Greenlanders Condemn Danish Rule: They Stole Our Future

Posted For: Rotorblade

For more than a year, Greenland has been at the center of a growing geopolitical dispute involving the United States, Denmark, and NATO allies. Since President Trump took office, tensions have increased as Washington has renewed its interest in the massive Arctic territory.

While the idea of the United States acquiring Greenland has drawn headlines, it is not new. The U.S. has explored purchasing the island several times over the past century. Greenland’s appeal is clear: it occupies a critical strategic position in the North Atlantic and contains vast untapped energy and mineral resources that are increasingly valuable in an era of global competition.

Denmark, however, has been firm in its position. Danish officials insist Greenland will remain under Danish sovereignty, a stance echoed by Greenland’s current political leadership.

Yet among Greenland’s native population, frustration with Danish rule runs deep.

Amarok Petersen, a native Greenlander, was 27 years old when she learned why she could never have children — and why Denmark bore responsibility. After years of unexplained medical problems, a doctor discovered an intrauterine device (IUD) inside her body that she did not know had been implanted.

Danish doctors had inserted it when she was just 13 years old as part of a population control program that targeted thousands of Greenlandic girls and women.

“I will never have children,” Petersen told The Post, tears of anger and grief in her eyes. “That choice was taken from me.”

Her experience was not an isolated one. Even as an adult, Petersen says medical decisions were made without her consent. After suffering ongoing pain following the IUD, she underwent multiple surgeries. Years later, she was informed that her fallopian tubes had been removed during one of those procedures in the early 2000s — information she had never been given at the time.

Her family was also affected by Denmark’s so-called “Little Danes experiment,” a policy that ran from the 1950s through the 1970s. During that period, Greenlandic children were forcibly sent to Denmark for adoption or institutional care, often without parental consent and frequently with no return home. The program was part of a broader effort to assimilate Greenlandic children into Danish culture.

Denmark has since acknowledged these abuses and begun offering compensation — roughly $46,000 per surviving victim — a form of reparations directed at living individuals who personally suffered under the policies.

This history does not mean Greenland’s native population is eager to align with the United States. Many Greenlanders favor full independence. But independence presents serious challenges in today’s geopolitical climate, as the Arctic becomes an increasingly strategic region. Major powers — particularly the United States, Russia, and China — are all seeking influence and access to Arctic resources.

From a security standpoint, Greenland must fall under a credible defense framework. As a Danish territory, it benefits from NATO protection. The same would be true if it were under U.S. control.

Denmark seeks to preserve the status quo. Many Greenlanders, however, see that status quo as untenable. Petersen points to the island’s deep social wounds, noting that Greenland has one of the highest suicide rates in the world — an estimated 81 deaths per 100,000 people each year.

“They took our resources. They took our bodies. And then they told us to thank them,” she said of the Danes. “How do you thank someone who stole your future?”

Greenland’s native population may not be satisfied with Danish rule, nor enthusiastic about becoming part of the United States. But they are central to the debate. Any discussion about Greenland’s future — strategic, political, or economic — should begin with the people who call the island home.

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