US President Donald Trump has repeatedly voiced an interest in buying Greenland, which is rich in gas, oil and rare earths. However, extraction would destroy the island's unique environment. Greenlanders, meanwhile, have become increasingly vocal about their desire for independence from Denmark.
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00:00Taking to the water in temperatures as low as minus 7 degrees Celsius, or colder, is
00:07routine for Greenlanders like Lars Heilman.
00:10The 31-year-old fisherman and hunter is heading out into the fjord of Nuuk.
00:17The island is experiencing significant attention since US President Donald Trump said he wants
00:22to buy it.
00:23We can stand by ourselves.
00:26We don't have to be helped by other countries.
00:29Indigenous Inuit people like Lars have been living in Greenland for over 4,000 years.
00:34They know how to survive in this vast and frozen country, with its huge fishing grounds
00:40and resources under the ice.
00:43We have to look forward.
00:45If we don't look down so we can go forward.
00:49But right now many people in Greenland look like this.
00:54We look only for us.
00:55Lars thinks it's important now to look beyond their own fjords.
01:01More than 4,300 people of Greenland's over 56,000 population work in the fishing industry.
01:08This trawler offloading several tons of shrimp.
01:12In the small fisherman's hut, where lines and bait are prepared for another day at sea,
01:17the American interest is met with a different perspective.
01:21For many, the real political conversation isn't about foreign buyers.
01:25It's about independence from Denmark.
01:30I hope Trump will be useful for our country.
01:35He must not deal with things in the way the Danish do, who just take from us but don't
01:39give anything to us.
01:44Greenland is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
01:47It's the biggest island in the world, situated between North America and Europe.
01:52But two-thirds of Greenland's population want independence, according to most estimates.
01:58The Danes forcibly took over this island in the 1700s, and only ended colonial rule in
02:04the 1950s.
02:07Nearly 90% of the country is of Inuit origin, but almost all the doctors and teachers are
02:13Danish, and many of the positions of high administrative power are held by Danes.
02:20The Danish government gives Greenland just under a billion dollars per year in grants.
02:25But it also guarantees Greenland's security as part of NATO.
02:30And the people of Greenland hold Danish passports, so can travel, live and work freely in the
02:35European Union.
02:38Greenlandic Prime Minister Mutta Egede and his party, they want independence.
02:45Greenland is not for sale.
02:47Greenland's future must be decided by the people of Greenland.
02:52We don't want to be Danish.
02:54We don't want to be American.
02:58Part of the international interest in Greenland stems from the untapped resources under the
03:03land, sea and snow.
03:05Large deposits of lithium and uranium are known to be here, and mining companies are
03:10itching to be granted licenses to extract.
03:15Svend Hardenberg represents Greenland Minerals, a company battling with the government to
03:19receive a delayed mining license, which would allow them to extract uranium in southern
03:25Greenland.
03:26It's very valuable in the sense that just taxation and royalties are substantial in
03:34the billions that will go directly to the Greenland government.
03:40Other Greenlanders are totally against the mining, though.
03:43Take Pitanguag Tisusen, who has successfully campaigned to block a number of mining projects
03:49from going ahead.
03:51It's unique nature we have.
03:53And once we destroy it, we can't get it back again, and we will get not money enough.
04:03Back out in the fjord, despite being in favour of mining Greenland for its critical minerals,
04:08Lars says he's witnessing the effects of global warming.
04:13Climate change is, right now, we can feel that in the water very quickly.
04:20Right now, water temperature is rising up right now.
04:26So we can feel the fish where they are.
04:29We have to try to find them.
04:32While rich in resources, poverty, homelessness and drug and alcohol problems are prevalent
04:37in Greenland.
04:39Every day, 50 or more people come to this Salvation Army hut to eat, drink and socialise.
04:45But they can't sleep here.
04:48People like Rebecca Josefsson have been dealt the hardest hand in Greenland.
04:54She told us she sleeps in the shopping centre.
05:00Not everyone can afford to live here.
05:03Sometimes we are hungry, but we live our life.
05:08It's just the conditions for us here.
05:12Greenland is a country both at the mercy of nature and deeply connected to it.
05:18And as Lars heads back in what is now the midday sun, he hopes they will profit from
05:23the geopolitical attention on Greenland right now.
05:28It's very good for the Greenland people.
05:30It's very bad for the other people.
05:33Many people come here to Greenland to see how it's beautiful.
05:38Much like Lars securing his boat to the dock, Greenlanders face the task of navigating their
05:43future and anchoring their place in the world on their own terms.