In the Arctic, as a consequence of a variety of factors including sea ice melt, globalisation, indigenous rights, and commercial opportunities, there is growing interest in how this region is bordered and defined. If we are interested in how Arctic borders are contested then we need to consider Arctic states such as Canada and their own border work in the broader context of structural racism (Milloy 1999), racial violence and assimilation (Thobani 2007), settler colonialism (Baker 2009), entrenched inequality (Porter 1965) and Cold War geopolitics (Lackenbauer and Farish 2007).