- Stefansson, Vilhjalmur. Unidentified rocky landscape. Rauner Special Collections Library 1906-07. Stefansson Collection [stem226_592]
This lantern slide from the Encyclopedia Arctica depicts a barren landscape that was part of a proposed mining area in the Arctic. Territories like the one above often fell under the terra nullius (“nobodies land”) concept where the land and its resources were open to any country through sovereignty, without any restrictions or taxation. However, this concept led to disputes and tensions between countries because of the landscape’s status as a global common pool resource.
2. Stefansson, Vilhjalmur. Airplane next to large barrels on ice. Rauner Special Collections Library 1906-07. Stefansson Collection [stem226_589]
A lantern slide from the Stefansson Collection titled “airplane next to large barrels on ice,” distributed by El Dorado Gold Mines Limited (ca. 1930s). Depicting a mining site in the Canadian Arctic, this image endorses Stefansson’s vision of establishing extractive industries in the Arctic. The presence of the ski-equipped plane amidst the ice and tundra lends credence to Stefansson’s view of the Arctic as an accessible and cultivatable place.
3. Murphy, C. “The Arctic: It has become the key to world strategy.” Life Magazine, 20 Jan. 1947, pg. 55-57. [Life Magazine archive]
Reflecting rising Cold War tensions, this article, published in Life Magazine in 1947, directly compares the Arctic resource potential and development of the United States to that of the Soviet Union. The accompanying resource map reveals that the two great rivaling powers both had access to vast, diverse resources in the arctic, including oil, copper, gold, meat, fur, and highly productive farmland. This article notes that the U.S had fallen behind the Soviet Union in the exploitation of these resources, and the article argues that the U.S. should further develop the Arctic to extend its strategical economic dominance of the globe.
4. Stefansson, Vilhjalmur. Hand-colored. Reindeer herd on coastal inlet. Rauner Special Collections Library 1906-07. Stefansson Collection [stem226_418]
The indigenous Nenets people of the Russian Arctic region herd reindeer, a main source of their food and a central driver of their economy. The nomadic Nenets still herd about 300,000 reindeer in the Arctic tundra, moving them from northern summer pastures to southern winter pastures annually. Interventions from the Russian government pose a threat to the Nenets throughout history, especially during the pre-1917 Russian Empire, during the Communist Soviet era, and the current regime lead by President Putin, which oversees destructive resource extraction on Nenets land.