Article ID: CBB001211529

J.E. Bernier's Claims to Fame (2010)

unapi

MacEachern, Alan (Author)


Scientia Canadensis: Journal of the History of Canadian Science, Technology, and Medicine
Volume: 33, no. 2
Issue: 2
Pages: 43-73


Publication Date: 2010
Edition Details: Part of a special issue, “The History of Circumpolar Science and Technology”
Language: English

On 1 July 1909, in the course of patrolling the Arctic on behalf of Canada, Captain J.E. Bernier claimed for Canada the territory between its east and west mainland borders all the way to the North Pole---that is, the entire Arctic Archipelago. Although the legitimacy of his act was considered dubious even by his own government, it introduced the sector principle to international practice and has since become a staple in the nation's claims to Arctic sovereignty. But focus on Bernier's sector claim has obscured attention from his four voyages for Canada in the first decade of the century, and paradoxically left the broader context for his claim unexplored. This essay frames his 1909 act in relation to his decade-long quest to win fame as Canada's competitor in the race to the North Pole. The article's specific contributions are in revealing that Bernier actually made a sector claim during his previous cruise; that his connections in 1908 with American polar challengers Peary and Cook encouraged his 1909 decision; and that although the Dominion Day proclamation was what he would be remembered for, Bernier himself later ascribed surprisingly little significance to it.

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Article Piper, Liza (2010) Introduction: The History of Circumpolar Science and Technology. Scientia Canadensis: Journal of the History of Canadian Science, Technology, and Medicine (pp. 1-9). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001211529/

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Authors & Contributors
Sörlin, Sverker
Birkenmajer, Krzysztof Ludwik
Zeller, Suzanne E.
Wråkberg, Urban
Stuhl, Andrew
Speak, Peter
Concepts
Travel; exploration
Scientific expeditions
Indigenous peoples; indigeneity
Science and culture
Geography
Field work
Time Periods
20th century
19th century
18th century
21st century
20th century, early
17th century
Places
Arctic regions
Polar regions
Canada
Norway
United States
Scandinavia; Nordic countries
Institutions
Royal Society of London
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