Donald Trump finds himself up against an unlikely foe: the Inuit peoples of the Arctic world. By announcing plans to claim and militarize Greenland, he has drawn the ire of these modest but determined communities that stretch across Europe, Asia and North America. Inuit make up 90 per cent of Greenland’s population, so it is little surprise that they are spearheading opposition to a Trump-led takeover of the world’s largest island.
For decades, Inuit communities have fought for self-determination with mixed results against colonizers from Moscow, Copenhagen and Ottawa. In Greenland they have achieved the highest level of home rule against their Danish colonizers and are reluctant to see that diminished by Trump, with large Inuit-led street protests against the move erupting in January.
