Aqqaluk Lynge pores over a map showing the ice surrounding the island of Greenland and scoffs at U.S. President Donald Trump’s claims America should “own” the territory.
“So, if you happen to dream of a golf course, oh, you’re welcome,” he taunts, “You may do this in the midst of the ice cap. It’s three kilometres thick. We will make it easier to and convey you there by dog sled, and I’m sure that you’re going to survive.”
One among the founders of the pro-Greenlandic independence party Inuit Ataqatigiit, Lynge can be the previous president of the Inuit Circumpolar Council.
He’s keenly aware that the U.S. threats have thrust the talk over Greenland’s sovereignty into the worldwide highlight.
“We’re in the midst of generational change,” says Lynge, an influential leader on the island, during a recent interview at his home at the sting of the capital.
“What you see today is something that we, our generation, built up. And now the young people have Greenland for themselves,” he says.
Lynge was once a fierce advocate for separation from Denmark but now believes the governance structure developed through the years offers the perfect of each worlds.
In 2008, Kalaallisut, an Inuit language on the island, was made the territory’s official language. Greenland has its own parliament and prime minister and controls its own education, environment and fisheries sectors, in addition to mineral and oil revenue.
“We have now got the perfect possible agreement between a former colonized people and our colonizer,” says Lynge.
“Inside that, there’s much possibility to expand our political and economic future. We have now a right to talk our own language. Also, we now have a right to all living and non-living resources,” he explains.
Former Greenlandic politician and past president of the Inuit Circumpolar Council at his home in Nuuk, Greenland.
Braden Latam/Global News
Trump could have dropped his threats to take the island “by force,” but his threats have reignited the talk around Greenland’s independence.
Roughly 90 per cent of Greenland’s population is Inuit.
Just what number of want the nation to grow to be independent of Denmark appears to be shifting since Trump’s threats first began last yr.
A brand new poll conducted last month for The Copenhagen Post found that 62 per cent percent of Greenlanders don’t want to depart, in comparison with a survey last yr that found 56 per cent Greenlanders polled supported independence.
A 2009 law allows the island to declare independence from Denmark through a referendum. Such a referendum has never been held.
“Over 40 years and we should not closer to being independent,” says Nuuk resident Arnanguak Stork, sitting within the apartment she shares along with her husband and adult daughter. Artwork by her grandchildren and old family photos cover the partitions.
Stork worries that Greenland and Denmark’s united response to Trump’s annexation threats is overshadowing the Inuit push for sovereignty.
“They [politicians] just speak to the entire world like they’re Greenland, saying, ‘Yes, we agree on every thing that happens from outside,’” she says.
“We don’t agree,” she adds, “And the Danish TV, they all the time discuss Donald Trump. We’re bored with hearing about him. And we’re bored with listening to Danish people.”
With a population of only 57,000, the territory relies on the Kingdom of Denmark for financial support, particularly to fund social programs. In Greenland, the danger of poverty is higher than in Denmark.
Single mother Dorothe Qvist says living in Nuuk is pricey and that reasonably priced housing is difficult to search out.
Heidi Petracek/Global News
Single mother Dorthe Qvist says life in Nuuk is pricey and that reasonably priced housing is difficult to search out.
But she still firmly believes that her people would profit from an independent government.
“My dream is for Greenland to be independent because I’m really pleased with my land and my people in Greenland. I do know we could do this,” she says. “It’s good working with Denmark now, but in future … I need to be independent.”
The connection between the Greenlandic Inuit and Denmark has historically been complicated and stays so.
Denmark’s colonial legacy of forced relocations and sterilizations, cultural assimilation, and family separations has caused long-lasting trauma.
A 2023 report from the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples urged the Danish and Greenlandic governments to handle the harms of colonialism and racism.
It also called for more inclusive consultation with Inuit when developing laws and policies.
Arnanguak Stork still hopes Greenland will someday grow to be independent from Denmark. “I need to feel it after I am alive,” she says.
Heidi Petracek/Global News
Stork believes life for her people won’t improve until they’ve full independence.
She says her adult daughter, who lives along with her, can’t afford an apartment, and says Inuit, particularly in Nuuk, face racism when trying to search out employment.
Asked if she believes she’s going to see independence in her time, Stork’s eyes fill with tears.
“I need to feel it after I am alive,” she says, pausing to stop herself from crying.
“We wish to feel independent in here,” she adds, putting her hand to her heart.
Greenland’s political parties all support independence, but each differs on how quickly that ought to occur.
Inuit like Stork, who’ve already waited many years, now worry it won’t occur in any respect.