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“Get Your ‘HANS’ off My Island!”
A Canadian-Danish Border Dispute 

            Little more than a “Lima Bean” shaped rock jutting out of the ocean between Greenland and Ellesmere Island, Hans Island was first named in 1871 by Charles Francis Hall.  Located in the Kennedy channel, it has no resources, no trees and seemingly no use whatsoever.  For some reason, though, Canada and Denmark have been contesting its ownership since 1933 when Greenland was established as belonging to the Kingdom of Denmark.  A similar claim was made in 1971 by Canada when a treaty delimiting the continental shelf between the two countries was signed.  In neither case was Hans Island ever discussed.  Both times Canada and Denmark were left with tension regarding its ownership.

 

            The situation worsened in 1983 when the Canadian based oil company, Dome Petroleum conducted testing on the island without the knowledge of the Danish government.  In response to this testing, the Danish Minister of Greenlandic Affairs flew to the island and erected a Danish flag.  This in turn led to protests by the Canadian government.  From 1985 to 2003 four more Danish flags are added, replacing old ones and further kindling the unrest between the two countries.  Canada also took part in the flag war, at one point even going so far as to remove a Danish flag and replace it with a Canadian one.

 

            To argue and fight over such a small piece of land seems a might silly.  So, I have to ask what the two nations are really fighting about.  For the Danish, Hans Island is a sociofact; a piece of their history.  It goes back to the man the island was named after.  Hans Hendrik of Fiskenæsset is a Danish hero, and a major part of the history of Danish exploration.  The Danes wish to preserve the island as a part of their heritage.  Their argument becomes less legalistic and more sociological in this light.

 

“On an idealistic level, Hans Island represents Canada’s ability to successfully defend, both politically and militarily, its own claimed territory.”

 

For Canada the island is a battle won in keeping the North-West passage Canadian.  The United States and Russia have long argued that the passage is International waters.  Certain people in the Canadian government feel that loosing a land dispute within the passage would be a sliding slope towards internationalizing the passage.  The passage of course is also an integral part of history and means a lot to Canada.  Here, we have an argument that is fundamentally ideological.

 

 

            Reasons are being given on both sides as to the ownership of the island, stating that “the Island is closer to Denmark,” or that it “resides on a continental shelf belonging to Canada.”  The reality is that these arguments are coming from a need to provide more tangible evidence to the arbitrator than “l’histoire de mentalites” (the history of the mind).  Both sides feel a strong connection to the Island, but neither can provide tangible reasons why.  All they have are principles (sociofacts), and beliefs (mentifacts).  Blood does run thicker than water, in men and in nations as a whole.

 

Sources Cited

 

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