Arctic Fever Exhibition Uncovers Historical Parallels to Modern US Greenland Ambitions
A newly opened exhibition at the University of Toronto's Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library reveals striking parallels between 19th century Arctic exploration and contemporary American strategic interest in Greenland. Arctic Fever brings together lithographs, books, maps, and ephemera that showcase the ambition, hubris, and hunger for territory and resources that continue to drive international focus on the region today.
Historical Documentation of Early US Interest
The exhibition features a remarkable clipping from the first issue of the Kalaallisut-language newspaper Atuagagdliutit, published on 1 January 1861. This publication was the first in the world to use colour illustrations. The clipping includes an image titled The Large British Steamer Bulldog, the American Ship Nautilus, and Other Ships at Nuuk, 1860 by Aalut Kangermiu, also known as Aron of Kangeq. This visual record documents the arrival of an American ship in Nuuk's harbour shortly before the United States descended into civil war, when senior administration officials were making a forceful case to purchase Greenland for its natural resources.
"A lot of people see the news and are confused by president Donald Trump's desires for Greenland. He'd said it in his first term. He voiced it last year," explained Isabelle Gapp, an art historian at the University of Aberdeen and co-curator of the exhibition. "But people often don't quite understand just how long a history the US has with Greenland."
Strategic Value Recognised Since 1867
The view held by senior officials in the current White House was also present in 1867, when Secretary of State William Seward formalized a desire to acquire Greenland and Iceland, citing the two islands' immense strategic value. While Donald Trump has said he would not take Greenland by force, the White House suggests that it remains keen to control the island. Jeff Landry, the US special envoy to Greenland, recently called it "one of the world's most strategically consequential regions" in a New York Times op-ed, describing American dominance in the Arctic as a "non-negotiable" reality.
"It's lucky for us – in a kind of nasty way – that politics would make this collection so resonant. But I'm hopeful it gives us a chance to think more about just politics," said the exhibition's other curator, Mark Cheetham, an art historian at the University of Toronto. "It's also the place where the themes of environment and migration and resource extraction are so dominant. We're hoping though to be able to give the public a fuller view of a place that has long been the source of obsessions."
Indigenous Knowledge and European Exploration
The exhibition challenges traditional narratives about the Arctic as a barren, inhospitable wasteland. "We tried to push against the narrative that this was a barren, inhospitable wasteland," Gapp said. "Wilderness implies a space in which there is kind of nothingness, that one is travelling to a place where no one has been before. But this is obviously untrue when you look at the people who have long lived there."
One particularly compelling aspect of the exhibition highlights the interaction between European explorers and Indigenous peoples. The British explorer William Parry spent a winter learning from Inuit in the 1820s when his search for the fabled Northwest Passage was foiled by ice. Parry grew enamoured with an Inuk woman called Iligliuk, who displayed what he described as a "superiority of understanding for which she was so remarkably distinguished."
Early attempts to have locals sketch maps of the region "did not produce any very satisfactory information," Parry wrote in his journal. However, the British soon began to "appreciate the geographical knowledge which they possessed." Iligliuk's ability to translate her knowledge of the land into something sailors could use was both accurate and detailed. Her skills were called "astounding" by the English geographer John Barrow, who was serving as the second secretary of the admiralty.
Different Relationships with the Arctic Landscape
Iligliuk's maps reflected generations of interaction with the environment. Instead of using a compass, she was guided by winds, the movement of ice, and the contours of the land. She identified spots where caribou were plentiful and where one could rest, displaying a fundamentally different relationship with the region than that envisioned by European and American explorers.
"What strikes me over and over again is how militarized the Arctic has been since the first excursions in the 1500s," Cheetham observed. "Parry wanted to find the Northwest Passage. Why? Because it was an economic and military advantage. Iligliuk's views reflected a wholly different measure of time and space."
The Ghost of Sir John Franklin
While none of his items are present in the exhibition, the curators acknowledge that Sir John Franklin, the famed explorer, is the "ghost" of the collection. His 1845 expedition in search of the Northwest Passage ended in disaster, with all 129 crew members succumbing to the hostile elements. From 1847 to 1859, at least 36 expeditions set out in search of Franklin's lost ships. All ended in failure but produced an unprecedented stream of detailed studies of the region.
The collection includes other, more human artefacts from these searches, including elaborate playbills printed on silk commemorating theatrical showcases put on as entertainment during the long winter nights. One such performance, aboard the HMS Assistance in 1851, promised a "grand farcical, tragical, melo-dramatical, serio-comic" play, with a "lady ... engaged at an enormous sacrifice, it being her first appearance on any stage" – a nod to the extensive catalogue of costumes brought along for the voyage.
Contemporary Relevance and Climate Change
Climate change has battered swaths of the Arctic and will inflict further damage to delicate ecosystems. As permafrost thaws and ice melts, the rush to extract immense resource wealth is only beginning. Nations and Indigenous peoples are bracing once more for a feverish push into the region.
"As the focus intensifies once more on the Arctic, it's important to remember there isn't one history, there are many histories," Gapp emphasized. "People have long moved in all directions, from all places. They have traveled and they have lived there. The history of the Arctic is long, rich, varied, and so too is its future. Where we are today is just another brief moment in its history."
The exhibition's title comes from the 19th-century US adventurer Walter Wellman, who wrote: "The arctic fever is in our blood, and there is no cure for such patients but to put them on ice." This sentiment continues to resonate as nations and corporations look northward with renewed interest, making Arctic Fever a timely exploration of historical patterns that continue to shape geopolitical realities in the 21st century.
