Harald W. Finkler was head of the Circumpolar Affairs Directorate of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (now Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada) where he managed the international dimension of the Department’s northern mandate. He also worked to strengthen cooperation bilaterally and multilaterally with Canada’s circumpolar neighbours and oversaw the provision of policy and organizational support to the Arctic Council. Among various other roles, he played a key part in the Directorate’s contribution to Canada-USSR/Russia arctic cooperation. Finkler’s lifetime of polar engagement is reflected in the material in the fonds, which documents activities within the framework of Canada-USSR/Russia cooperation on the arctic and the development of international relations with an emphasis on the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug and Indigenous peoples of the north. The collection is an exceptionally comprehensive glimpse into the architecture, landscape, and daily lives of people in the Russian federation over a period of roughly 20 years., Image of an aerial view of the mountains and ocean in Nome, Alaska.
