"There are two tales about the relationship between Greenland and Denmark; both contain truth and blindness. One is the story told by the ruling classes in Denmark, the other is the narrative that unites progressives and nationalists in Greenland. The moral of the first tale is that Greenland, as a part of the Danish kingdom, has managed the extremely challenging transition to a modern society without sacrificing its culture or identity."
"Greenlanders are among the only indigenous people in the world with their own parliament, political institutions and education system and who have maintained their own language. And they have access to the same welfare services as other citizens of Denmark. This has been achieved under difficult conditions by only around 55,000 inhabitants on a vast island in the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans, isolated from the rest of the world."
Two competing narratives shape the relationship between Greenland and Denmark. One narrative presents Greenland as successfully modernised within the Danish kingdom while retaining culture, language, institutions and welfare access. Greenlanders have their own parliament, political institutions, education system and language, and roughly 55,000 inhabitants sustained these achievements under difficult, isolated conditions. Greenland was integrated into the Danish kingdom in 1953 without prior consent, and later referendums in 1979 and 2008 approved arrangements expanding Greenlandic control over territory and resources. Greenland's constitution labels 1953–1979 a phase of hidden colonisation and recognises subsequent decades as decolonisation.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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