- I fear that history will repeat itself, just in a new language

To Trump,

My name is Ulloriaq, I am 26 years old, I was born in Sisimiut and work as an architect in Nuuk.

To Trump,

I am writing to you from a place that is my whole world to me. This is where my relationships are. This is where my memories live. And here I try to live a life and contribute to a future that makes sense for me and my country. When I hear your statements that Kalaallit Nunaat can be bought, taken over or “taken” as if it were a piece of empty land, it hits me deeply.

Kalaallit Nunaat is not empty. It is a land filled with memories, culture, language, relationships, and a people who have time and again demonstrated a strong ability to hold on and rise. A place with a history already shaped by colonial decisions made far away from those who would have to live with the consequences. We still bear the scars of that time – the scars of decisions made by others who thought they knew better than us how we should live.

When you talk about Kalaallit Nunaat as a strategic piece, you do so with the same logic that we have lived with for generations: that our land is first and foremost interesting for what it can be used for – not for those who live here. But Kalaallit Nunaat is not just resources, military bases or geopolitics. It is home. It is community. It is a relationship between people and land that cannot be measured in money or power.

I hope that this year, Kalaallit Nunaat will be allowed to define its own future to a greater extent. Without being reduced to an object in the game of the great powers. I hope that the world will start listening more and speaking less on our behalf. That respect comes before ambition. You owe it to all nations that have oppressed indigenous peoples and other groups whose voices have been ignored.

But I also fear something. I fear that your words – and the way they are repeated – help to normalize the idea that indigenous peoples and small nations can still be overlooked if the interest is great enough. That history will repeat itself, just in a new language.

Kalaallit Nunaat has already paid – and is still paying – for the “good intentions” of others. We don’t need any more.

Regards, Ulloriaq Kristian Lennert