" Greenland on its way ", " Royal Greenland and Greenland "
Presented by the " Inuit Circumpolar Conference "

The video "Greenland on its way " (produced by the Danish minister of foreign affairs) presented us (the film's audience this afternoon) with the Denmark's position about the autonomy of the Greenland region granted in 1979 by the past colonial power.

This video allowed us to discover the daily life of the indigenous population of this region, the Inuits. The Inuits maintain their cultural traditions, which hold a privileged relation with nature. Fishing is their principal resource as well as the primary export product of the region. The grant of autonomy in 1979 by the Danish government was perceived by the local population as a "peaceful revolution."
Indeed, this reform put in place a political autonomy that has regular legislative elections and has several representatives from the local population. However, regarding the essential questions (i.e. monetary, foreign policy and security issues), the central government keeps final decision power. However, certain shadow zones subsist, particularly regarding the difficulties found by the indigenous population.

Furthermore, socioeconomic problems (such as alcoholism, prostitution and unemployment) of the Inuits are not mentioned in this documentary. It is noted that the film "Royal Greenland and Greenland" was not able to be distributed because of technical problems. The film, however, would have been able to introduce the problem of the displacement of the permanent Inuit camp (of Thule) one day after the installation of the strategic military American base in 1953.

The Inuit point of view had not been expressed in the film. It did not allow us to have a more objective vision of the situation of Greenland. However, the distribution of Aqqaluk Lynge's article, "USA's national missile defense threatens Greenland's exiles" exposed the exterior threats weighing on the indigenous population of Greenland.

By : Clement Therme

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