Inuit Nation

After 200 years of Danish colonial rule,the 57,000 people of Greenland have said yes to  independence.

Greenlanders have voted overwhelmingly in favour of increasing their independence from Denmark, a move that gives them control over potential oil revenues off the large Arctic island.

Seventy-six per cent of voters cast their referendum ballot in favour of self-rule, paving the way for more rights to natural resources as well as control over the courts, the police force and to some extent foreign affairs.

It also makes the Inuit language of Greenlandic the official language of the small, largely Inuit nation.

As Aqquluk Lynge, president of Inuit Circumpolar Council Greenland stated the  vote resonates far beyond the border of Greenland.

From Bolivia to the arctic indigenous peoples are organizing and reasserting themselves.This is not about nationalism or tribalism as some people would have it,this is about dignity and rights of indigenous peoples to govern themselves.

Read more