Greenland: Hidden stories, hidden voices
Amid all the Western media coverage of Greenland recently, the voices of Greenlandic people are usually absent. It can be very difficult for foreigners to gain entry into this understandably insular culture. Our reporter Ahmet Akooç has come closer than many. Watching a powerful play about Arctic politics in Copenhagen last year and attending the discussion afterwards allowed him to hear the perspectives of some Greenlanders living here and inspired him to find out more. In this article, he writes about what he’s learned.
As a nation, Greenland is literally on top of the world. However, it’s also now the center of global interest due to climate change, the discovery of natural resources, and shifting Arctic politics. US President Donald Trump’s determination to acquire the country and absorb it into the US have kept Greenland in the global headlines for weeks. But amidst all the discussion, fundamental questions often go unasked. Who actually lives in Greenland? What is the real nature of the country’s relationship with Denmark? How do Greenlanders really feel about Trump’s advances toward them?
As a child, you might have seen pictures of Eskimos building igloos in coloring books. You can actually spot such igloos in Northern Greenland. The term Eskimo is not as used nowadays, so you may have instead heard the term ‘Inuit’. The Inuit culture is scattered around the Arctic, just as Nordic culture is scattered around Scandinavia. The natives of Greenland are Inuits and they share many traditions with other Inuits in North America.
But this is only one side of the story. Greenland today is a nation of Inuit natives and Danish settlers. It is a post-colonial nation, not unlike New Zealand or South Africa. As a former Danish colony, Greenland maintains a complex political relationship with Denmark. Greenland’s defence, security and courts are all closely connected to Denmark, all the way across the Atlantic Ocean. That’s quite far away. The much closer USA would rather have Greenland join them.
No, Greenlanders do not want to join the US
Múte Bourup Egede, Prime Minister of Greenland, has gone on record, insisting that Greenland wants self-determination, not US annexation. The Greenlandic people are backing him up; a poll conducted by The Local found that 85% of Greenlanders would rather remain under Denmark than join the US. There is really not much else to say.
But if there is anything worth saying, we ought to recognize that Greenland wants more than to stay ‘under’ Denmark. Greenland’s official tourism website has a great article on how Greenland has gradually gained autonomy from Denmark and hopes to one day achieve full independence. In 2009, Greenlanders achieved a major milestone by affirming control of many agencies that were previously operated by the Danish state. Bit by bit, Greenlanders have reasserted control over their governance and natural resources from a Danish administration.
Greenlanders are not so much choosing Denmark over the US. Rather they want to continue the progress towards becoming an independent nation in the Arctic. It’s not only PM Egede, Denmark’s own prime minister Mette Frederiksen also affirms that Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders. And it’s taken a very long time for Denmark to be able to admit this.
The Hard Path to Greenlandic Self-Determination
For centuries the Danish monarchy and state have dominated Greenlandic administration. Colonization made Danish into the official language, and Danish administrators tried to assimilate the Greenlandic culture. Though the Greenlanders have worked hard to reclaim their culture, even today under Greenlandic Home Rule hospitals, schools, courts and businesses are staffed with many Danish speakers who identify as Danes or of mixed heritage. It’s not uncommon for Danes to move into Greenland, if official statistics or the 17k strong Danish Facebook Group “Everyone who’s worked in Greenland” is anything to go by. This state of affairs can sometimes give a false impression that Greenland is ‘Danish, nonetheless’ and that the Greenlandic Inuit are indifferent. On the contrary, many Greenlanders are furious that their culture has faced the threat of being erased.
In 2021, controversy erupted over Greenlandic victims coming forward stating that Danish doctors had forcibly fitted them with IUDs decades ago. Greenlandic women’s magazine Arnanut published Naja Lyberth’s harrowing account sending shocks around the world. The infamous Coil Case (spiralsagen) is an ongoing investigation into how thousands of Greenlandic women were put on birth control against their consent (at one point about 50% of the fertile female population). Greenlandic politicians and humans rights organizations have described the birth control campaign without consent as genocide. Whilst investigations continue to uncover a much darker past between Denmark and Greenland, some Danish politicians continue to downplay the Coil Campaign as ‘planned parenthood’, in spite of the fact that female bodily autonomy was clearly not taken into consideration. The picture so far is grim and shows how whilst Denmark saw its own standard of living jump through the 1960s and the 1990s, that period became a series of lost decades for Greenlanders.
The situation was not much better for those Greenlanders who have emigrated to mainland Denmark seeking a better standard of living. One other serious issue was the controversy over a Danish Parental Competency Test (FKU) and how it disproportionately targeted Greenlandic families. It became apparent that Greenlandic children were 5-6 times more likely to be taken from their birth parents and placed into foster care, often with Danish foster parents. Whilst a domestic problem in Denmark for years, the FKU test came under global scrutiny when Keira Alexandra Kronvold’s story was featured in the UK newspaper The Guardian. Not only did the psychometric test recognize Greenlandic gestures as non-typical, Kronvold also reported that she was treated inhumanely by officers as she was forced to give up her 3rd child a mere 2 hours after giving birth. The Danish government eventually abolished the FKU test under international pressure, but it is tragic that Denmark had not apparently learned better from their previous ‘Little Danes experiment‘ that sought to place Greenlandic children in Danish foster care in the 1950s.
Racist stereotypes of Greenlanders as uncivilized, lazy, drunk or that they are averse to work still prevail in certain circles of Danish society. While the complicated and difficult history of how the Danish state has mistreated Greenlanders is slowly coming to light there is a lot of pain and a lot of time needed to heal. All the same, these revelations contribute to a stronger determination and political will from Greenlanders who continue the fight to preserve their culture.
Greenlandic Activism and the Resurgence of the Inuit Identity
Just as there are Danes who see Greenland as Danish, there are many Greenlanders who see a clear distinction between the Greenlandic and Danish identity. Sumut (aka The Greenlandic House) is one such Greenlandic interest organization. Sumut’s activities within Denmark are around preserving the Greenlandic heritage of Greenlanders in Denmark. They offer language lessons, sell handcrafted goods, organize support groups, screen documentaries and in general try to bring the Greenlandic community together. Sumut also raises consciousness on the social issues Greenlanders face in their daily lives.
Did you know that the official language of Greenland is called Greenlandic or Kalaallisut? But Kalaallisut only refers to Western Greenlandic. So some members of Sumut now promote the term Inuit to also be inclusive of Eastern and Northern Greenlanders who speak related, albeit different, variants of the language. It also recontextualizes the Greenlanders as part of a bigger Inuit family, challenging the notion that Greenlanders are confined to a singular island in the Northern Atlantic. It’s really not that different from how Danes view their identity as a small part of the larger Nordic collective.
Denmark has found a celebrity in Aki-Matilda Høegh-Dam, activist and Greenlandic politician. In Last Week in Denmark, we have already covered Høegh-Dam’s protest by refusing to speak Danish in the Danish parliament, creating a serious discussion on the status of Faroese and Greenlandic as minority languages and her success in bringing Greenlandic interpreters into Danish parliament for selected debates. Høegh-Dam is not alone: Qupanuk Olsen (better known as Q) has also become a globally famous Greenlandic influencer. Q’s Greenland offers one of the most outspoken voices on Greenland. Suffice to say Greenlanders could not care less about the MAGA hats in Nuuk.
This all sounds very inspiring. How can I learn more about Greenlanders?
It can sometimes be hard to meet Greenlanders. They like to keep to themselves, understandably to avoid facing harassment. Many Greenlandic events in Denmark are pop-up events with fliers distributed around areas where Greenlanders tend to reside. These events are offered in Greenlandic, Danish or even English because the events are meant for Greenlanders and those who are genuinely curious about Greenlandic experiences. A first step is to get acquainted with your local Greenlandic businesses or your town’s Sumut branch in Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense and Aalborg. Alternatively, try checking the bulletin board of your local library.
If you are looking for an interesting overview of Arctic politics I can strongly recommend you see Kim Leine‘s play Det Arktiske Topmøde (The Arctic Summit). The drama seats a US, Russian and Danish politician in the same room as Greenlanders to decide the fate of Greenland. The actors have run a few shows now and they will be performing again in April 2025 throughout Denmark.
I was fortunate to catch Det Arktiske Topmøde when it played in Copenhagen’s Folketeatret last year. I stayed for a panel at the end of the show, featuring some Greenlanders living in Denmark. The panelists explored cultural differences between Denmark and Greenland, their struggles growing up (in either Denmark or Greenland) and how despite everything the Greenland identity has survived and persevered. At the end of the panel a Dane in the audience lamented that the Danes had taken so much from the Greenlanders and just wanted to know if he – or anyone for that matter – could do anything to help. A panelist responded: “Please read a book. Please just read a book on Greenland.” Because you just won’t find Greenland mentioned in colorful Danish children’s books. Many Danes grow up in Denmark completely unaware of Greenland or the Greenlandic experience.
Long-term, meaningful progress in Greenland is not something that can be purchased. A better future for Greenland can only be ensured with awareness and the intent to emphasize with Greenlanders.
Find out more about Sumut, the Greenlandic House in Copenhagen here: Home | Sumut