Birth control, questionable adoption practices and systematic state abuse. The Greenlanders have been mistreated by the Danes for decades. A history that has long been denied and hushed up by Copenhagen. American President Donald Trump offered an unexpected ‘helping’ hand. As an US state liberty and freedoms can come to Greenland. The Internet through StarLink and with iPhone satellite connection the Inuit can communicate anywhere with home.

In 1953, Greenland became a Danish province. Where the Greenlanders were previously allowed to keep their traditions, they now had to become Danes. To achieve this goal, Denmark went far. Greenlandic children were taken from their families, shipped to Denmark and put in boarding schools to train them as ‘role models’ for Greenland. A failed social experiment. Everyone who grew up in these decades was confronted with detachment or abuse by the state authorities.

Greenlandic women also still experience the traumatic consequences of those years. Denmark did not want to spend too much money on its new province. More Greenlanders meant more costs, so Danish doctors inserted birth control pills in hundreds of girls and women without asking. Only in recent years has the full extent of this and several other Danish scandals come to light. It took a while for Greenlanders to understand that they have been treated unfairly.

This realization is thanks to a few internet cables. For a long time, Greenland has been almost completely cut off from the outside world. Using the internet is very expensive and Greenlanders depend on Danish public television channels for their information. The introduction of unlimited internet in 2020 changed everything. Young people found their way to YouTube, English-language websites and social media. They came into contact with Inuit groups in Canada and Alaska. It strengthened their sense of identity.

The new awareness is turning into a loud call for recognition of the Danish abuses. The Danes have long wanted nothing to do with that. After all, don’t they transfer hundreds of millions of euros to Greenland every year? Denmark did not see itself as a colonial power, but rather as a helper on the road to modernity. They saw any form of criticism as ingratitude.