Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand, right, wearing a red coat, and Gov. Gen. Mary Simon beside her, stand with the crowd in Nuuk, Greenland, on Feb. 6. (Screenshot courtesy of Uvagut TV)
‘We are one people’: Inuit show solidarity with Greenland
Gov. Gen. Mary Simon, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand attend opening of Canada’s consulate in Nuuk
Updated Feb. 7 at 8:30 a.m. ET
A crowd of Canadian and Greenlandic onlookers cheered, waved flags and sang O Canada as Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand helped hoist the flag to officially open Canada’s new consulate in Greenland’s capital city Nuuk on Friday evening.
“Today, as we raise the flag of Canada, we are reminded of the deep ties and shared values between our nations,” said Vivian Mutzfeldt, Greenland’s foreign affairs minister, before the flag-raising ceremony that was broadcast on Uvagut TV.
“This is not just the opening but further strengthening of the friendship and co-operation shared between Greenland and Canada.”
The show of solidarity comes at a time when tensions are running high over U.S. President Donald Trump’s talk about taking over Greenland, a region of Denmark. Trump has repeatedly said the United States needs to control the Arctic island for national security reasons — to prevent Russia or China from doing that.
Gov. Gen. Mary Simon, making her first official visit to Greenland, arrived in Nuuk Friday afternoon from Copenhagen, Denmark. She was greeted by Greenlandic and Canadian officials at Nuuk International Airport after a slight travel delay.
Simon met with Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen before attending the official opening of the consulate and outdoor flag-raising ceremony.
On Thursday, a delegation of Inuit mostly from Nunavik flew to Nuuk on an Air Inuit charter organized by Makivvik Corp., the legal representative of Inuit in Nunavik.
They went to take part in the ceremony and to show support for Greenland in the face of U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats last month to take over the self-government territory and NATO member by coercion or force.
Among those in the group were Makivvik president Pita Aatami, Kativik Regional Government chair Maggie Emudluk and vice-chair Mary Arngaq, Qikiqtani Inuit Association president Olayuk Akesuk and vice-president Levi Barnabas, and Paul Irngaut, president of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.
“We have over 90 Inuit here from Inuit Nunangat in Canada to help celebrate,” said Natan Obed, president of national Inuit organization Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and vice-president of Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada.
“We were just wanting to show how much in solidarity we are with Inuit in Greenland and Greenland generally. So, for Inuit, we are one people.”
Also attending the ceremony were Virginia Mearns, Canada’s new Arctic ambassador, and Carolyn Bennett, Canada’s ambassador to Denmark, under whose leadership the new consulate in Nuuk will operate.
Simon’s Greenland stay will continue Saturday with a morning visit to the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Jean Goodwill, followed by meetings with Inuit Circumpolar Council Greenland members and Denmark’s Arctic Council team.
Simon is scheduled to conclude her week-long Nordic tour, which included a trip to Norway, later Saturday and return to Canada.
Note: This article was updated to correct the name of the Inuit Circumpolar Council.
This is great to see, Inuit in unity is a very powerful force, Greenland is also a very good example of how to invest in infrastructure and education in the arctic unlike the Canadian and US versions.
More connections and interactions need to happen within our Inuit homelands, working together and supporting each other in how to navigate this new world.
There are so many well educated Inuit in Greenland all the while holding on to and using their language and traditions and culture. Inuit in Nunavut should be able to go to Greenland for school, university, trades schools, get a sense of how it’s done over there and bring that back to Nunavut, trying to copy what’s done in Alberta, Ontario or the maritimes does not work in Nunavut, we need to look where it’s closer to home and where it works for Inuit.
The Inuit in Greenland are very Europeanized, the differences are more cultural than ‘funding’
While Inuit here are North Americanized, maybe it would be better for us to us the Scandinavian way instead as it seems to be working much better over there.