The Inuit population in Greenland and the controversial relation with Denmark

Translated by Irene Cecchi

Lately, Greenland was under the media’s spotlight because of the claimings of the new United States President Donald Trump. In fact, he said that he wants Greenland to be part of the US, at the cost of fighting militarily for it. Greenland is currently part of the Reign of Denmark, after being it’s colony for a long time until 1900 when it received partial autonomy but still staying under its control. But the relations with Copenhagen were not always linear, especially when it comes to how the native inuit population is treated, subjected to discrimination.

The colonialist past and the Danish influence

About 4500 years ago, the inuit population arrived from Canada to Greenland, also called Kalaallit Nunaat in their language (Kalaallisut, western greenlandish).

The first European settlement in Greenland dates back to 985 when the Norwegian Erik the Red arrived on the island. Since the 18th century, except for a brief period during the Second World War, the island has always been under Denmark’s control. Despite the fact that they were not autonomous and the spread of Lutheranism, they inuit were allowed to preserve their culture. Denmark abolished Greenland colony status in 1953, welcoming it in the Reign and settling their own governmental institutions. In 1979 Greenland was granted self-government and even more autonomy in 2009 even though some key aspects like foreign affairs are still under Denmark jurisdiction.

After the Second World War, Copenhagen’s influence clashed against inuit’s lifestyle. In fact, Denmark decided to transform the economy and start a modernization and industrialisation process that would strongly impact the locals. In the past, Greenland’s economy was based on hunting and fishing on a small scale, with the inuit population adapting to the rigid weather and lifestyle, reinforcing generations old habits and customs.

In order to modernize the country, big infrastructures in the major cities of the Island were built in the 70s and 80s, like in Nuuk, the capital, where people were kind of forced to move to find a job. This led to the abandonment of numerous little villages, some of them were even eliminated from the map since the people left were too few to keep the services going. The big cities are very far away, so to go from one another is often necessary to take a plane. Many people decided to leave Greenland to move to Denmark. This sudden change was devastating for the inuit population that, in just one generation time, had to adapt to a new lifestyle, completely different to their traditions causing many of them, mainly the youngest ones, to feel a strong alienation and a loss of identity. The Danish government didn’t help steaming this spreading feeling: along with urbanization, they also tried to introduce the Danish culture during the years, up to using methods against human rights.

Discrimination from the 50s

Greenland hosts about 56 thousand inhabitants, 88% of them have inuit origins called Kalaallit and speaking Kalaallisut, not many of them also speak Danish and this is the cause of linguistic barriers. In the past, Denmark tried to foster its influence on the island, with a famous case in the 50s that made a huge scandal: 22 inuit children were taken from their families and moved to Denmark aiming to improve their life. Nevertheless, they were prohibited to speak Kalaallisut or have any contact with their culture, this caused them not to feel neither Greenlandish nor Danish. Once they went back to Greenland as adults, the majority of them developped mentall illnesses that often led to suicide. Denmark apologised for that only in 2020. Another controversial event has been the inuit population control program implemented in the 60s and 70s, consisting in the introduction of intrauterine contraceptives in inuit women and girls (up to 12 years old). The victims, estimated to be about 4500 women, didn't always know about it or didn’t express their consent. In 2024, Greenland Prime Minister, Múte Egede, defined this practice as genocide.

But how is the situation nowadays? Today the inuit population is still subjected to discrimination and prejudice within Danish society. According to the stereotypes, the majority of Greenlanders live in destitution, addicted to alcohol and drugs.

Greenlanders living in Denmark are not recognised as ethnic minority, a status that could improve their conditions, even though it was endorsed to the Dutch population living in the South of the country. Anyways, the autonomy given in 2008 allowed a strengthening of the Greenlandish identity and cultural independence, along with the fact that the Danish language is no longer the first official language on the island.

Despite the growing autonomy, problems are evergreen. In fact, Greenland is the country with the higher suicide rate in the world. It is thought that it can be related to the population’s loss of identity, a phenomenon widespread mainly among the younger ones. Only recently the government mobilized to stem this emergency that has long been a taboo in Greenlandish society.

Another discriminative case concerns the custody of inuit children by Danish families or institutions. The number of inuit children who need custody is six times higher than Danish children (5.6% vs 1%) because the parents are submitted to a psychometric test (called forældrekompetenceundersøgelse) to prove their capabilities that is entirely in Danish language and doesn’t take into consideration cultural differences of the inuit population. In addition, these children are not taught about their culture and language, leading to an estrangement from their origins. After numerous petitions and requests, the test was finally abolished in January 2025, a step that was probably influenced by the latest Trump claims. Despite the little progress of the last decades, Greenland aims to a stronger identity and cultural feel: the party inuit Ataqatigiit won the last elections in 2021 with the aim of an independent Greenland at the core of its program, proving how the colonialist legacy has still a huge influence.

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