The geocultural territories of the Arctic are poorly understood in the hemispheric centre of our planet. Mirages of vast open frontiers that will enable a renewed lease on global resourcing are colliding with cultures embodying deep memories and reflection of 19th and 20th century devastation and exploitation strategies and astute social, cultural and spatial navigation/survival capabilities. The theatre of the geopolitical North, living in the survivalist, mercantilist and global security and climate change visions that feed its narratives, is juxtaposed to an alliance of geocultures that are aimed at its reflection and deconstruction.