Circumpolar World (a.k.a. Arctic).
In a strict sense, the world's
Arctic regions are circumscribed by the 10_ C. isotherm for July. In the more
common meaning of the term, it is the area of the world north of the tree-line
found in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia,
and Siberia. This article, however, adopts the Bahá'í usage of
the term which tends to be even broader because it also includes the subarctic,
an area between the treeline and the northern limits of agriculture. The area
shares a common climate in which the inhabitants "created the culture and the
physical techniques to survive in the earth's harshest regions" (Schuurman,
With an estimated population of 2,100,000 north of the treeline, some 2
million are not native to the region. 117,000 are found in the 11 Eskimo tribes, known as
Yupik in Siberia, Eskimos in Alaska, Innu in Canada, and Greenlanders in
Greenland. There are at least 60 other circumpolar tribal groups, including the
Saami (formerly known as Lapps), and various others in Russia and Siberia.
Significance of Circumpolar World in Bahá'í Writings.
Both Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá singled out the
circumpolar world for special mention in their writings. Shoghi Effendi
reinforced the special significance of the area in terms of
Bahá'í development and its place in the world in general.
Bahá'u'lláh accorded to circumpolar inhabitants (as well as
to those in southern extremes) an exemption not to rely on sunrise or sunset
for the purpose of the fast, but to rely on clocks instead (Synopsis of
Aqdas, 37). (In this connection, the Universal House of Justice has
confirmed that it is permissible to go by the clock when holding Nineteen-Day
Feasts and Holy Days)
`Abdu'l-Bahá, in Tablets of the Divine Plan, underscored the
importance of teaching the Bahá'í Faith in several circumpolar
countries. For Alaska, he offered the hope that "the breezes of the rose garden
of the love of God may perfume the nostrils of [its] inhabitants" (TDP:
9-10). For Greenland and Canada, he promised that if their Arctic peoples
respond to the Bahá'í message, "its effects will be very great
and far-reaching" (TDP: 50, 53). Some 14 of the 167 geographical places
mentioned by `Abdu'l-Bahá in Tablets of the Divine Plan are
situated in the circumpolar world.
Shoghi Effendi encouraged the Bahá'ís to spread their
religion to the Arctic when he summoned them to raise "Earthly symbols of
Bahá'u'lláh's unearthly Sovereignty ... as far north as Franklin
[in Canada] beyond the Arctic circle." He attached "the greatest importance to Alaska, and
it will become increasingly important in the future." He described Bahá'í work in the far
north as a "strenuous yet highly meritorious obligation." Although the circumpolar world has
only 0.04% of the world's population, Bahá'í interest is gauged
to be very high, given the fact that 8.0% of the Knights of
Bahá'u'lláh pioneered to this area. Bahá'ís often refer to the circle of
circumpolar Bahá'í communities as the "necklace of pearls" around
the top of the planet (e.g. Bond, 1992).
The purpose of reaching the circumpolar peoples with the
Bahá'í message ranges from the general to the specific.
First, it would reinforce the representative character of a rapidly
developing community" (CF: 11). Second, the work would have
"repercussions in other countries" (SML: 6) where minority populations must be taught.
Third, the "northern fringes of the Western Hemisphere" is a region that
will "play a prominent part in the shaping of the destinies" of humankind
(HE: 31). Fourth, as in the case of Canada, the country's
"collective and historical task" (MC: 61) depends on these "hard-won
prizes." Some seven of the thirteen goal areas during the Ten-Year Crusade
(1953-63) were assigned to the Canadian Bahá'í community.
There are currently (1994) eight national spiritual assemblies that are
involved in circumpolar Bahá'í work, namely Alaska, Canada,
Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Finland, and the Regional Spiritual
Assembly of Russia, Georgia, and Armenia.
History of Bahá'í Teaching Efforts. To those unused
to the harsh climate and geography of the circumpolar world, efforts to spread
the Bahá'í Faith can be an isolating, lonely, and difficult
experience. As a consequence, such efforts have proceeded at a much slower pace
than elsewhere in the world, and with considerable more sacrifices. The time
lapse between the arrival of the first pioneer and the first indigenous
believer could take up to 13 years, while in the more difficult areas, it would
take as many as 19 years after the arrival of the first pioneer and the
establishment of a local spiritual assembly. One pioneer likened the
establishment of one local spiritual assembly in the Arctic comparable in
effort to establishing a dozen local assemblies in an industrialized country
(Bond, 1992: 11). It seems that Bahá'í pioneers have had to work
in what may be considered traditionally gendered occupations:
Bahá'í women worked in stores, offices, schools, and hospitals,
where recruitment was local; men were usually hired outside the region for
positions in governmental agencies or performed manual or independent work
Four phases mark the development of the Bahá'í Faith in the
The first phase (1905 - 1948) opened with visits by
Bahá'í women to Alaska and the Yukon since 1905. Little is known of the fate of the
only male teacher to have made an early visit to the North, a certain DeLevier,
in 1925, to "work among the Esquimaux." Alaska was permanently settled by
Bahá'ís in 1939 and the Yukon 14 years later.
The European North also saw the visits of teachers, such as Amelia
Collins to Iceland in 1924
and Martha Root in 1935.
Nellie French visited Spitzbergen in 1939. With the exception of Iceland's first believer, few
visible results issued from any of these visits.
The second phase (1948-1971) was the most significant one for
securing a more permanent Bahá'í foothold in the north, opening
For the European North, the 1950 European Teaching Conference in
Copenhagen resulted in a fresh impetus to reach the Arctic. Two
Americans opened the
Lofoten Islands in 1953
and in 1955, a pioneer reached Reals Kolen, Batsfjord, Norway
(70_36'N.Lat.). A Brit
opened Spitsbergen in 1958. The Saami area in northern Norway saw the formation
of a spiritual assembly in Trondheim in 1969 and the enrollment of the first Saamis. A Norwegian couple reopened
Spitzbergen in 1970.
In Greenland, a young Dane became the first pioneer in 1951. Shoghi
Effendi indicated, through his secretary, the opening of Greenland and Arctic
Canada as the "opening stage of the plan to carry the [Bahá'í]
Faith to the Eskimos, a plan set forth by `Abdu'l-Bahá and very dear to
His heart" (Messages to Canada: 24). One of the most northerly places in
the world, Thule, received its first pioneer in 1953, remaining there until
In Canada's North, the first pioneer arrived in 1950 at Coral
Harbour and a few others
soon followed. By 1951, a Canadian Inuit had already enrolled in the
Bahá'í Faith. Labrador received its first Bahá'í
settlers in 1954. Several
Bahá'í Arctic Policy Conferences in Canada provided the spiritual
and administrative wherewithall in establishing the Bahá'í Faith
in Canada's North and in Greenland. The most northerly inhabited place in the
world was visited in summer 1965 by a Bahá'í, William Carr, was
Alert Bay, Canada, situated fewer than 800 km from the North Pole at
The third front was Alaska itself. By 1953, 13 areas had been opened to
the Bahá'í Faith, including Unalaska and Baranof. A small contingent of Natives and Eskimos had
begun accepting the Bahá'í Faith. In 1955, Fairbanks, the
gateway to Alaska's North, had formed its spiritual assembly. The Aleut chain of islands
stretching far across the Northern North Pacific required a deep commitment on
the part of the Bahá'í pioneers, and many of these islands were
settled by the late 1960s.
The third phase (1971-1988) started in September 1971 with the
holding of the Northern North Atlantic Conference in Reykjavik, Iceland. The
Universal House of Justice said that the conference "marked the opening of a
new phase in the collaboration between the nothern communities on both sides of
the ocean." By 1974, all
the major place between Finland and Greenland were opened to the
Bahá'í Faith, several of whom formed their first local Spiritual
Assembly and several buildings, such as in in Nuuk (formerly Godthaab) were purchased. In 1976, the
first pioneer to East Greenland, Ola Okfors, arrived in Tuno.
In Canada, three specially established "Bahá'í Homes" (in
Yellowknife, Baker Lake,
Iqaluit (formerly Frobisher Bay)) in the Northwest Territories helped to
maintain a visible Bahá'í presence in the area in the late 1960s.
The Yukon Teaching Institute, Whitehorse, was dedicated in 1984.
Developments in Alaska led the way in major shifts in the matter of
involving the circumpolar peoples themselves in the decision-making process.
"Native Councils"--begun in 1974--saw a new level of participation by
circumpolar peoples, an example that was quickly followed in Canada, where
"Spirit North" gatherings were organized by far-northern peoples since
The fourth phase (1988- ) represents a maturation of the
Bahá'í circumpolar work in Europe, Greenland, Canada, and Alaska.
For example, Spitsbergen underwent a considerable increase of
Bahá'í enrollments. Greenland formed its own national spiritual
assembly in 1992. Both Canada and Alaska witnessed the emergence of more local
spiritual assemblies and a greater involvement with the wider society.
The opening up of the Russian far north due to the dissolution of the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics also characterized this phase of
Bahá'í circumpolar work. In 1992, Bahá'ís opened
two localities in the Russian part of Spitsbergen. The time to bring the Bahá'í Faith to
the Asiatic Arctic had also arrived. Various Bahá'í travelling
teaching trips by prominent Bahá'ís and teaching teams. The Bahá'ís of Alaska began playing a
particularly noteworthy role in that regard. Taking advantage of
cultural, civic, and professional exchanges
(involving, e.g. teachers and nurses), in addition to direct-Bahá'í work,
the Alaskan Bahá'í community assisted in the establishment of
Bahá'í groups in Siberia.
General Character of Current Bahá'í Teaching Efforts.
Three elements characterize the Bahá'í teaching work in the
Summer Teaching Projects. Climatic considerations produced a
proliferation of summer teaching projects. With the long winter night and with
the fewness of Bahá'ís in the far north, it seems more beneficial
to undertake summer teaching projects. Not only is the climate more hospitable,
but the summer allows young people, including university students, to commit
time to travelling across the circumpolar world.
Teaching across International Borders. As northern peoples share a
mutual sense of kinship across borders, it stands to reason that
Bahá'í efforts involve teaching across international borders,
These teaching efforts fall into three categories. First, it is not uncommon
for Bahá'í pioneers to the far north to have lived in several
parts of the circumpolar world, capitalizing on their valuable
Bahá'ís have formed teaching teams across the circumpolar region.
In the early phase, in Europe, one found northern teams across the three
Third, circumpolar travelling teachers have begun to visit more southerly parts
of the world, especially Europe and Latin America; a case in point if "Trails
of Light" Project. In
Summer 1978, an Indian-Inuit teaching team from Canada visited 10 European
countries. More recently, Alaskan teams into Siberia have met with success.
Conferences. Due to the isolation of circumpolar
Bahá'í communities, such gatherings assume a great importance in
their collective life.At first, conferences and summer/winter schools were
organized by Bahá'í bodies in the south. After a series of
international conferences in Reykjavik (1971), Anchorage (1976), and Helsinki
(1976), conferences and summer schools in the Arctic are increasingly being
organized by and for northern believers themselves.
Distinctive Contributions of Circumpolar Peoples.
Bahá'ís have been an active force behind the non-governmental
Inuit Circumpolar Conference which gives the Inuit one voice worldwide. With the recent demise of the
so-called "cold war" between the former Soviet Union and the West, the
circumpolar Bahá'ís have been among the first to realize the
benefit of strengthening international relations among all circumpolar
Circumpolar Bahá'ís have also provided several models of
eliminating drug and substance abuse (e.g. "Bahá'ís in Recovery"
programs) and prejudice,
and of encouraging a distinctive form of indigenous consultation through Native
More significantly, the contribution of the circumpolar peoples relates to
the development of an indigenous Bahá'í administrative structure
and of strengthening international relations. Increasingly, it is the
circumpolar people who are arising to foster more effective means to promote
the Bahá'í teaching work through the Bahá'í
administrative framework which is now coming into play.
In addition to national Bahá'í newsletters and bulletins
that have served Bahá'ís in the circumpolar world, more
specifically northern Bahá'í bulletins have included Star of
the North (Yellowknife, Northwest Territories), Eskimo and Indian
Bahá'í News (Whitehorse, Yukon), Round Robin (Ottawa,
Ontario) The Polar Express (replaced by The Arctic Quarterly of
the National Arctic Teaching Committee of Canada).
Life in the circumpolar regions has inspired Bahá'í pioneers
to write both informative and moving accounts. For example, Paul Adams'
Arctic Island Hunter provides a detailed glimpse of his life as a hunter
in Spitzbergen, while many readers of Suzanne Schuurman's biography of her son,
Tristan, are moved by her descriptions of life in the far north.
Adams, Paul E. (1961) Arctic Island Hunter. London. George
Bahá'í International News Service. Haifa.
Bahá'í World Centre.
Bahá'í News. No. 253 (March 1952): 6-7.
Bahá'í World, Volumes 13-15
Bond, Jameson (1992) "A Retrospective: The Development of the
[Bahá'í] Faith in the Canadian Arctic and Greenland,
1948-1991." Mimeo. 8 Jan.
Correspondence from Jamesom J. Bond to W.C. van den Hoonaard, 30
Sept. 1986 and 27 Sept. 1987.
Correspondence from the National Arctic Teaching Committee of
Canada to W.C. van den Hoonaard, March 1979.
Dutilly, Artheme (1945) Bibliography of Bibliographies on the Arc
tic. Washington, D.C. Catholic U. of America.
National Arctic Teaching Committee of Canada (1974- ). The Arctic Quarterly: A Bulletin for the Bahá'í Circumpolar
National Geographic Society (1983) "Peoples of the Arctic." Map and
Schuurman, Hubert (1992). "Arctic Pioneering." Mimeo 2 pp.
Schuurman, Suzanne (1987) Tristan. Oxford. George Ronald.
Shoghi Effendi (1958) Messages to the Bahá'í World,
1950-1957. Wilmette, Ill. B.P.T.
Shoghi Effendi (1965) Citadel of Faith: Messages to America, 1947-
1957. Wilmette. B.P.T.
Shoghi Effendi (1965) Messages to Canada. Toronto. NSA of
Shoghi Effendi (1974) A Special Measure of Love: The Importance and
Nature of the Teaching Work Among the Masses. Wilmette. B.P.T.
Shoghi Effendi (1976) High Endeavours: Messages to Alaska.
Anchorage. NSA of Alaska.
 "Peoples of the Arctic," Map
and text produced by National Geographic, 1983.
 American Bahá'í, 20 Aug. 1993:
 TDP, B.P.T. 1977 (map).
 MBW: 44
 High Endeavours: 50.
 MC: 61
 BW, 13: 449-57.
 SML= Special Measure of Love,
 BW, Vol. 9: 918. High Endeavours:
 Bahá'í News, 7-8 Aug. 1925:
 High Endeavours, vii.
 Messages to Canada: 74.
 Messages to Canada: 74.
 World Order (Old Series), 5, 10. Jan 1940:
 BW, 15: 446.
 BW, 14: 303.
 BN, May 1955: 1.
 BN, April 1960: 2.
 BW, 15: 286.
 BW, 15: 483.
 BW, 15: 286.
 "Greenland" article for the Bahá'í
 Bond, 1992: 23; Messages to Canada:
 Bond, 1992: 6.
 BW, 13: 453.
 Canadian Bahá'í News, March
 High Endeavours: vii.
 Alaska Bahá'í News, Dec. 1989:
 BW, 13: 449.
 "Alaska" article for Bahá'í
 Check: BW, 13: 461-02.
 UHJ Message to Conference.
 BINS, # 71: 5.
 The Arctic Quarterly, v. 3, n. 4
 BINS, 24 Nov. 1968: 4.
 BINS, July 1984: 6.
 American Bahá'í, 8 Sept. 1992:
 Ltr from H. Rafat, Trondheim, Norway, 9 April 1993,
to Nancy Cameron, Fredericton.
 E.g. R. Khanum in 1993 (American
Bahá'í, 16 Oct. 1993: 15).
 For example, the "Marion Jack Project" (American
Bahá'í, 4 Nov. 1993: 13.)
 Alaska Bahá'í News, July 1989:
 Alaska Bahá'í News, Dec. 1990:
 Alaska Bahá'í News, Dec. 1989:
 E.g. Alaskan Bahá'í News, Nov.
 Such as Alaskans to Finland (Alaska
Bahá'í News, Sept. 1990: 8).
 Alaska Bahá'í News, April
1990: 14; also Sept. 1989: 12-13.
 Alaska Bahá'í News, May 1989:
18; Globe and Mail, Sat. Oct. 10, 1992: D-1.; Jens Lyberth, a
Bahá'í in Greenland, is one of its most active members.
 CBN, July 1974; e.g. Jokkmokk project with
Bs from Norway, Sweden, and Finland.
 Alaska Bahá'í News, Aug. 1989:
 This book represents a detailed account of Paul
Adams' stay in Spitsbergen.