Why do we believe our collective soul is unhealthy?

During the past centuries different people have been brought together in Kalaallit Nunaat. The toll has been very high for the indigenous people in Kalaallit Nunaat. We wish to look at this from the viewpoint of the indigenous people. This is not the same as saying that we do not respect others; it just means that we respect ourselves.

Kalaallit Nunaat in relation to the rest of the world
We are part of a world where democratic values create a political foundation for the development of a State.

Therefore we believe
  • That all people are created equal in respect for the Human Rights
  • That we, as the indigenous people in Kalaallit Nunaat before Danish laws were passed on us, are a unique people with its own right to existence based on own values, language, perception of the world and way of living in a collective manner, not only with other human beings, but also with the nature
  • That all peoples have rights as free people
  • At these rights are secured by a legislative body where the right to pass laws is upheld by caretakers elected by the people
  • That those participating in the legislative body passing the laws governing the people can be reelected into a new legislative body if the people so desire, based on principles that protect the rights and safety of each individual taking part in this process
  • That space is provided for dialogue and reciprocal search for understanding of the disagreements that may be found in the execution of the legislative power, with an aim to find long lasting solutions, and in the course of that process of necessary transition towards these solutions, we can endure by knowing that the people at all times can change the underlying basis for these changes

With respect to Denmark as the colonial power, a painful divide has been created, not only between Kalaallit Nunaat and Denmark, but also between people. This divide has impacted all of us in present day.

In the following we list the most important events and situations that have had a negative impact on the sense of equality and mutual respect.
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This is not about Denmark but about how we perceive ourselves.
It is important to stress that this is not a condemnation of Denmark. It is about us trying to explain why our collective soul is unhealthy. It is about explaining why our collective soul can not be united into taking a joint responsibility. It is about why we do not experience equality and mutual respect and thereby do not see our self-esteem shine through. It is about why we are not free as a people.

Much of this is based on historical events and could be seen in a post colonial light, but in recent times we are also seeing events and developments which can be seen as neocolonial actions in a time where the geopolitical situation has become more tense in the Arctic.

In a democratic and free process it must be that the people can chose to say "enough!", that the people can chose to safeguard the democratic principles about full self-determination to protect itself from further suffering and even destruction.
The 30 items: The foundation for a better self-understanding
To create a stronger basis for the debate about saying "enough!" we believe that Denmark
  1. Has colonized Kalaallit Nunaat and the indigenous people here since 1721.
  2. Has, with support from the Danish king, suppressed the cultural values of the indigenous people
  3. Together with Norway, has taken over the land of the indigenous people and later used a foreign judiciary power to decide on the rights to these lands without involving the indigenous people (1933).
  4. Has excluded the indigenous people from taking part in decisions that were taken with the sole objective to support Danish international interests, most notably with respect to a military cooperation with USA during and after the second world war.
  5. Has annexed the colony Kalaallit Nunaat into the Danish realm in a referendum in Denmark in 1953 without a referendum in Kalaallit Nunaat. .
  6. Has forcefully moved citizens of Kalaallit Nunaat to protect Danish interests towards foreign powers.
  7. Has supported science in order to defend the Danish claim to the land of indigenous people by referring to the Norse settlements as a basis for this claim to the land, in total disregard of inuit culture and history.
  8. Has imposed Danish norms on people from Kalaallit Nunaat since the annexation by imposing Danish culture, language and values in order to create an emotional binding to Denmark, rooted in an economic dependency that left Kalaallit Nunaat very vulnerable.
  9. Has imposed Danish language as the language of power in Kalaallit Nunaat.
  10. Has created a divided society in Kalaallit Nunaat where language and culture creates a distribution of power where inequality exists and where Danish speaking people have better opportunities than the majority speaking Kalaallisut.
  11. Has always taken the ownership of Kalaallit Nunaat as a given without ever paying for the land
  12. Has forced parents to allow children of indigenous people to be adopted with Danish families in Denmark.
  13. Has through colonization of our society and the following "Danification" from 1953 been directly responsible for the negative developments with higher suicide rates, presumably caused by low self-esteem and social humiliation as a direct consequence of colonialism
  14. Has never recognized the indigenous people in Kalaallit Nunaat but only recognized the current inhabitants including many Danes, as a people in accordance with international laws, and by doing so has circumvented the question about the rights of indigenous people.
  15. Has created a basis for a threat towards the ethnicity of the indigenous inuit through 15.1: An ethnic assimilation of the indigenous people of Kalaallit Nunaat into Danish by 15.1a: The expatriation of colonial administrators and others, and thereby created the basis for unprotected sexual relations obtained through an unequal power balance. This has resulted in abandoned children, approved by Denmark to be legally fatherless, and this contributed to creation of a division among the indigenous people, and 15.1b: In the case of family creation, this has resulted in an emotional binding towards Denmark. This has created an illusion of a natural relationship between Kalaallit Nunaat and its colonizer, Denmark. 15.2: Denmark has also between 1966 and the early 70'ies systematically used intrauterine devices on 4,500 Kalaallit women as young as 13 years old and possibly used other contraceptives in order to reduce the growth of the indigenous population in Kalaallit Nunaat, in many cases without the consent of the young women or their parents. In some cases this treatment also led to sterilization of the women.
  1. Has refused to acknowledge that Denmark has had a role as a colonial master in the history of Kalaallit Nunaat, and instead ridiculed the indigenous people by stating that Denmark created a better situation for the people in Kalaallit Nunaat compared to a situation where Kalaallit Nunaat was colonized by other powers, and with the key message "Where would you be if we had not been there for you?"
  2. Has traded with products from Kalaallit Nunaat with the objective that the outcome should be beneficial for Denmark only. The people in Kalaallit Nunaat where pushed toward fishing and a few roles in some of the service sectors.
  3. Has never recognized or admitted the value of Kalaallit Nunaat, both economically in the form of raw materials, but also geopolitically in the form of good-will towards USA and politically in the form of representation in the Arctic Council and other fora
  4. Exercises military presence and escates same during peaceful times.
  5. Has allowed foreign military powers to establish presence without consulting with the people of Kalaalllit Nunaat.
  6. Has started to recruit young people from Kalaallit Nunaat into its military in order to strengthen the positive perception of the Kingdom of Denmark within the indigenous people.
  7. Has intensified the process of assimilation in the form of an escalating geopolitical situation in the Arctic, by which the military and political power can be made more visible, disguised a cooperation but in reality is a continued Danification of Kalaallit Nunaat.
  8. Has tried to draft companies into a volunteer network that supports Danish military interests (Interforce)
  9. Has included Kalaallit Nunaat into the surveillance initiatives by the Danish Defense Intelligence units without protecting the individual rights, especially critical now that Kalallit Nunaat is not Denmark.
  10. Has placed technical constraints on how Kalaallit Nunaat can trade with other countries.
  11. Has preserved the high court of justice in Denmark as the highest judiciary power.
  12. Has tightened the surveillance order to monitor Kalaallit Nunaat by placing advisors and political analysts into the Arctic Command.
  13. Has used its positions as the strong one in the discusssions about home and self-rule, particularly by emphasizing the economic dependency on Denmark, without showing any desire to solve this situation, and therefore without any real intention of allowing Kalaallit Nunaat to have full benefit of her own income but claiming 50% of all income from mineral extraction.
  14. Has threatened the indigenous people with the potentially devastating economic consequences and social disasters as well as security based uncertainties as a response to the work being done on a new and own constitution in preparation for full independence.
  15. Has exploited geological resources as well as scientific data to create an international position without considering the value of this by paying Kalaallit Nunaat. All knowledge, fame and knowledge has gone to Denmark without sharing anything with Kalaallit Nunaat.
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These 30 points may be seen as a tough read. They are not told in order to condemn Denmark but to understand the basis for a much more important process to reestablish the mutual respect and equality. We simply have to acknowledge that mutual respect and equality does not exist today and for a reason.

What do the 30 points mean in terms of our relationship with Denmark?
The Danish commonwealth (or Realm as some put it) is based on values that are not taking the values of the indigenous people or the majority of Kalaallit Nunaat into consideration.

For each of these points we have seen even very critical remarks and questions in the past, but we have seen very few specific cases where Denmark has acknowledged its responsibility. Some of these points were discussed during the preparatory work for the home rule and self rule laws, but never reaching the acknowledgement of the existence of indigenous people, and certainly not the fact that the indigenous people has suffered during the Danish colonial system. On the contrary, Denmark has always managed to state that "Denmark was a good colonial power for Greenland".

In reality we do not see equality and mutual respect in the relationship between Denmark and the indigenous majority in Greenland / Kalaallit Nunaat. It is even worse as the equality and mutual respect is being threatened by the escalation of the geopolitical agenda in the Arctic, causing Kalaallit Nunaat to become even more valuable for Denmark. The increased interest in the Arctic region has resulted in an increase in the Danish presence in Greenland and with that, the danger is imminent that even further ethnic cleansing will take place. With that we will se the indigenous people lose lose out on identity, values, language, perception of how we see the world, way of living in our communities. All of this danger presented by the fact that Kalaallit Nunaat is considered an area of Denmark and ruled by Denmark.

Many people in Kalaallit Nunaat has many family ties with people in Denmark and a lot of feelings span between the two countrries. We only wish for the best when it comes to a continued relationship with Denmark, but such a relationship must be based on respecting the right that we as indigenous people had before Denmark came to Greenland in 1721, from before contact was made, a contact that tried to take away the way of living and the language, the culture and our identity as human beings.

Many of the challenges that we face in our society when it comes to educational, social, health and psychological conditions and issues stem from the fact that our relationship with Denmark is undetermined and undefined in relation to the necessary conclusions that must be made viz-a-viz the colonization. This must be cleared out and we must reconcile with the past. Until this is done any initiative in our society will slowly suffocate in the air of unclear identity and despair. This is why we believe that we first and foremost must take our land back and become fully independent first before we try to solve our many challenges.

Time is short.
Time is short for action and quick action is required if the assimilation process is to be stopped. If it is not stopped we will see an ethnic cleansing, the killing of an entire nation before it is reborn. We also need to reconcile with our post, between generations, between us in Kalaallit Nunaat and with ourselves as individuals. The insight we gain from this will result in a much better foundation for taking the necessary next step now.

All communication and negotiations have happened on Danish terms, in Danish and with a Danish perception of the world as the backdrop, without any mutual respect and understanding. This does not yield a result where we see mutual respect but is rather a continuation of the colonization.

The Self-rule act from 2009 is based on a foundation that does not respect the indigenous people and time has come to stop the present and continuing colonization of Kalaallit Nunaat and to find a lasting solution.

How to do that is shown here.

Who is Inuit Nutaat?

We are ordinary citizens in Kalaallit Nunaat and kalaallit in other parts of the world who share a burning desire for, and work for Greenland as an independent nation, with a population that takes responsibity for ourselves as free and independent people.

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Inuit Nutaat
Sorlaqarfik Anersaarlu Nukittuut
Inuiaqatigiit Peqqissut

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