海角大神

As the world fights over Greenland, its people double down on their own values

Amid the kayaks, local costumes, and Arctic mummies that a visitor might expect to find in the Greenland National Museum, there鈥檚 a curious addition: a Sears catalog.

The yellowing pages hold a strangely pivotal place in the history of Greenland. They tell of the moment when the United States first came to the world鈥檚 largest island, which stretches deep into the Arctic Circle.

Compelled to defend it against Nazi Germany during World War II, the U.S. did something more. It ushered in a wave of cultural change that dramatically altered Greenland鈥檚 future 鈥� symbolized by the Sears catalogs that were sent to almost every resident living there at the time.

More than 75 years later, the U.S. wants to return. President Donald Trump cites Greenland鈥檚 crucial role in defending the U.S. from long-range missile attacks and the threats of an increasingly open Arctic Ocean. Though he has toned down his demands, his interest remains. On Saturday, he posted on Truth Social that he plans to send a hospital ship to Greenland 鈥渢o take care of the many people who are sick, and not being taken care of there.鈥�

The claim perplexed many Greenlanders, who see their universal health care system as better than America鈥檚. Greenland鈥檚 prime minister politely declined the offer.

Mr. Trump鈥檚 attempts to steer the future of the island has at times seemed to cast Greenland in the role of passive imperial pawn. The reality is much more dynamic.

Greenland鈥檚 57,000 people are waking up. As they gain more autonomy from Danish rule, there has been a revival of Greenlandic culture and identity, and the territory has begun to chart a path unlike any national government in the world.

Nowhere else does an Indigenous community hold so much power and influence over national affairs, with 90% of Greenlanders identifying as Inuit. The result is a new model of governance, guided by Indigenous values.

Here, no one is allowed to own land, and society is built on a sense of communal well-being that goes deeper than any theoretical Western -ism, residents say.

鈥淲hen you are part of a smaller community, there is a different way to be around one another,鈥� says Malu Rosing of the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs in Copenhagen, and a native Greenlander. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a society where the stronger have to help the weaker.鈥�

To Greenlanders, this is a different kind of freedom 鈥� one in which communal ties to one another, and to the land, are at the foundation of a caring and mutually dependent society.

For many here, Mr. Trump鈥檚 threats were a threat not just to a government or a military, but to a way of life.

Even as the American president softens his demands, a deeper question behind them remains: What will happen to Greenland from here?

The challenge facing Greenland is in many ways the same challenge that has beset Indigenous communities worldwide for centuries: Engage with the broader world and risk being overrun, or remain independent at the cost of isolation and lost opportunity.

No one thinks navigating that choice will be easy. Many believe it could take years, even decades. But the threat of a U.S. invasion and takeover has forced Greenlanders to think about what they want their future to be.

鈥淭here is a huge awakening in this moment,鈥� says Liv Aurora Jensen, a graphic designer in Nuuk, the capital and home to about one-third of Greenlanders. 鈥淭he people鈥檚 voice in Greenland is becoming more and more clear.鈥�

This is obvious throughout Nuuk, where street corners are a riot of Greenland鈥檚 flag, a modernist, red-and-white interpretation of the famous Arctic sunset. Called Erfalasorput, or 鈥渙ur flag,鈥� it hangs in shop windows, is displayed on cars, and sits atop nearly every flagpole.

But the evidence of Greenland鈥檚 cultural revival is also apparent in Ms. Jensen鈥檚 kitchen 鈥� and on her own skin.

Outside the window is a classic scene of Greenlandic winter: brightly colored houses clinging to the weather-beaten rock, the fjord beyond fretted with the shocking blue of calved glacier ice.

Inside is a portrait of the new Greenland. Nearly everything is a product of the design company, Inuk Media, run by Ms. Jensen and her husband, filmmaker Peter Jensen.

Contemporary plates, curtains, and cutting boards are etched with traditional Greenlandic symbols 鈥� and given a modern twist. Ms. Jensen鈥檚 designs have won awards from Slovenia to Japan to Germany.

As she sets the breakfast table, lines of blue dots around her forearm become visible. It鈥檚 a traditional Greenlandic tattoo, and only a decade ago, it was close to becoming a lost art when only two people on the island knew how to etch them into skin. Now, such tattoos are commonplace.

鈥淲e are seeing a very, very visual desire to show off our culture,鈥� says historian Ujammiugaq Engell. Recalling a 2017 exhibition she did on Greenlandic tattooing, she adds: 鈥淚 had never worked on anything that created such demand.鈥�

These expressions of cultural independence are in politics, too. Since 2009, Greenland has been able to manage its internal affairs, while Denmark controls defense, foreign policy, and currency. But polls find Greenlanders want more. They don鈥檛 want to be a part of the U.S. 鈥� or Denmark, for that matter. Some 84% want to be independent, according to a January 2025 survey by Greenlandic and Danish media.

Yet there are telling asterisks. More than half say it will not happen for 10 to 20 years. And 45% say they do not want independence if it affects their standard of living.

Currently, more than half of Greenland鈥檚 public revenues are grants from Denmark. Independence would mean finding ways to replace that. In the past, the task seemed nearly impossible, with Greenland鈥檚 economy almost wholly reliant on fishing. But a new moment of opportunity beckons.

The globe is clamoring for the minerals and energy Greenland has in abundance. How it chooses to develop that wealth 鈥� or not 鈥� could prove the biggest test of its ideals.

In recent years, Greenland has become the blank slate for powerful people鈥檚 economic dreams.

Not only does the world鈥檚 largest island hold some of the largest deposits of rare earth minerals 鈥� materials increasingly essential for modern technology 鈥� it also has massive hydropower potential. Business leaders see Greenland as a prospective source for huge amounts of cheap energy to run power-thirsty data centers.

In the U.S., a Reuters report suggests several tech billionaires have floated the idea of establishing a 鈥渇reedom city鈥� in Greenland 鈥� a libertarian utopia with limitless energy and minimal government oversight.

The report states that the 鈥渧ision for Greenland ... could include a hub for artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, space launches, micro nuclear reactors and high-speed rail.鈥�

Naaja Nathanielsen鈥檚 own vision is dramatically different.

Greenland鈥檚 economic minister is open to investments. But she is unflinching that they must not harm Greenland鈥檚 values and ways of life. She and her people have no misgivings about forgoing lucrative development opportunities that have any whiff of exploitation of people or the environment.

鈥淲e鈥檝e built in high expectations,鈥� says Ms. Nathanielsen, who also serves as Greenland鈥檚 minister of justice. 鈥淥ne reason we don鈥檛 have a lot of mines is that we have higher standards.鈥�

鈥淚 cannot lower the standards,鈥� she adds. 鈥淲e will lose the backing of the local community.鈥�

Economic growth cannot become destructive to the very communities it purports to benefit.

鈥淲e could develop 100 mines and hydropower, but that would require a lot of workforce coming in from the outside and put a great stress on our culture,鈥� she adds. 鈥淲e want tourism, but we don鈥檛 want to be overrun in our small communities.鈥�

海角大神 Keldsen understands the desire to set such high standards. But the director of the Greenland Business Association in Nuuk says the government might need to be more flexible if it wants to hit its economic goals.

鈥淚f I want to attract investment, I need to be able to accommodate what investors want,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not enough to say, 鈥榃e鈥檙e open for investment.鈥欌��

He points to utility costs, which are the same across Greenland, from relatively urban Nuuk to the many isolated settlements spread across the island.

The goal of such price controls is to support Greenlanders living in remote settlements. But the government could do that in other ways 鈥� like subsidies, he says 鈥� that would allow utility prices to more fairly reflect market demands.

鈥淚t鈥檚 an ambition of the government to be an exporter of energy,鈥� says Mr. Keldsen. 鈥淏ut to sell surplus energy, you need to sell it at a lower price.鈥�

Some of these tensions have played out dramatically at the Kvanefjeld mine, which overlooks the fjords near the town of Narsaq at the southern tip of Greenland.

Australia-based Energy Transition Minerals has held the mining rights since 2007, but in 2021 Greenland banned uranium mining 鈥� a practice that has caused significant damage to Indigenous communities from Canada to Australia.

While Kvanefjeld was not a uranium project, there was enough uranium present to shut down operations. Energy Transition Minerals is now suing Greenland for more than $11 billion.

Mr. Keldsen declines to comment on the case, but speaking generally, he says there are opportunities for greater understanding between the government and the business community.

鈥淲e need to be bringing more data and a more contemporary mindset on this,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking for more trust.鈥�

For her part, Ms. Nathanielsen is comfortable with keeping the standards high. The growing need for rare earth minerals and energy will eventually bring the right companies to Greenland鈥檚 doorstep, she says.

If they could add even three mines in the next 10 years, she adds, 鈥淭hat would make a real change for our economy.鈥�

Peter Jensen, Ms. Jensen鈥檚 husband, has some sympathy for the challenges businesses face in Greenland.

He came to Nuuk in 1985 as a 20-something hoping to become Greenland鈥檚 first great moviemaker. But his initial experience was moving from house to house every night, since the only apartments available were controlled by the government 鈥� and there was a 10-year wait.

When he eventually decided to form his own media company, he tried to get a bank loan but failed, despite having a million Danish krona in business commitments. A friend offered his fishing boat as collateral. The bank still said no.

Finally, Mr. Jensen had to go door to door to raise funds, eventually getting the owner of one of Nuuk鈥檚 biggest fishing operations to front the money in exchange for ownership of half the company. He was sleeping about two hours a night.

Over time, Mr. Jensen became the 鈥済rand old man鈥� of Greenlandic film, producing documentaries, commercials, and collaborations with major companies like Disney.

Years later, he married Liv, who was by then his business partner, and they moved to Denmark. They thought they might never return.

鈥淲e were tired of being in Greenland,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 so hard to be an entrepreneur here,鈥� he says. But after he left, he found he missed being home. 鈥淚n those two years, I realized how much I loved this country.鈥�

He looks out his kitchen window across the fjord and knows one thing. No one owns that land.

鈥淲e have this kind of feeling of freedom, how we are apart from the world,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou can just go out into nature and shoot your own food.鈥�

Ms. Jensen chimes in that it is not unusual 鈥� or controversial 鈥� for even a government minister to call in and say he鈥檚 going hunting that day. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what makes us very proud. It鈥檚 our land, it鈥檚 our soul,鈥� she says.

Business is hard for her here, too. 鈥淚f I have to produce something, it has to be abroad,鈥� she says. Greenland does not have the industries she needs to make her household goods. But she thinks Greenland has its priorities right 鈥� and the world can learn something from that.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not all about money,鈥� Mr. Jensen says. 鈥淭here can be a new way of doing things, and Greenland can be a model.鈥�

Part of Greenland鈥檚 path forward means finding a way through the past. And that means wrestling with Denmark鈥檚 complicated colonial legacy.

In some ways, Greenland was fortunate.

鈥淥ne of the reasons Greenlandic colonial history is so different is we were colonized on a very different philosophical grounding than any other place,鈥� says Ms. Engell, leader of the Nuutoqaq Local Museum in Nuuk.

The 海角大神 missionary who first established a permanent Danish presence on Greenland in 1721, Hans Egede, came with an unusual respect for the native culture.

In other places, 鈥渢he arrival of the church often meant the complete erasure of a culture,鈥� says Ms. Engell. But Egede 鈥渇ought quite hard to preserve a lot of the cultural heritage we have today.鈥�

That meant Greenland kept hold of many of its traditional practices and, perhaps most important, its language. But some traditions, such as tattooing, largely disappeared.

More problematic was the relationship established between Danes and Greenlanders, which was unambiguously paternal. In later years, the Danish government turned Egede鈥檚 ideals into policy, passing laws that kept Greenlanders locked in time. Up until World War II, Greenlanders were required to sew their own clothes, and simple items like petroleum lanterns were deemed too modern.

That鈥檚 when the Sears catalogs came in.

With the Nazi takeover of Denmark, Greenland turned to the U.S. for defense. The powerful neighbor gladly accepted, but did not care about keeping Greenland 鈥淕reenlandic.鈥� So, in came American feature films, radio, and Sears catalogs, cracking open a new world.

鈥淚t was the first time the Greenlandic people had a say,鈥� says Ms. Engell. 鈥淲hile the rest of the world was burning, the Greenlandic people felt a sense of freedom, of evolving.鈥�

When Danish control returned, the tables flipped. Denmark pushed modernization at a dizzying speed, but the reasserted sense of colonial control brought devastating consequences.

Danish authorities closed isolated settlements and forced residents into cities where they had no social standing or understanding of even how to use modern facilities like toilets.

鈥淎ll the evolutions you had in the rest of the world 鈥� we went through all those different phases in 30 years,鈥� says Ms. Engell. 鈥淎s a byproduct of that, a lot of people lost their identity and purpose.鈥�

Alcoholism soared, as did suicides.

From the 1960s to the 1970s, the Danish government implanted contraceptive devices in thousands of teenage Greenlandic girls, some as young as 12, without their or their parents鈥� consent 鈥� an official effort to keep the population of Greenland down.

鈥淭here is a dark, dark history between Greenland and Denmark,鈥� says Frederik Fuuja Larsen, curator of the Greenland National Museum in Nuuk.

For Rakel Sanimuinaq, overcoming that darkness has been a decades-long struggle.

At age 4, she felt called to become a shaman 鈥� using ancient Inuit traditions and connections to ancestors to bring healing. But her mother said it was too dangerous. The Danes didn鈥檛 understand.

Mrs. Sanimuinaq heard stories about how kids had thrown rocks at her great-grandmother for following the traditional ways. At a boarding school in Denmark, she was told her beliefs were evil.

鈥淚 tried my very best to adapt,鈥� she says. Still, she went through severe crises and attempted suicide more than once. 鈥淎pplying Western methods to a spiritual crisis, it wasn鈥檛 working for me, at least.鈥�

But in recent years, Mrs. Sanimuinaq has felt a dramatic shift. When a priest on live television put 海角大神ity and traditional Inuit beliefs on equal footing, 鈥渋t was a historic moment.鈥�

Both sides need to come together to find restoration as equals, says Mrs. Sanimuinaq, who now has her own practice in Nuuk. 鈥淲hat I see is a balance slowly being restored.鈥�

鈥淲e had to cope in silence,鈥� she adds. 鈥淣ow, the Danes are listening, and that is part of the healing. That is all we need: freedom to be who we are. The mirror of colonization is that we鈥檙e not good enough to be who we are.鈥�

Mr. Larsen of the National Museum has seen how insidious this sense of inferiority can be. In the past, when his museum was asked to work on research projects with others, it was rarely given any more than a brief credit line at the bottom. Greenlandic researchers tacitly accepted themselves as second-class.

But that has changed 鈥� and he has helped change it. In the past decade, Mr. Larsen began issuing an ultimatum: 鈥淚f you want to work with us, we want an equal voice.鈥� It worked.

Ironically, Mr. Trump鈥檚 interest in Greenland might be giving Greenland and Denmark the chance for a similar reset. There are signs that Denmark is now listening to Greenland in ways it had not before.

For years, Greenland has demanded an apology from Denmark for its contraception campaign. But it wasn鈥檛 until Mr. Trump returned to office 鈥� with his designs on Greenland 鈥� that Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen issued a formal apology, describing it as 鈥渟ystemic discrimination.鈥� Women affected by the policy can also apply for $46,000 each in reparations.

In that way, Greenland鈥檚 revival is not only an attempt to reclaim Indigenous traditions, but an attempt to find new ways to engage with Denmark 鈥� and the world.

To Mala Johnsen, that can only be a good thing.

The former auto mechanic plays the part of Greenland鈥檚 antihero to a T. Seated casually in a chair of the caf茅 of Nuuk鈥檚 decidedly Nordic-style cultural center, Mr. Johnsen is a revolutionary in fleece. His manifesto is the clothing he wears.

His brand, Bolt Lamar, is arguably Greenland鈥檚 hottest clothing line. He and co-owner Arny Mogensen say they were tired of sunsets and polar bears and kayaks 鈥� all the familiar icons of Greenlandic art. 鈥淓veryone used Greenlandic stuff to the point of being souvenirs,鈥� Mr. Johnsen says. 鈥淲e wanted to do something completely the opposite.鈥�

So they created a line of streetwear that would not look out of place in South Central Los Angeles. At first, no one knew it was Greenlandic. And they worked hard to keep it that way. They used foreign models on photo shoots 鈥渢o make us feel bigger than we were.鈥� They kept a low profile.

Along the way, however, Bolt Lamar did become quintessentially Greenlandic. Fishermen wear their clothes as workwear. Teens wear them clubbing. Now, many people in town know where it comes from.

For both partners, Bolt Lamar became a way to widen Greenlanders鈥� world.

鈥淲e wanted to show that you don鈥檛 have to be specifically Greenlandic,鈥� says Mr. Mogensen. 鈥淲e can be anything. We are citizens of the world.鈥�

In her own way, Ms. Jensen of Inuk Media sees something similar. 鈥淲hen I travel around the world and see different cultures, my own becomes much clearer.鈥�

The question now is how much to open that world.

鈥淲e want to let in the world, but we want peace and quiet,鈥� says Mr. Johnsen. 鈥淲e want tourists, but we want the place for ourselves. We鈥檙e very welcoming, but at the same time, there鈥檚 a part of us saying, 鈥楽hut up, we just want to hear the wind.鈥欌��