“We are a culture, we are people, we are not a commodity. Not something to be sold, not something you can just claim… It doesn’t feel good,” a Greenlander told NDTV regarding Donald Trump’s threats to acquire the island.
Greenlanders experienced a progression of emotions: initial betrayal and anger at being treated as a commodity, followed by humiliation. These feelings soon shifted to a momentary hope, but this hope was overshadowed by persistent uncertainty about the island’s future.
Accustomed to isolation from global attention, Greenlanders have suddenly found themselves at the center of the world’s focus, creating an emotional rollercoaster that feels like a rocky snowmobile ride.
Voices from Nuuk: A Culture Under Scrutiny
NDTV’s Senior Managing Editor spoke in Greenland to a cross-section of ordinary people there to get a sense of what they are going through. Two young people, Lucas and Anita, told NDTV that worry is their main emotion now.
“I think I’ve felt worried, actually, because you don’t know what is going to happen with all these statements from the president of the United States. I think there are a lot of people who have been quite worried,” Lucas said.
Asked whether he felt some hope given that Trump declared in Davos that he wasn’t considering a military option, Lucas pointed out that there is no way to know what the US president’s actual plans are.
Life in the Global Spotlight
Anita, a boat operator, echoed his thoughts.
“Yeah, I’ve been very worried. I think the situation is very different from last year. So I think it’s been a rough couple of weeks for all of us. You can really feel it in the city of Nuuk, the capital. We have all been feeling the same, just worried about what’s going to happen. And, of course, it’s captured a lot of attention, which is weird because we’ve never really been so much on the world map. It’s new. Everywhere you turn, there are people recording,” she remarked.
Anita said the ideal solution would be an agreement that works for everybody, including Denmark, which Greenland is a part of. Trump’s demand to own Greenland, she stressed, was very disrespectful.
“We are a culture, we are people, we are not a commodity. Not something to be sold, not something you can just claim… It doesn’t feel good,” she declared.
The Environmental Crisis: When Winter Feels Like Spring
Another concern raised by many Greenlanders was climate change. The island is warming nearly four times faster than the world average, and this winter, many said, felt like spring.
“We are so used to it being completely white and going out on snowmobiles, and the fjords being frozen. And now it feels like it’s about to be summer,” Anita said.
“All of this is a worry also because the northern part of Greenland is very dependent on the ice and snow, including for fishing or hunting,” said Marc Moller, a travel coordinator. Fisherman Nicholas Hornum said the survival of species like the polar bear is also threatened by climate change.
“We also see a lot more polar bears coming into the towns in south Greenland,” he revealed.
