Guardians of the Arctic

United States President Donald Trump discusses Greenland as a strategic asset that could be acquired by Washington, while Denmark asserts its legal sovereignty over the island. However, for the Inuit people, who have lived here for centuries, no ‍ ‍one owns the Arctic land.

The concept that ownership is shared collectively is central to the Inuit identity, they say. It has survived 300 years of colonization and is written into law: People can own houses, but not the land beneath them.

“We can’t even buy our own land ourselves, but Trump wants to buy it — that’s so strange to us,” said Kaaleeraq ‍ ‍Ringsted, 74, in Kapisillit, a tiny settlement of wooden houses clinging to the shore of a fjord east of the capital, Nuuk.

“Since childhood, I have been used to the idea that you can only rent land. We have always been used to the idea that we collectively own our land.”