The wave of activism that seeks to re-examine the role of colonialism in society has been felt across the world, but now even far-flung Greenland is looking into its own past.
A controversial statue of Hans Egede, the Norwegian-born explorer who opened up the island as a Danish colony in the 18th Century, features prominently in the country’s tiny capital of Nuuk.
Though Greenland and its 56,000 residents are officially part of Denmark, both the island and its people have extensive autonomy.
Red paint protests
Last month red paint was daubed on the statue, with the word “decolonise” – apparently linked to anti-colonial protests going on elsewhere.
Now, in an online vote (which runs until Tuesday) Greenlanders will decide whether to keep or remove the statue.
The Nuuk administration says that so far there are 555 votes in favour of keeping the statue in place at Kolonihavnen, and 324 votes to remove it.
The vote is for the 23,123 people in Sermersooq municipality, which includes Nuuk. Following more debate after the vote, the authorities will make a decision about the statue on 2 September.
“A terrible man”
Those who want to remove it argue that despite the strategic importance of the island, Denmark has favoured the rights and living conditions of Danish Greenlanders over the indigenous Inuit.
“Many view Hans Egede as a rescuer of me and my people, but that is not the case,” said activist Aqqalu Berthelsen.
“He was a terrible man. He did not see my people as people but as resources. We need to start telling the story from our eyes: from the eyes of the Inuit.”
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The ethnic group has survived in the island’s harsh climate for centuries through fishing, killing whales and hunting seals.
Today, the territory relies on an annual grant of 3.9bn Danish kroner (£475m) from the Danish government to survive. Greenland’s main export is seafood, nearly all of which goes to Denmark.
Who was Hans Egede?
Egede, born on the island of Strynø in southern Denmark, was a priest and a missionary to Greenland.
He got royal backing, in what was then the united kingdom of Denmark-Norway, to explore the territory, hoping to renew contact with long-lost Norse settlers. However, he did not find any – the inhabitants were all Inuit.
While in Greenland, he became an accomplished botanist. He also founded a trading company and a Lutheran mission near present-day Nuuk.
