maritime border in the world, at nearly 4,000 kilometres, Joly said.
The purpose of coming to an agreement now is to show that disputes can be solved diplomatically, instead of through authoritarian force, she added.
Joly’s statement comes as Russia, an Arctic nation, continues its invasion into Ukraine. None of the Canadian or Danish signatories at the signing ceremony mentioned Russia by name, but they made references to resolving disputes peacefully, using diplomacy and the rule of law.
While Canada and Denmark have been squabbling about who owns Tartapaluk for decades, Inuit have used the island for hunting and fishing for centuries.
Joly said that Inuit were consulted when drafting the agreement.
Inuit rights will also be respected in this agreement with Inuit being able to freely travel and hunt on traditional territory, federal Minister of Northern Affairs Daniel Vandal said.
It was good to see that Canada and Denmark used decision-making through consensus and collaboration, Nunavut Tunngavik president Aluki Kotierk said.
She added it is important to recognize the contributions that Inuit have played in Arctic sovereignty.
“Arctic nations would not be Arctic nations without us, Inuit, Arctic peoples,” Kotierk said, adding that Inuit are international peoples that transcend borders.
She also said that Inuit leaders in Canada are looking to establish a working group on international Inuit affairs and asked Joly to co-chair such a group.
“It is crucially important and necessary that Inuit are involved in Arctic sovereignty and security,” Kotierk said.
In response to a question from Nunatsiaq News, Joly said that such a working group is a good idea.
“When we think about Arctic foreign policy we think about Indigenous peoples, and Inuit in particular,” she said.
Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory, an Iqaluit-based Inuk artist with Greenlandic heritage, said she is making a film on Tartapaluk. To her, this agreement does not change that the island has always been Inuit land.
“Nothing has changed before and nothing has changed now,” Bathory told Nunatsiaq News after the announcement.
Correction: This article has been updated from an earlier version to correctly reflect artist Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory’s background.
No boundaries in Inuit culture. Hunters gather for tea in Hans Island and go their separate ways.
Inuit are not decision makers on this issue, so what’s your point?
Tell that to the US border patrol after you get detained trying to cross into Alaska. Curious to know how that goes
“No boundaries in Inuit culture”
Is that a lie, or just the kind of comment one would expect from someone who knows nothing about history?
There are no boundries in nunavik, but , when boat load of people show up in certin towns to hunt or fish , you could tell , some people are not welcoming
The point is, to say that it is a feature of Inuit culture to live without any kind of boundaries is completely false. Traditionally, Inuit were as territorial and tribal as any other human group. That is history. To pretend otherwise is to engage in a sort of gaslighting, meant to project a mirage into the world for some kind of political or moral purpose.
Laakkuluk was born and raised in Canada.
Laakkuluk was born before Europeans colonized Canada, it has been a hunting ground for Inuit long before Canada was born.
What are you talkin about? How old do you think she is?
Yes. Born and raised in Sakatoon.
Great foundation material for the new border crossing and related structures. When will application forms be available to staff the post?
Thats kind of disapointing , i was hoping that , we could go to war over a peice of rock , I figured , we could beat denmark ,with one had tied behind our backs , and all before lunch.
I wouldn’t bet on that.
When Laakkuluk says Tartapaluk was always owned by Inuit, I really want to know what she means by “always”?
Since Inuit have only inhabited that part of Greenland in the last thousand or so years, less time than since Jesus was born and died.
Fun fact; Vikings inhabited Greenland before the Inuit. Roughly 300 years before.
That’s not very accurate,, Inuit were already in northern Greenland when the Vikings moved into southern Greenland.
Also the Vikings could not compete with Inuit and when the climate cooled they either died off or moved back to where they came from.
Based on the history I am aware of Thule migrated into Greenland somewhere between 1100 and 1300. The Vikings, by contrast, settled around 1,000 so probably were a little earlier.
I’d be curious to see the sources that suggest the Thule had already settled when the Vikings arrived, I have never read anything that has said this.
It seems more likely the Tuniit were there at the time of Viking settlement, but where later displaced by the Thule / Inuit.
It is also thought that a Viking trading station was set up on Baffin Island in a place called Tanfield Valley, where the Vikings also traded with the Dorset, and later with the Thule / Inuit.
Check it out:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/121019-viking-outpost-second-new-canada-science-sutherland
Let me add; by the time the Norse left Greenland the ‘Viking Age’ was long over, these were not the Vikings of lore, by a small population of Christian farmers eking out a marginal existence on the peripheries of the milder Arctic they were accustomed to.
That said, the Thule were undoubtedly more well adapted to the harsher climate that prevailed in Greenland and Helluland (Baffin).
Why did they leave? Probably a colder climate combined with an economic downturn in Europe that lead to less trade and less demand for walrus ivory, the advance of the Kangiata glacier, and conflict with the Thule.
the vikings died out due to how they hunted in large groups. one bad accident and they lose a bunch of hunters\farmers, eventually there was no one left to hunt\farm and they died out and or boated back to europe if they were lucky. them vikings were smart and capable folks, but lose your key hunters\farmers , your screwed
Update; Irish landed, planted flag, drank bottle contents, left thank you notes in bottles.
Next time just leave the whiskey on my door step. Hows that for diplomacy
schnapps (aquavit) taste better and its stronger about 42 to 45 percent.
Any decent whisky out there is at least 46%, a good cask strength can run all the way up to and over 60%.
It’s the same with Aquavit, but on average you 42% or above,
Taking the temperature of NN’s readers, as the string of comments show, there is generally a poor outlook. The You are with me or against me G.W. Bush-like sentiments prevail. As The larger scheme of problems bears down on us, personal relations need not be thrown to the wind.
ICC, Arctic Council, IASC, UArctic, IUCH, Inuk Governor General…there is an alphabet soup of circumpolar international groups and national positions that involve Inuit or were formed by Inuit that relate to Canadian sovereignty. If it is important for Inuit to be involved in sovereignty, I wonder if anyone has ever made any effort to get an Inuk professionally trained and practicing as a Canada Lands Surveyor? That is basic – figuring out where the boundaries actually are. That would be amazing. It would be a better move than warming a chair at yet another international blab-fest.
Trying to force people into roles to fabricate the illusion of ‘representation’ doesn’t seem to have great track record, yet we go back to this time and again.
Why not let the process unfold organically, from the bottom up? In other words, if an Inuk wants to become a Lands Surveyor they put in the work and the effort getting the appropriate degree and working in the field for enough years that they eventually rise to the position? This is the more durable route.
I believe the proper term is Taqtupaluk, not taqtapaluk