The inhabitants of Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, before Trump’s challenge: “It’s a utopia”

It is a rumor that everyone speaks. However, when you walk through the streets of the city, you can only hear the crunch of your own footsteps on the snow, the graznar of the huge black crows that fly over the city and the sound of the bells of the Hans Egede church, A huge and aseptic white construction named in honor of the founder of the city, a Norwegian missionary who arrived in Greenland in a Danish expedition at the beginning of the 18th century.

In the same old area, next to the Nuuk cathedral, the statue in honor of Hans Egede himself stands at the top of a hill. At first glance the statue looks impertérrita in the middle of the snow, looking at the sea in the direction of the old port remembering the times in which it arrived in the port for that same channel. However, the figure still presents the remains of red paint that were thrown towards it in 2020, during the National Day of Greenland.

The wound is still open and the Greenlandes feel more united than before. “The issue of independence had always been discussed, especially in Parliament, but it had never been spoken at this level,” he says Kiista L. Fenckerpolitical advisor and neighbor of Nuuk.

He speaks from the place that was his childhood neighborhood, in the shadow of the statue of Egede.

Of Irish father and Greenlande mother, Fencker looks in the fingers three tattooed lines, an inuit tradition – the original Greenlandic people – who are gaining popularity among the young people who seek to claim their roots.

«The first thing I thought when listening to Trump was: Great, another colonizer. But you have to thank you for having created such a great debate in Greenland about the independence and role of Denmark in the country, ”says Fencker. Such is the magnitude of the conversation that recognizes that the independence of Denmark is right now in his own hands: «If we play our cards well we can be independent in a few years. That is the level, ”he says.

Greenland for Greenlands

The conversation exists but does not translate especially on the street, many people prefer not to comment on the matter for fear of being used by partisan channels. This is the case of a traditional Greenlandic dresses designer, who does not want to speak for fear of repercussions on his work.

“In some ways Greenland has the same defects as a town,” argues Knut, a neighbor who hurries a cigar on the outskirts of the city market, where every day the tails and seal meat can be stacked, of a red color of a red color Intense almost black, next to the birds hunted that same day. “We are few and the population is very dispersed, that affects communication, there are people who have trouble talking.”

Next to the market, a small cabin decorated with colored lights shines in the dark. It’s nine in the morning and night is still closed. The dim light and orange of the lamppings illuminate the windows of the booth, where a man is appreciated to work inside. If one stops next to the door, he will not hear any electric machine, only the sound of a mountain range through the wood. Again and again. The one who is Serrando is a 16 -year -old boy. He does it under the watchful eye of Pavia, a 47 -year -old man who works with minors of unstructured families. Try to teach them a trade before they learn a bad habit. Grab a piece of sandpaper and tells your student to work on one the wooden slats. Pavia is a kayakist and director of a kayak school. The numerous trophies that adorn a wooden shelf so attest. “It’s a very old tradition,” says Pavia. He says that his ancestors used these vessels to hunt, fish and move between the icy terrain, now he manufactures them from scratch to take care of the inheritance.

«Greenland is for the Greenlandes. We are not on sale, ”he says surrounded by notebooks manufactured by him following the Inuit tradition. «The Greenlands tradition is very important for me, I have been building kayaks since 1992. I take Greenland in the heart », Zanja.

Fishing, hunting and relationship with nature form the basis of the Greenlands culture. It can be seen in every corner of the city. Near the port where a good part of the ships with Danish crew, Jon runs through the road with the antlers of an animal at the top of its head. Walk carelessly with what the relatively fresh skull of a reinde looks. Their destination is a workshop where the bones will work until they make them craft pieces.

“You are the first,” he insists when he repeatedly indicates a notebook where they point to the number of visitors who arrive. From the entrance you can see a strong and characteristic smell that seems to result from a Bone and hair mixture Burned, as if someone had approached a lighter to the skin too much. On the first floor of the building, a dozen men are polishing and carving innate antlers, narval horns or polar bear claws. Following the Greenlande artisan tradition, They make them protective amulets against the evil eye And some spirits, pendants or in the traditional Inuit sunglasses, designed thousands of years ago to protect the view of the reflexes of the sun in the snow.

There he works Miki, An ancient sailor who had to leave the sea by obligation. A disease separated him from his trade. He has the skin tanned by the sun, the years and the wind, although the most characteristic is a kind smile that accompanies the great white mustache that falls for each end of his mouth. Miki is dedicated to carving stones that are only found in Greenland to turn them into memories that tourists will buy. He works doing time – and money – while waiting to be able to collect his pension. “I am here instead of sitting at home drinking.”

He was born in Nuuk, but all his ascending are Danish. Greenlandic feeling arises if you ask him about the intentions of the United States: “What Trump wants to do is a utopia,” he argues from his position in the study. There is no doubt about the future independence of his country: «We are working on it, it is a slow process and we have to ensure as a society that we can do it. It is a slow process but we will achieve it ».

Remember with nostalgia his years in research vessels, while traveling the entire island. «Before there were only fishermen but the population grew and became aware of what was in the rocks and in the sea. It is a big country but there is a lot of prosperity ».

A prosperity that has also caught the attention of the president of the United States. His nominated for Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, has participations in a mining company that plans to start its excavations on the island in 2026, according to the newspaper ‘The New York Times’. «We would love to reach commercial agreements with the United States, of course. They are here from World War II, ”says Miki.

Reaching commercial agreements with the United States is a priority For many Greenlands, who see in Trump a window of opportunity to be self -sufficient and not depend on the future of Danish investment.

«We are only 56,000 inhabitants, we have to work together. We can’t stay alone, ”he ends.