Greenland's former colonial power Denmark previously pursued assimilation policies that included forced sterilisations and de facto bans on the Inuit language and traditional tattoos. As Greenland gradually regained autonomy in the second half of the 20th century, its population, still almost 90 percent Inuit today, began to rediscover long-stifled traditions -- which US President Donald Trump's expansionist ambitions have only spurred on further.
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00:00I'm very proud of being Greenlandic, but I actually also want to be proud of being Danish.
00:28The reason I want to be proud of being Danish is because I'm actually ashamed that I'm Danish,
00:34and it's not my fault.
00:36It's going to get passed on, so it's very fragile, and you get tired.
00:49So I'm very occupied in how to keep digging into the work of everything from beading,
00:57to print, to sewing, to skin, everything.
01:01I'm very occupied by that, because I think I will never get tired of diving into our
01:08history and our traditions.
01:24Something that you might call a mental decolonization is happening.
01:28We see a lot of cultural re-appropriation, where Greenlanders begin to value cultural
01:37techniques that have been discredited by the colonial power and by the church on a very
01:44practical basis, like handicrafts and drum dancing and kayaking.
02:01The way that Trump has put us into a world context has very much spoken into my personal
02:12understanding of my national identity.
02:15I am, more now than ever, am I sure of who I am, and I'm definitely not American.
02:24My own personal identity is, I'm a whole lot of person.
02:30I carry my Greenlandic and my Danish side with pride.