Inuit pride stirs independence mood in Greenland election, after Trump interest

By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen

NUUK, Greenland (Reuters) - In a tiny workshop in Greenland's capital Nuuk, goldsmith Nadja Arnaaraq Kreutzmann polishes metals and stones mined and gathered on the vast mineral-rich island. The jewellery she crafts is adorned with Inuit symbols of life and survival.

Indigenous identity is seeing a revival in Greenland ahead of a March 11 general election called after U.S. President Donald Trump said he wanted to acquire the strategically located Arctic island.

Trump's interest has shaken the status quo and, combined with the growing Inuit pride, has led some locals to view the vote as a historic chance to free Greenland from Danish influence.

Greenland, which has a population of only 57,000 people spread across an area around three times the size of Texas, is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark and can choose full independence through a referendum process.

All the main parties support independence but they differ on how and when it could be achieved, given Greenland's reliance on Denmark for half its annual budget. Factions seeking a faster track have been galvanized over the past month by fresh accusations of historical wrongdoings in the exploitation of mineral wealth. 

In the 1950s, Danish authorities initiated a forced relocation of Inuit to larger towns, marginalising the practices and languages of the indigenous people who make up almost 90% of the population. 

The Inuit cultural resurgence in Greenland has taken off in recent years as understanding about colonial repression spreads, with a new embrace of traditional face and body tattoos a visible example. 

"For many years, it was embarrassing for a lot of people being Greenlandic, and they would suppress the Greenlandic culture and try to be more Danish in their appearance and their way of living," said Kreutzmann, 43, whose European surname and Inuit line tattoos on her arms reflect her own mixed heritage.

"We were told to act more Danish, to speak Danish, if we wanted to be something," she said in Nuuk, where wooden houses in primary colours contrast with snow that blankets the town and with white-blue icebergs in the bay. 

"Now, speaking Greenlandic, looking Greenlandic, and all of Greenland's cultural heritage, are being celebrated," said Kreutzmann, whose work includes a pair of earrings shaped like scales of the capelin fish - a small but vital part of the Arctic ecosystem and Inuit diet.

Since 1979, Greenland has had its own prime minister and other institutions but strategic decisions such as foreign affairs, monetary policy and defence remain under Danish control. The current parliament's four-year term ends in April.

Election polls are scarce, and political analysts said it is not clear whether voters will again back the ruling left-wing-led coalition. Greenland's government, meanwhile, is wary of foreign interference in the election, banning overseas donations from the campaign in February in response to Trump's comments.

For this story Reuters spoke to more than a dozen Greenlanders, all of whom said they favoured independence from Denmark and the United States.

Most wanted Greenland to decide its own foreign affairs, but many warned against acting rashly in light of Trump's comments - fearing Greenland could become worse off and expose itself to the United States if it too quickly seeks independence from Copenhagen.

Independence for Greenland could pave the way for more U.S. influence, already substantial on an island seen as vital for U.S. security interests, at a time when the Arctic region has increasingly come into the geopolitical spotlight as Russia and China intensify military activity there.

Trump has cited China and Russia's Arctic presence among his reasons for his interest in Greenland, which the United States previously offered to buy for $100 million from Denmark in 1946, after World War Two.

A recent poll indicated that 85% of Greenlanders do not wish to become a part of the United States, with nearly half seeing Trump's interest as a threat.

Kim Kleist Eriksen, an artist who carves walrus tusk and bones into detailed sculptures inspired by traditional Greenlandic symbols and stories, said Trump's offer had brought positive attention but that he was offended by his approach.

"At first, I thought it was a joke, but he was serious. What kind of man tries to buy a country in 2025," said Eriksen, 40, whose work sells locally and abroad. "I was disgusted." 

Eriksen aims to keep a Greenlandic art form alive, from a time when hunters used walrus tusks and bones to make hunting tools, amulets, or toys.

"I get to do art out of the stories that I've heard as a child and put them into carving," said Eriksen. "It gives me a deeper understanding of myself and my culture."

MISSIONARY KING

One person hoping to capitalise on Trump's interest is Qupanuk Olsen, a social media influencer and mining engineer turned candidate for Naleraq, the leading pro-independence political party, currently the largest opposition force in Greenland's Inatsisartut parliament. 

Olsen, 39, found her political calling after Trump's comments created an opportunity to intensify the conversation around independence, she said. 

"Every Greenlander now needs to have an opinion," she said. "We need to decide whether we should continue to stay under Denmark, whether we should become independent, or whether we should become a state under the United States."

Olsen spoke to Reuters by Nuuk's colonial-era harbour, overlooking a wooden red Christian church and beneath a hilltop statue of Hans Egede, the missionary sent by the Danish king in the 18th century and who for many Greenlanders symbolizes the colonial era and loss of traditional Inuit values. 

"I strongly believe the statue will be gone in the nearest future and replaced by a Greenlander who represents all of us or an Inuit myth or something different that represents our culture and identity," said Olsen, who gave up Christianity to pursue Inuit religious practices.

Her party believes that U.S. interest strengthens Greenland's position in secession talks with Denmark. The party aims to bring a deal with Copenhagen to a vote before the next election in four years. Three candidates told Reuters they wanted a defence agreement with the United States.

Liv Aurora Jensen, a candidate for the ruling left-wing Inuit Ataqatigiit party, was more cautious.  

"We have to choose very wisely what to do because I think we still want to be a part of Denmark, working ourselves towards independence. But we also need to work with other countries, our neighbours, Canada and United States," Jensen said. 

United Airlines is due to begin direct flights from New York to Nuuk for the first time in June.

Trump again mentioned Greenland on Tuesday, promising mutual prosperity and hitting a more conciliatory tone from previous comments that had refused to rule out military action to acquire the island.

"We strongly support your right to determine your own future and if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America," he said, during a major speech to the U.S. Congress.

HISTORICAL MISCONDUCT

Relations between Greenland and Denmark have been strained over the past decade by revelations of historical misconduct by Danish authorities, including removal of Inuit children from their families and forced contraception for women and girls. 

A documentary released in February alleged that the Danish state and companies profited from a large cryolite mine in Greenland between 1853 and 1987 without benefiting locals. Cryolite is a rare mineral used in aluminium production and the mine was the world's largest for the mineral.

Denmark will look at the profit allegations made in the film as part of an ongoing historical investigation about relations with Greenland, the Danish Finance Ministry said in reply to emailed questions. The ministry said it had not revised the numbers presented in the film.

Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede told Reuters at the premiere that the film challenged views that Denmark had been a "good colonizer," or that Greenland should be grateful for the money they have received from Copenhagen

"The Danes need to look themselves in the eye," he said.

Since the screening, relations with Denmark have dominated local media coverage and discussions on social media. 

"It definitely helps towards our independence because more Greenlanders are more frustrated now. They're starting to realize that we are actually worth much more than we thought we were," candidate Olsen, who sees mining as a route to economic independence for Greenland, said of the film.

Kreutzmann, the goldsmith, has used small pieces of cryolite in her work, gathered by a friend at the mining site after it was abandoned by the Danes. 

"For us up here, the nature has always been our common, the resource for all of us. We were able to just go out and take what we needed, but not taking too much," Kreutzmann said.

RARE EARTH 

Along with defence and shipping, extracting Greenland's deposits of uranium, lithium and rare earths on a much larger scale is what has driven renewed interest from global powers to the island, most of which is covered in a gigantic ice sheet, has few roads and is battered by unforgiving weather.

Ruling party Inuit Ataqatigiit won office for the second time in 2021 on a promise to stop the China-linked Kvanefjeld mine project, one of the world's biggest rare-earth deposits, on concerns about uranium pollution of marine life key to fishing, the country's economic and cultural mainstay.

The party, which supports some mining and tourism to reduce dependence on Denmark and on fishing, still opposes Kvanefjeld. A change of government at the election could revive the project's fortunes. 

Asked for comment, a White House official said Greenland had an "ample supply" of rare earth minerals to power the next generation of the U.S. economy. 

Thomas Emanuel Dans, a U.S. Arctic commissioner during Trump's first presidency, said Greenland's raw materials and its location put it at the centre of a geopolitical Arctic game between China, Russia and the United States.

"We're past the point where you could have oblique conversations and discussions about what has to happen. This is a time for action," Dans said.

"If they want to pursue independence, that has to be done within the construct of reality," said Dans. "It's a matter of finding a new arrangement."

(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen in Nuuk; Additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)