The Inughuit of Northwest Greenland: An Unacknowledged Indigenous People

• Published in: The Yearbook of Polar Law Online
• Main Author: Ngiviu, Terto
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Brill 2014
• Subjects: Arctic; Greenland; Avanersuaq; Inughuit; inuit; kalaallit; Yearbook of Polar Law
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1876-8814_006; https://brill.com/view/journals/yplo/6/1/article-p142_6.xml; https://data.brill.com/files/journals/22116427_006_01_s006_text.pdf

The Inughuit have already been forcibly removed from their grounds in 1953 when the US Military Airbase was established. In this connection, through the Supreme Court in 2003 the Inughuit were denied their claim to be a distinct indigenous people. This is mainly to do with Denmark has only acknowledged one indigenous people, the Inuit or Kalaallit of Greenland as they call themselves. However, in the most near future the Inughuit are facing relocation once more from their homeland Avanersuaq, this time to the concentration towns on the coast and their distinct culture may well disappear forever before being acknowledged by their own Government, even though they never call themselves for Kalaallit. This paper discusses how the Inughuit are culturally very different from Kalaallit. It also pays attention to the geopolitical demand and interest to invest in the Arctic.