Patrolling North of 60: Military Infrastructure in Canada’s Arctic Communities

With their signature red sweaters and bright red .308 bolt action rifles, Canadian Rangers have become an established military presence in some of Canada’s most remote regions. Originally established as a symbolic representation of Canada’s sovereignty on the Northwest coast at the start of the Cold War in 1947, their presence in the Arctic functioned to protect Canada from any potential Northern invasion. Today, Rangers act as scouts and guides in the arctic meant to alarm the military of any suspicious activity, without actively engaging in combat. Rangers are expected to join the organization equipped with their own gear and already trained in surviving and navigating on the land. Located in almost 70 communities across the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, the Yukon, and Atlin, BC, Canadian Rangers in the 1st Canadian Ranger Patrol Group (1 CRPG) are viewed as a critical part of the arctic defense strategy. Sinceii\nthe Organization’s inception in 1947, the employment of local and Indigenous personnel has been advertised as a cost-effective way to bring money, skills, and employment to the north while simultaneously securing Canadian sovereignty in the region Due to their geographical location and the unique living conditions, most Canadian Ranger patrols are comprised of Indigenous personnel who use skills accrued over generations of living on the land to do their work. Because Rangers are expected to come to the organization fully trained, with extensive knowledge of “living on the land,” their traditional knowledge is re-branded as the foundation of arctic military training.\nSimultaneously examining the experiences of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous personnel, my research examines how Indigeneity becomes a key factor in the Canadian state’s strategy to consolidate national sovereignty in the arctic. Focusing on 1 CRPG, my research aims to expand an understanding of the Canadian arctic military landscape. Examining military infrastructure through the everyday, lived experiences of Indigenous and non-Indigenous personnel within communities and at the headquarters, this research is informed by settler studies and critical Indigenous studies approach to studying how ideas of race, whiteness, and indigeneity are constructed from a colonial, military perspective. As Ranger identity is constructed from the fabric of colonial ideology, the project explores how Indigeneity is reformulated under a bureaucratic, military gaze.\nIn the twenty-first century, the Canadian Rangers have emerged from the shadows to become a visible example of diversity and inclusion in the Canadian Armed Forces. Challenging this, this dissertation argues how the progressive representation of the organization hides its truly settler colonial identity. Using ethnographic research to examine how Rangers are recruited, administered, and paid, this project shows how settler colonialism relies on Indigenous\niiipeople to establish Canadian state sovereignty in the Arctic, doing so under the guise of a humanitarian ethic that scripts Indigenous people as needing assistance into modern life. Recognized as a people with a relevant culture and the necessary skills to manage the Arctic region, but paradoxically imagined as in need of state assistance, Indigenous people find themselves caught between their own economic needs and the ambitions of the settler state. This dissertation examines how settler soldiers participate in the colonial management of the Arctic through the Rangers. It focuses on how settler soldiers construct themselves in a white settler imaginary as a people who brings civilization to the Arctic.

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