‘No such thing as a better colonizer’: Inuit emphatically reject U.S. takeover of Greenland

U.S. President Donald Trump says his country needs Greenland for national security. That has Greenlanders worried about their own national security.

Inuit advocacy groups, as well as Greenlanders who live in Canada, are emphatically opposed to American designs on their homeland. And, they say, they’re tired of being used as a geopolitical chess pieces by powerful people in faraway capitals.

“We want to say loud and clear that there’s no such thing as a better colonizer,” said Sara Olsvig, chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council and a former member of both the Greenlandic and Danish parliaments.

“We have already been through colonization and we know what it means when the interests of others and more powerful nations and peoples affects us negatively and when decisions are taken thousands of kilometres away from us.”

Trump’s desire to control Greenland, whether though purchase, diplomacy or some kind of military action, appears to wholly disregard the fact that Greenlanders overwhelmingly do not want to be Americans, according to a recent poll from the Verian Group. Most also don’t want to be Danes, according to the same poll.

Olsvig said even though Inuit want more self-determination, they also want to see strong international forums such as the Arctic Council.

“We’ve been able to work together based on mutual respect. We’ve been able to maintain a zone of peace in the Arctic even through difficult times before,” she said. “And I think it lies upon every leader who has something to say in the Arctic to stand strong on those values, on on calling for diplomacy to work.”

“It’s very scary”

Laakkuluk Williamson, an Iqaluit resident who’s Greenlandic on her mother’s side of the family, said she fears Greenland becoming the Arctic equivalent of American Samoa or Puerto Rico: U.S. overseas territories where residents lack constitutional protections and representation in Congress.

Williamson, who still has family in Greenland, said the U.S. capture and arrest of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro served as a wakeup call. She said Greenland, with a population of 56,000, would have little ability to resist an American takeover.

“The ability for (Trump) to annex the entire island is not far-fetched,” she said.

“It’s very scary. It’s very worrisome. It’s terrifying, in fact. I worry about the safety of my family. What are they supposed to do? What are the plans to make sure Inuit are safe in their own homeland?”

‘Greenlanders can make their own decisions’

Aaju Peter, a lawyer who was born in Greenland, but moved to Iqaluit in the 1980s, agrees there’s little Greenland could do if the U.S. is determined to use force. But she said Trump’s threats flout both international law and the Inuit right to self-determination.

“Greenlandic leaders and the population are willing to talk with the president, or with the administration in the White House, diplomatically, with respect … that the Greenlandic Inuit are sovereign and they can make their own decisions,” she said.

Trump has said if the United States doesn’t absorb Greenland, Russia or China would. China this week rejected that claim, as did officials from Greenland, Denmark and the United States.

“There is no imminent threat to Greenland from the Chinese and the Russians,” said Sen. Chris Coons, a Democratic member of an American congressional delegation headed to Copenhagen for meetings with Danish officials scheduled for later this week.

The foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland will meet U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House on Wednesday.

Related stories from around the North: 

Canada: Russia and China co-operating more often and more closely in the Arctic, says NORAD commander, CBC News 

Denmark: Danish foreign minister says Vance will host meeting on Greenland in Washington, Rutte says

Finland: Only Greenland and Denmark can decide on their own future says Finnish President, Yle News

Greenland: Greenland’s government says it should be defended by NATO, Reuters

Iceland: NATO chief to Arctic Allies: “We’re all frontline states now,” as Iceland’s role grows, Eye on the Arctic

Norway: “We want to be Europe’s most integrated region in terms of defence”, The Independent Barents Observer

Russia: Russia claims first-ever North Pole aerial refuelling, TASS reports, Reuters

Sweden: Sweden critical of Trump’s latest push for Greenland, Radio Sweden

United States: The U.S. already has leverage in Greenland, so why is Trump escalating? Experts weigh in, Eye on the Arctic