The political development in Greenland
Greenland from Colony
– to Home Rule Government
MarieKathrine Poppel
Ilisimatusarfik University of Greenland
[email protected]
– to Self Government
Upaluk Poppel
Ilisimatusarfik University of Greenland
[email protected]
My background - briefly
• I was born (1952) in Nuuk Greenland
• I am M.A. in administration, 2000, University of Greenland
• Worked within the public sector in Greenland (Home Rule Government
and teaching)
• I have lived in Denmark, Switzerland and Mozambique
• And I have studied in East Greenland, Arctic Canada and Kola Peninsula in
Russia
My family
Me, daughters and my work
Greenland – Towns, airports and
heliports
Geography & demography
• January 1, 2009: 4 regional municipalities
(former 18 municipalities)
• 57,00 inhabitants, 9,000 live in settlements
• 50,180 born in Greenland
Greenland – part of the Northern
hemisphere
• 740 km from the
North Pole
• Same latitude as
Tutchone-Tlingit
(southern Yukon/
Alaska)
• 85 per cent
covered by inland
ice
Greenland – largest island in the world
Towns and
settlements
Source: Rasmus Ole Rasmussen
Settlement structure
Source: Rasmus Ole Rasmussen
Towns and settlements
Source: Rasmus Ole Rasmussen
Household size - Greenland
1880-1999
Number of persons per household.
Greenland 1880-1999
8
6
4
2
0
18
80
19
01
19
21
19
45
19
55
19
65
19
72
19
99
antal personer
10
Serie1
Employment by trade and industries: Greenland 1834-2004
100%
90%
Other trades and industries
80%
Public administration and
service
70%
Public infrastructure
60%
50%
Other landbased trades and
industries
40%
Tourism
30%
Mineral exploration and
extraction
20%
Hunting, fisheries and fish
processing
10%
0%
1834 1911 1930 1945* 1974 1996 2000 2004
Kilde: Grønlands Styrelse 1942; Danielsen et al.,1998; Grønlands Statistik 2003,2005, M. Poppel 2005.
Note: *) inkl. medlemmer af husholdningen; **) inkl. alle hoteller og restauranter
Employment by trade and industries 1945-2000
(Greenland)
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1945
1974
1996
2000
hunting/fishing
66
31
25
17
landbased industry
25
29
33
26
publ.adm/service/i
nfrastr.
8
36
40
57
Number of persons completing an education (that qualifies for
one or more types of jobs) – 1981/82-1999/2000
Personer der har fuldført en kompetencegivende
uddannelse 1980/81-2000/01 fordelt på køn
600
400
I alt
300
Kvinder
200
Mænd
100
81
/
19 82
83
/
19 84
85
/
19 86
87
/
19 88
89
/
19 90
91
/
19 92
93
/
19 94
95
/
19 96
97
/
19 98
99
/0
0
0
19
personer
500
slutår
Students at the Ilisimatusarfik, University of
Greenland, 2009. Categorized by gender
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Kvinder %
Læreruddannelse*
Sociale Forhold *
Journalistik *
Sundhed og
Sygepleje *
Teologi og
Religion
Sprog, Litteratur
og Medier
Kultur og
Samfundshistorie
Administration
Mænd %
Kilde: Administrationen ved Ilisimatusarfik, Grønlands Universitet, 2009.
Bemærkning: * angiver, at instituttet udbyder en professionsbacheloruddannelse
Fisheries
Cod fisheries in Greenland waters.
1910 - 1996
Source: Rasmussen, 2003
Overall conclusion
• Ever since the colonization of Greenland and
especially since WWII a rapid process of
change including demographic, economic,
social, cultural and political changes have
taken place. These changes also include the
norms- and value systems.
Kalaallit Nunaat - Greenland
The Greenlanders
• a peoples according to
international law
• an indigenous peoples:
•
•
Inuit (Inuit nunaat)
Kalaallit (Kalaallit nunaat)
The Greenland Flag
Kalaallit Nunaat - Greenland
Government
Self-government
Parlamentarian
democracy within a
constitutional monarchy
Colonisation
1721/28
Hans Egede’s arrival in
Greenland/Nuuk
1750 - Establishment of colonies
along the west coast of
Greenland
1776
Trade Company (KGH) –
responsible for the
governing
of Greenland --------->1912
1782
‘Instrux’ – the instructions/
regulations on judicial, social and
economic relations as well as
trade
Drum dancing was forbidden after the
colonisation
Administration enforced
1856 ‘Directorates’ (forstanderskaberne) – limited local self
governance in the colonial districts
1908 Act on the Ruling of the colonies in Greenland (two
regional councils ‘landsråd’, municipal councils, separation
of trade from administration of Greenland)
Modernisation
1940 World War II severs
connections to Denmark
1953 The Danish constitution
abolishes colonial status and
secures 2 seats in the
Folketing (Danish Parliament)
1955
Ministry of Greenland
1950-60’ies
G-50 and G-60: Plans of the
Danish state led to an
intensive process of
modernisation. Policy to
concentrate the population in
fewer places. Huge increase
in number of Danes moving to
Greenland
Danish rule
1956 The Greenland
national labour union,
GAS/SIK was established
1964 Birthplace criterion
1964 First Greenlandic
party, The Inuit Party
1967 The Greenland Council
elects, for the first time, its
own chairman
Decolonisation
1972
The ‘self government
claim’ is for the first time
raised in the Greenland
Council
1977 Public debate on the
ownership to the Greenland
sub surface
Political parties where
established:
1977
Siumut (socialdemocratic
party)
1978
Atassut (liberal party)
(1976)
1978
Inuit Ataqatigiit, IA (leftwing party) (1976)
1979
Introduction of Home Rule
Government
Home Rule arrangement
•
Acknowledges that Greenland is a distinct community within the Kingdom of
Denmark
•
Home Rule institutions: Landsting (parliament) and Landsstyre (government)
•
National Ombudsman (High Commissioner) as highest Danish authority
•
the Folketing (Danish Parliament) passes a law giving the Home Rule legislative and
administrative responsibility for a given area
•
Provision by law for transfer of a block grants equivalent to the State’s previous
expenses
•
The block grant constitutes almost 60% of the Home Rule’s total budget
Responsibilities of sectors taken over
1980
Education
1987
Greenland’s Technical
Organisation (GTO)
Church
Social Services
Infrastructure
Taxation and duties
1981
Vocational training
1985
The Royal Greenland
Trading Company - Den
kgl. Grønlandske Handel –
(fisheries production and
export) becomes
Royal Greenland
1986
The Royal Greenland
Trading Company - Den kgl.
Grønlandske Handel (retail part) becomes KNI
Housing
1992
The Health Sector
1998
Mineral Resources (joint
decision-making authority)
At the beginning of the new
millennium the Home Rule
Government act was exhausted.
Introduction
Self Government in Greenland
Upaluk Poppel
Email: [email protected]
My background - briefly
• I was born (1980) in Nuuk Greenland
• I am B.A. in Culture Society and History, University of Greenland
• Worked as NGO- Inuit Circumpolar Youth Council, ICYC. Worked with youth
issues, such as: culture, language, exchange of ideas and to cooperate on
youth problems in Arctic.
• In 2004, I was participating the fellowship program for the High
Commissioner for Human rights, at the indigenous and minority team for 6
month in Geneva. The programe focuses on UN body and mechanisms.
• Rights now: I am writing my master thesis on Self Government and
Implementation of Human Rights.
Inuit
Commission on Self Governance
2000 Greenlandic Commission on
self governance (final report in
2003)
2008 The Commission on Self
Governance hands over its
Report to the Greenlandic and
the Danish premiers (May 6)
Self-government
2009 On June 21, Greenland
national day, Greenland Selfgovernment is inaugurated.
Initsisartut
Parliament of Greenland
Inatsisartut (Parliament of Greenland)
– represented at
•
West-Nordic Council
•
Nordic Council
•
Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC)
•
UN General Assembly
(part of the Danish delegation to the UN)
Naalakkersuisut (government)
Kuupik Kleist (IA)
Prime minister
Ane Hansen (IA)
Fisheries, Hunting og Agriculture
Jens B. Frederiksen (D)
Infrastructure, Housing
and the Environment
Ove Karl Berthelsen (IA)
Economic development
Palle Christiansen (D)
Finances
Maliina Abelsen (IA)
Family affairs
Agathe Fontain (IA)
Health
Mimi Karlsen (IA)
Culture, Education,
Research, the Church
Anton Frederiksen (K)
Domestic affairs
NAMMINERSORNEQ
SELF-GOVERNANCE - What is new?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Recognition as a people
Subsurface rights
Economy: Block grants and self-financing
Fields of responsibilities
Foreign affairs
The official language
Self-governance is not notional independency
Recognition as a people
Sub surface rights
• The people of Greenland has the right to
exploit the resources of the sub surface.
• Earnings from mineral exploitation in
Greenland go to the Greenland Selfgovernment.
The economic agreements:
Blockgrants and self-financing
• The block grants from the Danish state are fixed at
the existing level. 50 % of earnings from mineral
exploitation exceeding 75 mio. DKK will be
subtracted from the annual block grant.
• When then block grant is reduced to ’zero’
negotiations about future relations between
Greenland and Denmark are going to take place.
State responsibilities – which can be transferred
to the under Greenland self-government
The Judicial System
Defence
Law enforcement
Fisheries Inspection
Prison and Probation Service
Foreign Policy
Working Environment
Currency, Monetary policy
Mineral Resources (joint
decision-making
authority)
Sectors included in the
implementation of self
governance
Sectors to be discussed on
the road from self
governance to
independency
Foreign Affairs
•
is a Danish State responsibility, but international laws that affect
Greenland’s interests in particular will be subjected to a Self-Government
hearing
•
the Self-Government can join Danish delegations at international
negotiations
•
the Self-Government may have representatives with (Danish) diplomatic
status at Danish embassies. There is at present a representative with the
EU
•
Practice developed on the basis of these resolutions:
•
independent management of international negotiations regarding
e.g. USA or delimitation concerns
•
Itilleq-declaration of May 14th 2004 about involvement
•
The Authorisation Act of June 24th 2005 codifies this practice
The official language
• The Greenlandic language is the official
language.
• The Danish language will still be taught.
Self-government is not independence!
But it is for the Greenlanders to decide
if … and when …
An artistic representation of the Selfgovernment (Julie Edel Hardenberg)
Ackowledgements
• The Greenland Self-government’s Secretariat
to the cabinet.
• QUJANAQ – Thanks for your attention!
Umimmak