2004 # 02 Tigoriannguaruk! Tag suluk med hjem ... - Air Greenland

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A Life in Every Era
Four Greenlanders share a special historic destiny with Greenland
Home Rule. They all celebrated their 25th birthday on May 1st,
1979 – the date of the official introduction of Greenland Home
Rule. Home rule was introduced after an overwhelming 70 per
cent had voted in favour at a referendum held on January 17th
the same year. The four – all women – have therefore lived for 25
years without home rule and for 25 years with home rule. They
can celebrate their 50th birthdays when the Greenland Home Rule
celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. Suluk has visited three of
these women at their homes in Nuuk, Tasiilaq and Brovst in Denmark.
By Christian Schultz-Lorentzen
Naja Qeqe, born in Kuummiut, mother
of two and trained teacher and actress,
lives in Tasiilaq.
- Home rule is definitely an improvement
because even more decisions are
made by Greenlanders now. This is
positive, although it is slow work. But
we will get there in the end. I feel more
free and more at home in Greenland
since the introduction of home rule.
Naja Qeqe grew up in the settlement
of Kuummiut with 13 brothers
and sisters. When home rule was introduced,
she lived with her closest family
on a small farm on Mols in Denmark.
She did not give a thought to the
epoch-making event and had no special
expectations. It was not until she
moved to Tasiilaq at the beginning of
the 1980’s that she notice the improvements
that followed the introduction of
home rule. She had previously trained
as an actress in Denmark at the Tuukaq
Theatre in West Jutland, but when her
first son was born she moved to
Tasiilaq so that he would not be split
between two cultural identities as he
grew up.
She remembers it was hard at first.
To get by, she worked at the school,
the recreation centre and the recreation
home. Meanwhile, she took a teacher
Suluk # 02•2004 58
training course which she completed in
1987. Since then, Naja Qeqe has been
employed by the education authorities
in Tasiilaq, only interrupted by a twoyear
stay in Nanortalik.
- Things could probably have progressed
faster if the politicians and
voters had had more courage to take
hold: show us how to live as Greenlanders.
The colonial period was not
good for us, in that it gave us an
excuse not to do anything for ourselves.
Seen in this light, independence
cannot arrive over night. It will come
slowly as we grow stronger and know
what our deepest wishes are, believes
Naja Qeqe, who dreams that her
children and grandchildren will have a
different childhood than her own and
grow up to be more independent and
self-reliant.
- Today, young people are more
self-aware than they were just a generation
ago. But they still do not have a
solid foundation. We, who are in our
fifties, have not been strong enough to
bring them up with an emphasis on the
Greenlandic soul and culture. But in 25
years’ time, when Greenland has left
home rule behind, we will have become
more independent. Of this I am
sure.
By Aviaaja Kielsen
Lucie Geisler, born in Aasiaat, mother
of three and office assistant, lives in
Nuuk.
- A lot changed after the introduction
of home rule. Respect for the Danes
and oppression against Greenlanders
was coming to an end. It was a great
step in the right direction. But I wish
we exploited our resources better
today. It would make life easier for a
lot of people.
Lucie Geisler grew up in Aasiaat
with six siblings. Her father was a hunter
and she remembers feeling secure
during her childhood. However, there
was a downside to life in a town in
Northwest Greenland in the 1960’s and
1970’s. She felt inferior amongst other
Greenlanders because her family wore
fur clothing. This was a sign of poverty.
Her youth was one long search to
find her own identity and life was not
made easier by the demands for Danish
skills at school and an unusually strict
head teacher.
After her years at school she worked
at the fish factory shelling prawns.
The Danes were not popular. But Lucie
also experienced tension amongst
Greenlanders in these changing times.
- When you travelled on the coast,
you had to be careful what you said.