"When US President Donald Trump referred to Greenland as "a piece of ice" during his recent speech at the World Eonomic Forum in Davos, the remark jarred: Greenland has been inhabited for close to five millennia and is home to over 56,000 people, mostly of Inuit descent. It also echoed a longstanding pattern by colonial powers to apply their own ideas of land ownership to places that were already inhabited, often overlooking established local systems."
"It's a pattern that reveals a deeper divide two very different ways of understanding the significance and use of land. Greenland's Inuit hold land to be shared collectively, rather than privately owned, an idea that fundamentally conflicts with Trump's desire to buy or otherwise acquire the country. Historically, in many Indigenous societies, people saw themselves as stewards of the land, managing it through seasonal hunting and harvesting, safeguarding water sources and maintaining ancestral sites."
"European empires, meanwhile, approached land as property: a defined asset that could be claimed, bought or transferred between states. Landscapes that didn't match European ideas of land use were labeled "unused," "wild" or "uninhabited" and thus, available. Since 1970, the United American Indians of New England have observed National Day of Mourning that coincides with Thanksgiving DayImage: Sue Dorfman/ZUMAPRESS.com/picture alliance"
Greenland has been inhabited for nearly five millennia and is home to over 56,000 people, mostly Inuit. Indigenous land systems emphasize collective sharing and stewardship, with seasonal hunting, harvesting, protection of water sources and maintenance of ancestral sites. European empires treated land as private property that could be claimed, bought or transferred, labeling landscapes that did not fit European land-use notions as 'unused,' 'wild' or 'uninhabited.' British officials in the 18th century defined 'uninhabited' to mean lacking a sovereign or 'civilized' government, allowing states to assert control over lands already occupied for millennia.
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