
Greenland: is it really up for grabs?
By James Aitchison
President Donald Trump announced America’s intention to take over Greenland. He quoted strategic necessity.
But what does Denmark, the colonial power which owns Greenland, think?
And what do native Greenlanders, mostly Inuit people, think about this? Would they — for example — like to be citizens of the United States? Or would they prefer to run their own affairs?
Greenland is presently an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, and one of the Overseas Countries and Territories of the European Union. Thus, all 56,500 Greenlanders are full citizens of both Denmark as well as the European Union. The EU, NATO and the King of Denmark might well object to an American takeover.
Anyway, why would a great power like the US consider an invasion?
A permanent ice sheet covers three-quarters of the island, the only one of its kind outside Antarctica. That aside, Greenland, arguably the most sparsely populated region in the world, has untapped mineral wealth and strategically sits astride the Arctic crossroads between Europe, Russia, and the USA. The US has had an air base in Greenland since the Second World War. Invasion forces would have a well-established entry point, and it would be difficult to picture the Danish armed forces trying to repel the mighty US.
Which brings us back to history.
How can one of the world’s smallest countries, Denmark, with an area of just 43,000 square kilometres, be the colonial power controlling Greenland, the world’s largest non-continental island spanning some 2,166,000 square kilometres?

Let’s wind the clock back to 986. According to Norse history, Erik the Red, exiled from Iceland, explored the icy land known to lie to the northwest. And with the chutzpah common to all real estate developers, he named the icy island Greenland (Groenland) to attract eager settlers.
Of course, he wasn’t the first to settle in Greenland. The Paleo-Eskimos, the Dorset culture, the Thule people, and pre-Inuit were there first. The semi-nomadic Inuit were fishermen and hunters. They survived by creating clothing suited to the higher latitudes and learning to use dogs and sleds.
Between 800 and 1300, southern Greenland had a mild climate with livestock and barley farming. As winters grew colder during the Little Ice Age, severe famines were common in which “the old and helpless were killed and thrown over cliffs”. By the early 15th Century, Norse settlements were abandoned. Only the Inuit stayed and survived. Fishing and hunting abounded, with dozens of species of whales, seals, and fish on offer. Seal meat soup (suaasat) is still the national dish. And their culture is still unique. Their colourful mythology centres around whale and walrus hunts. They look up at the northern lights (aurora borealis) to find images of family and friends in the next life.
However, as history so often shows, once a colony always a colony. By the early 17th Century, the Danish-Norwegian government reasserted its sovereignty. In 1814, the union between the crowns of Denmark and Norway was dissolved. Denmark was then solely in charge of Greenland.
In World War II, Germany occupied Denmark and the US took control of the island’s defence. Greenland was effectively independent. At war’s end, Denmark took back control, rejecting America’s offer to buy Greenland for US$100,000,000.
As had happened in colonial Australia and New Zealand, Denmark then embarked on a policy of extinguishing Inuit language and culture. Indigenous people were forced to use the Danish language exclusively and had to go to Denmark for post-secondary education. The intention was to turn the Inuit from subsistence hunters into urbanised citizens. The policy failed.
Then, in the 1960s and 1970s, fertility control was introduced to reduce the Inuit birth rate. Danish doctors illegally fitted four thousand Inuit women with intrauterine devices (IUDs). Some girls were as young as 12 and taken directly from school without their parents’ consent.
Yielding to pressure, Denmark gave Greenlanders home rule first and subsequently self-rule — but not full independence from Denmark. Technically, Greenland has had the right of self-determination since 2009. A clear majority of Greenlanders want full independence, but not if it means a fall in living standards. For starters, two-thirds of Greenland’s government budget is an annual grant from Denmark. The carrot is compelling.
On a positive note, Greenlandic was declared the official language in 2012. Sadly though, Greenland had the highest suicide rate in the world in 2010 and high rates of alcoholism.
Climate change has seen massive melting events as the Greenland ice sheet recedes. If climate change intensifies and greenhouse gas emissions continually increase, Greenland’s melting alone could lift sea levels by 13 cm (5 inches) by the end of this century. Should Greenland’s ice sheet completely disappear, the global sea level would rise by 7.4 m (24 ft).
Logically, Greenland’s future should be in Inuit hands. Their ownership of the land is beyond dispute. Greenland is their land.
But when has logic ever determined the course of human history?

