*Cartoon by Buuarsikkut
Soon there will be an election in Greenland. Elections are a time when Greenland, sometimes, makes it into the international media. Well, at least in the Kingdom of Denmark, which is Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. But what is surprising is that even in Denmark, which some (not me) might call Greenland’s motherland (cue entire population of Greenland to recoil in horror), so little is known of this vast land that they have, dare I say, ‘colonised’ (now cue Danes to recoil in horror).
Here is an example, beautifully exposed by a well-known Greenlandic cartoonist, Buuarsikkut. The last election in Greenland was called because of a political scandal. Aleqa Hammond, Greenland’s then Premier, lost the confidence of the ruling Siumut party because she had used public money for personal expenses. A snap election was called and the preceding, and ensuing, media circus was huge in Greenland and drew a lot of interest from Denmark. But many people in Denmark still have not the first clue about what Greenland is like, how many people live there, where they live, how they live…nothing. So when the media swings into action, strange things can happen.
First, Politiken – a leading Danish newspaper – reported that it was only possible to cast votes in the capital, Nuuk, and therefore the city council would be putting on buses to transport people from the settlements to the capital to cast their votes. How these buses were to get there, I am not sure. Would they fly? Are there special floating buses that can travel by sea? Because there are sure as hell no roads. Next, TV2 – one of Denmark’s major TV channels – reported on Greenland’s election with an image of not the Greenlandic but the Japanese flag. Check the difference. It might not seem like much but national flags are kind of important. And remember that Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark: they ought to know.
The above excellent – and very Greenlandic – response from Buuarsikkut, shows a Greenlandic hunter with his pet polar bear on a leash, boarding the bus to Nuuk to cast his vote, under the Japanese flag.
So much for the Kingdom of Denmark.
