Colonialism in Greenland

Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies Series Series Editors Richard Drayton Department of History King’s College London London, United Kingdom Saul Dubow Magdalene College University of Cambridge Cambridge, United Kingdom The Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies series is a collection of studies on empires in world history and on the societies and cultures which emerged from colonialism. It includes both transnational, comparative and connective studies, and studies which address where particular regions or nations participate in global phenomena. While in the past the series focused on the British Empire and Commonwealth, in its current incarna- tion there is no imperial system, period of human history or part of the world which lies outside of its compass. While we particularly welcome the first monographs of young researchers, we also seek major studies by more senior scholars, and welcome collections of essays with a strong thematic focus. The series includes work on politics, economics, culture, literature, science, art, medicine, and war. Our aim is to collect the most exciting new scholarship on world history with an imperial theme. More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/13937 Søren Rud Colonialism in Greenland Tradition, Governance and Legacy Søren Rud University of Copenhagen Copenhagen, Denmark Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies Series ISBN 978-3-319-46157-1 ISBN 978-3-319-46158-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-46158-8 Library of Congress Control Number: 2017941721 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017 This book was advertised with a copyright holder in the name of the publisher in error, whereas the author holds the copyright. This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institu- tional affiliations. Cover illustration: King Christian X of Denmark visits Greenland in 1921 in celebration of the 200 years anniversary of Hans Egede’s arrival. National Library of Denmark. Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland CONTENTS 1 Introduction 1 2 Ethnography, Time, and the Idealization of Tradition 9 3 Invoking Tradition as a Governance Strategy: Danish Colonial Policies in the Late Nineteenth Century 33 4 Achieving a Correct Blend: Tradition, Modernization, and the Formation of Identity 55 5 Diagnosing Vulnerability 73 6 Shame and Crime: The Effects and Afterlife of Tradition 95 7 Toward a Postcolonial Greenland: Culture, Identity, and Colonial Legacy 119 8 Afterword 145 Bibliography 149 Index 165 v LIST OF FIGURES Fig. 2.1 Map of Greenland 10 Fig. 3.1 Designation protocol 45 Fig. 3.2 List of repartition 47 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 Greenlandic customs and rules 20 ix CHAPTER 1 Introduction Colonialism in Greenland: Tradition, Governance and Legacy Colonial pasts are sensitive and unsettling matters. Their presence serves as a reminder of uncomfortable historical trajectories. Historical narratives of the colonially ruled are linked with notions of national identity for the former colonizers as well as the formerly colonized, and these narratives have the capacity to provoke strong emotional responses. The relationship between Denmark and Greenland is deeply marked by the legacy of colonialism. This book offers an analysis of the colonial project in Greenland.1 More specifically, the following chapters seek to add nuance and qualify one-dimensional images of the past and their related past and present identities—crucial in the current situation where assessments are characterized either by the destruction (or perceived destruction) of the traditional Inuit culture or a naive celebration of exceptional Danish benevolence. It draws attention to the equivocal nature of the colonial practices and deals with the establishment of an ethnographic discourse, the way in which this ethnographic “knowledge” was uti- lized in a specific form of colonial governance, the past and effects of this colonial epistemology including the legacy of colonialism in Greenland and Denmark today. © The Author(s) 2017 1 S. Rud, Colonialism in Greenland, Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies Series, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-46158-8_1 2 1 INTRODUCTION THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DENMARK AND GREENLAND Fifty times the size of Denmark, Greenland is known as the world’s largest island. The country is characterized by its extreme geographical condi- tions. Approximately 80 percent of Greenland’s area is covered by a gigantic ice sheet (approximately 1.8 million km2) yet the ice-free coastal areas equal the size of Germany. The population of around 56,000 inhabitants live in towns and settlements in the ice-free coastal regions, mainly along the west coast, which is more accessible by ship. No roads connect the towns or settlements in Greenland and all transportation is by ship, helicopter, or plane. The lack of infrastructure and the geographical realities present great challenges to contemporary Greenland. The Greenlandic population can be divided into four main categories: (1) West Greenlanders (around 80 percent); (2) East Greenlanders (around 6 percent); (3) North Greenlanders in Avanersuaq [the great North], also known as the Thule area (around 1.5 percent); and (4) the remainder comprising a group of predominantly Danish inhabitants.2 The composition of the population reflects the long relationship between Greenland and Denmark; many Greenlanders have family ties to Denmark as a result of marriage or migration. The colonial phase began in 1721, when the Danish-Norwegian priest Hans Egede established a mission and trading activities in the area of the present-day capital Nuuk, and this phase lasted until 1953, when Greenland was integrated into the Danish Realm. Greenlanders born before 1953 were thus born in the official colonial period and they have experienced the palpable consequences of the modernization policies in the subsequent period. They have also witnessed a period of political mobilization against inequalities and a lack of cultural and political recognition—culminating in the Greenland Home Rule Act in 1979 and the Self-Government Act in 2009. In spite of Greenland’s increased political autonomy, the interconnec- tion between Greenland and Denmark is strong. Yet, the ambiguous legacy of colonialism remains somewhat unresolved in both countries. The Self-Government Act stipulates the Greenlanders’ status as a dis- tinct people in the Realm with the right to self-determination; the Greenlandic and Danish parliaments are considered equal parties. However, Denmark still retains authority over political fields such as foreign policy, security, and international agreements. Intimately tied together at political and cultural levels, they are also economically DANISH EXCEPTIONALISM 3 bound. Greenland depends on annual grants from Denmark which cover more than half of the public spending of the Greenlandic government. DANISH EXCEPTIONALISM At the height of its career as a colonial power in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Denmark was engaged in India (1620–1845), Africa (1659–1850), the Caribbean (1672–1917) and the North Atlantic (Greenland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands). This small colonial empire gradually began to diminish in the mid-nineteenth century when Great Britain took over in India and the Gold Coast. In 1917, the Danish government sold the Danish West Indies (today the US Virgin Islands) to the USA. In 1930, Danish Prime Minister Thorvald Stauning claimed that Greenland was Denmark’s last colony.3 In spite of its colonial past Danish historians and anthropologists have only slowly taken theoretical and methodological inspiration from the field of postcolonial studies since the 1990s.4 Magdalena Naum and Jonas M. Nordin note that in recent years historians, anthropologists and archaeologists have scrutinized the Scandinavian involvement in colonial ventures more vigorously.5 Despite the upsurge in awareness and research interest, the understanding of the Scandinavian participation in colonialism is, according to Helle Jørgensen, marked by unfamiliarity or denial; and perception can swing from national pride to bitter consideration of human tragedy.6 In a similar vein, Danish scholar Lars Jensen has strongly critiqued

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