“We believe in 'oqaatsip kimia' or 'the essence of the Word'”, he said, “as
something ...... such as smaller quotas for their traditional game such as beluga
and.
Research on Best Practices for the Implementation of the Principles of ILO Convention No. 169
Case Study: 11
Oqaatsip Kimia: The Power of the Word
by Henriette Rasmussen 2008
Programme to Promote ILO Convention No. 169 1
The responsibility for opinions expressed in signed articles, studies and other contributions rests solely with their authors, and publication does not constitute an endorsement by the International Labour Office of the opinions expressed in them.
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Oqaatsip Kimia The Power of the Word
The title of this case study means: ‘The power of the word’ and quotes Asineq, a Kalaaleq from eastern Greenland, who believed that the spoken word is the greatest power human beings have. As he explained to researchers in the 1920s, “this is because with words we can give joy or hurt one another for life”. He illustrated this by using the image of a wound made by a weapon, something that would still be visible after healing but would not hurt as much as a word that was once uttered. “We believe in ‘oqaatsip kimia’ or ‘the essence of the Word’”, he said, “as something that has a power that cannot be explained. The Word is magic.”
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Table of Contents Oqaatsip Kimia ................................................................................................................................2 The Power of the Word................................................................................................................3 INTRODUCTION: Background and justification.......................................................................5 1 THE CONTEXT....................................................................................................................5 1.1 The historical context ........................................................................................................6 1.1.1 The Danish colonisation ................................................................................................6 1.1.2 Towards Home Rule ......................................................................................................7 1.1.3 Towards more independence .........................................................................................8 1.2 The economy .....................................................................................................................9 1.2.1 Fishing industry .............................................................................................................9 1.2.2. Hunting ..........................................................................................................................9 1.2.3. Mining and tourism......................................................................................................10 1.3 The situation of women ...................................................................................................10 1.4 Future dilemmas ..............................................................................................................10 2 OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY............................................................................11 2.1 Objectives ........................................................................................................................11 2.2 Methodology....................................................................................................................12 3 LANGUAGE AND EDUCATION.....................................................................................12 3.1 The history of written Kalaallisut ....................................................................................12 3.2 The development of school education .............................................................................13 3.3 Becoming Danish.............................................................................................................14 3.4 Language and education as political issues .....................................................................15 3.4.1 Greenlandisation ..........................................................................................................15 3.4.2 Atuarfitsialak – The Good School ...............................................................................16 3.5 The current situation in the education system .................................................................17 3.5.1 The school system........................................................................................................17 3.5.2 Vocational and specialized schools..............................................................................17 3.5.3 The University – Ilisimatusarfik ..................................................................................17 3.5.4 Greenland’s research policy.........................................................................................17 3.5.5 Recent developments: Ilimmarfik................................................................................18 3.5.6 ITCP .............................................................................................................................19 3.6 The current situation within means of communication ...................................................19 3.6.1 Radio and TV ...............................................................................................................19 3.6.2 Newspapers ..................................................................................................................20 3.6.3 Electronic media ..........................................................................................................20 3.6.4 Literature and theatre ...................................................................................................20 3.6.5 Music............................................................................................................................21 3.7 Future challenges .............................................................................................................21 3.7.1 Greenlandisation ..........................................................................................................22 3.7.2 New trends within language and education policies....................................................22 3.7. 3 Language integration....................................................................................................23 4 CONCLUDING REMARKS ..............................................................................................24 Bibliography...............................................................................................................................26
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INTRODUCTION: Background and justification In 2006, Microsoft Word introduced spelling check and hyphenation as features in the Greenlandic version of its word processing system. Kalaallisut, as our Inuit language is called in Greenlandic, thereby became one of the approximately 100 computerized languages in the world. This was yet another achievement in the history of our language. Kalaallisut is the Greenlandic dialect of an ancient language spoken in the other Inuit areas of the Arctic region, i.e., Canada, Alaska and Siberia. It first became a written language with a grammar in the 18th century, and for many years, it had to compete with Danish – the language of the colonizers. It was in many ways and like many other indigenous languages, an endangered language. Today, the Greenlandic language is a living language and there is no way it will be endangered.1 It is spoken by 80% of the 56,700 people living in Greenland; it is used in Parliament, in schools and higher education, in the media, in cultural manifestations, and it thrives side by side and on par with Danish in a modern bilingual society. How has this come about? What factors have been decisive for this development? Which decisions and policies have contributed to maintain Kalaallisut alive and eventually become the language of power? How does the Greenlandic example fit in with the provisions of ILO Convention No. 169 on language and education? These are some of the questions this study intends to address. This will include looking at the history and development of our language and education system, and the political and legislative processes that were behind this development. The study will also analyse some of the challenges Greenlanders have faced and face today, in a globalized world threatened by climate changes and at a time where they are not only about to take over the full responsibility for the education sector but where their country is negotiating with Denmark for greater autonomy. The study falls in four parts. The first part gives a short presentation of the context in which the indigenous Inuit, the Kalaallit, as they call themselves, live. The second part states the objectives of this study, and how they link up with the provisions included in the ILO Convention no. 169 on education and language. It also briefly explains the methodology used. The third part shows how the Greenlandic language and education system have developed over time to become what they are today, and what dilemmas and challenges have been met underway. The fourth and last part concludes the study by looking at how the language and education policies in Greenland fit in with the principles laid out in the ILO Convention No. 169. It also examines the factors that have been decisive for the process leading up to the present situation and the lessons learned on the way in order to give some general recommendations regarding language and education in other indigenous contexts. 1
THE CONTEXT
Greenland is characterised by having had a semi autonomous government (the Greenlandic Home Rule) under Kalaallit leadership since 1979. Before that, Greenland was a Danish colony and in the course of the past 2-300 years, a close economic and cultural relationship was established between the European and Arctic regions. So while geographically, Greenland is part of the North American continent, it is culturally closer to Europe. Greenland is an icy and mountainous island with a total area of 2,166,100 sq. km. 82% of this area is covered by ice. The coastline is 44.000 km long. Greenland has a population of 56,648 (2006). The large majority (80%) are Greenlanders, who live mainly in towns (47,000) and small villages 5
(9,648) located all along the western coast and, in a few cases, on the eastern coast (see map). The capital city is Nuuk (15,000). To the outside eye, the Arctic environment seems harsh and unforgiving, but to the Inuit people, it has been a home, which has provided for all their needs since the first Inuit came 4500 years ago. They were later followed by several other migrations from North America. The remains of old Inuit villages can still be seen along the coast, near the towns and villages of modern Greenland. The old Kalaallit lived by hunting sea and land mammals and developed a sophisticated culture making use of the skin, the oil and the meat from the animals, of the sparse vegetation found during the short summer months, of the sod and of whatever driftwood was found on the shore. Early documentation shows that they had a rich oral culture, and played music. Today, Greenlanders live in a modern society, with their own parliament, a University and other educational and research institutions, museums, hospitals, a developing industry, a public broadcasting service radio & TV and many links with the outside world. Greenland is member of the Nordic Council2 - and a member of the Arctic Council through the Danish membership.3 Greenland is also member of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), the international Inuit indigenous peoples’ organization. Greenlanders, however, have at the same time maintained many of their old traditions that are based on a close link with their land and nature and not least their language. 1.1
The historical context
The history of the Kalaallit is in many ways similar to that of many other indigenous peoples who have been colonized. The biggest difference is maybe their environment: the Kalaallit live rather isolated on the biggest island of the planet, under harsh climatic conditions and with few opportunities for agricultural activities. These factors, on the other hand, have contributed to preserve their culture and language. The distance and the difficult access to Greenland, in particular for European and Scandinavian settlers, also meant that development was primarily managed by the Kalaallit themselves through their participation in different bodies. They can to a large extent be said to have been the guardians of the pace of development. 1.1.1
The Danish colonisation
The Danish colonisation started in 1721 with the arrival of the Norwegian-Danish priest Hans Egede to west Greenland, near present day Nuuk. The goal of the colonisation was twofold: introduce Christianity and trade with Inuit products, primarily seal and whale oil to be used for lighting in Europe. This does not mean that there had been no contact or trade with other nations prior to Hans Egede’s arrival. During the previous millennium, Vikings, Dutch whalers and fishermen had frequented the Greenlandic seas and made contact with the local people. From 1721 and until 1953, many administrative measures were introduced in order to shape and develop the traditional hunters’ society so it could deal with the European political and economic system. This process was not always consistent with the Inuit culture and customary laws. The Inuit population was homogeneous, depended on collective rights, customary sharing of the proceeds of their hunting activities and distribution of food gifts. That, of course, stood in contrast to the goal of the colonial administration to earn a profit that could contribute to the development of Denmark. The meeting with European culture was therefore highly traumatic and soon led to a social and cultural crisis, that divided the Inuit between, on one hand the traditional hunters and on the other an increasing number of people working for, and depending on, the Danish trade posts.
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From 1721 to the middle of 19th century Greenland was administered by the Danish government. By then an elected body called Forstanderskaberne were given the task to administer locally. By the mid 1800s, this situation had become critical and concerned people in the colonial administration saw the need for involving the local people and securing their participation in decision-making bodies. A new institution called the Paarsisut, meaning care takers and similar to a district council, was introduced. Its members were appointed among the Greenlanders and constituted, together with representatives from the Danish administration (the Inspectorate) and the mission, the local authorities. The meetings between these authorities were conducted in Kalaallisut. In 1911, local and regional advisory bodies were established; their primary task was the administration of social and judicial matters. The two regional advisory bodies (one in North Greenland and another in South Greenland) could give advice to the Danish authorities. They were later upgraded to become municipal councils. A national advisory body was created, but its primary task was to advice the Danish government and it still had no decisive power on the domestic politics. During World War II, Greenland was totally cut off from Denmark and for the first time experienced managing its own affairs. After the war and when the decolonisation process started, Greenlanders began, therefore, increasingly to demand equality of status and more influence on their own affairs. But while European countries granted independence to their colonies, Denmark chose to do something different. In 1953, the Danish Parliament amended the Danish Constitution, making Greenland part of the Danish Realm, and giving the Greenlanders the same legal status as Danes. A referendum held in Denmark, but not in Greenland, later approved the constitutional amendment. The amendment marked, nevertheless, the first step towards a gradual decolonization of Greenland. The inclusion of Greenland in the Danish realm meant that people in Greenland were from now on represented by an elected advisory body, the Landsråd (Country Council), seated in Nuuk (at the time called Godthaab and later to become the capital of Greenland). Furthermore, two seats in the Danish Parliament were reserved for Greenlandic representatives - as is still the case today. Greenland’s new status also resulted in important investments within the sectors of education, health and infrastructure. In order for the Greenlanders to benefit from these investments, a new policy promoting the concentration of the population in the cities was launched. All of this resulted in major, but not always welcomed, changes in the life of the Inuit in Greenland. 1.1.2
Towards Home Rule
The 1960s were characterized by a mounting criticism among young Greenlanders. The first political movements saw the light and in 1970, the Landsråd organised a conference – the “Conference on the future of Kalaallit Nunaat”, i.e., the future of the country of the Kalaallit. This conference gathered some 60 participants, among them prominent politicians, educators, representatives from hunters and fishermen and trade unions, as well as young people. For the first time in Greenland’s history, Greenlanders were able to discuss the future of their own country, without control or interference by Danish politicians and public servants, who only participated in small numbers. It was here the idea of a “home rule” was born and in 1975, the Landsråd presented Denmark with a memorandum that described how the fundamental ethnic, cultural, social and economic differences between the two countries belied all talk about equal status. It pointed out how the geographic distance between the two countries and the difficulty in understanding each other’s languages and even way of thinking made communication difficult, if not impossible. And since the Greenlanders did not want to give up their language, the result was that all important
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decisions were taken in Copenhagen, in Danish, and this gave the Greenlanders a feeling of powerlessness. A case in point was the fact that Greenland had unwillingly become member of the European Union in 1972 because the Danes had voted in favour of membership while the Greenlandic voters had voted massively against. The only way out was therefore to move the responsibility for political decisions to Greenland and Greenlandic politicians. The statement by one of the Greenlandic members of the Danish Parliament, Moses Olsen, “The spring can be delayed, but it can never be stopped” rang in the ears and was understood by the Danish government. A joint commission of an equal number (7) of Danish and Greenlandic politicians was established with the mandate to come up with a memorandum on how increased self-government could be introduced. In 1978, the Danish parliament adopted the memorandum and promulgated the Home Rule law. Greenland approved the law in a subsequent referendum with 70% votes in favour and 26 % against. The Greenland Home Rule was formally introduced in 1979. For the first time, there were national elections to a Greenlandic parliament, the Landsting, with powers to collect taxes, to make its own budget, to develop laws and policies in the area of culture and education, social affairs and fishing. The Danish constitution remained the overall law, and the courts, police, foreign policy, and currency also remained under the responsibility of the Danish parliament and government. For the remaining areas, as for instance housing and health, a schedule was established with a time frame for when the transfer to Greenlandic authorities should take place. As for the difficult issue about land and subsurface resources, it was solved by creating a commission, consisting of an equal number of Danish and Greenlandic politicians - the Joint Commission on Mineral Resources. 1.1.3
Towards more independence
The Landsting is constituted by five parties: Siumut, a social democratic party that has had a leading role throughout the history of the Home Rule; Demokraterne, a newly formed liberal party; Inuit Ataqatigiit, a Socialist party; Atassut, a liberal party; and Kattusseqatigiit, another liberal one-man party. The Home Rule government – or Landsstyre – is responsible for most internal matters while foreign affairs are the responsibility of Denmark. But Greenland participates actively in international agreements relating to Greenland and in 2004, a ‘proxy law’ was adopted which permitted Greenland to sign its own international agreements and establish international cooperation in the areas under the jurisdiction of the Greenland Home Rule. In 1985, Greenland withdrew from the EU, but certain collaboration has been maintained through successive fishery agreements (the 5th and latest agreement was signed in spring 2007). In 1999, the Landstyre established a Commission on Self-government to investigate the possibility of taking over more responsibilities from the Danish state. In early 2004, a Danish-Greenlandic Commission was established to “consider and suggest ways by which the Greenlandic authorities can assume further control where this is constitutionally possible”. However, the mandate also states “it rests with Greenlandic people to decide if Greenland wants independence”. In May 2008, the Commission presented its recommendation for a Self-government model and a referendum is scheduled to take place in November (2008). If the result of the referendum is positive, the new law will come into effect in June 2009. The new law states that Greenland can take over responsibilities which have not yet been taken over by the Home Rule, with the exception of “foreign policy, defence and security policy, High Court, citizenship and monetary policy”. These are almost the same exceptions as in the 1979 Home Rule. But the Greenlandic politicians are very satisfied with the recognition of the “Greenlandic people” as a distinct people within the Danish Realm and for taking over the rights to mineral resources.
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1.2
The economy
Greenland’s economy is largely based on sea products (fish, shrimps and crabs). Other economic activities include hunting, sheep breeding, mining and tourism. However, achieving economic development has always been a challenge due to the climatic conditions and the enormous distances between the settlements. Even in the age of air borne and ship transportation, travel costs tend to be very high, impacting on the price of production, which makes the salaries accordingly high. 1.2.1
Fishing industry
Fishing and processing of seafood products together with the annual Danish bloc grant (DKK 3.2 billion or EUR 432 million in 2007) make up the bulk of Greenland’s national income. Cod fishing was from the early 1920s the most important export item, but the “cod fish adventure”, as it is sometimes called, ended when the temperature of the water increased by a half degree. It was followed in 1950 by shrimp fishing, which meant a huge step forward for the development of Greenland’s economy and also for many women, who found work in the shrimp factories and became economically independent. Today, Greenland is the biggest producer of cold sea shrimps in the world. The Greenlandic fishery policy rests on the principle that fishing is done in clean waters in a sustainable way. However, the rising price of crude oil and high wages in comparison to countries like China, Thailand and even Europe, make the competition tough. 1.2.2.
Hunting
Hunting, on which much of the traditional economy and culture were based, has for several years been in sharp decline. Although many Greenlanders still rely on hunting for their food and still use the by-products of the catch for clothes, etc., a recent report by Rasmus Ole Rasmussen shows that the number of what we could call “full-time hunters” dropped from 6,560 to 3,083 between 1993 and 2002 and to 1,969 in 2003. According to the same report, several hunter families live under the poverty line. This critical situation has probably to do with the uncertainty of the hunters’ living conditions and increasingly strict regulations, such as smaller quotas for their traditional game such as beluga and narwhale, polar bear, caribou, musk ox and sea birds. It also has to do with their high dependency on sealing, which means that any international campaign will influence their livelihood substantially. This was the case in the 1970s, when animal rights activists attacked the seal skin products, resulting in a dramatic decline in the sales. In the 1980s, a small-scale domestic industry was eventually re-built and furs for export were manufactured with the help of modern designers. But in 2007, it became known that the tannery, Great Greenland, also imported sealskins from Canada. Canada has a bad reputation for the way seals are hunted, and international criticism against Greenland’s sealskin industry was heard once more. In an effort to reverse the situation, the Greenland Home Rule authorities have established a commission to come up with suggestions regarding alternative income generating activities, training, micro-loan schemes and the development of a legislation on public subsidies that is better adapted to the specific situation of hunters. It should also be kept in mind that Greenlandic hunters have maintained the traditional knowledge and expertise in the practice of dealing with nature. This knowledge as well as gender specific skills have been passed down from generation to generation, and the respect for nature, animals and for sharing still subsists. Greenlandic hunters could therefore contribute to the environmental debate by integrating scientific knowledge with traditional knowledge. This, as a matter of fact, is one of the objectives of Sila Inuk, an international research project on the impact of climate changes that is currently being carried out as one of the activities during the Polar Year 2007-2008. Meetings with hunters, elders and other local experts from across
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the circumpolar region have been organized to exchange knowledge and hear what they can tell about sea ice. This collaboration between hunters and researchers has been a great success. 1.2.3.
Mining and tourism
Greenland is known to have rich mineral resources including oil. Intensive exploration is currently being carried out. According to the Home Rule authorities, these resources – if and once they are exploited - would represent a great development potential. To others, it constitutes a threat to the numerical small population and the relatively fragile Arctic environment. The right to mineral resources have been – not surprisingly - one of the contentious points in the negotiations between Denmark and Greenland about more self-governance. It has also been the subject of much controversy among the population. For some people, things cannot go fast enough; they would like mining and oil development to start right away and they welcome partnerships with multinational companies as Alcoa that is planning to establish an aluminium smelter. Others, on the other hand, are pleading for cautiousness when it comes to open up for powerful, multinational companies; they want sustainable development, environmental protection and they are concerned about what the odds will be for a numerical small indigenous population and the future generations. Tourism is a relatively new activity. It holds certain short term potentials but also faces major constraints because of a short season and high costs. The hunters, whose natural economy is being jeopardized by globalization and the ban imposed by Europeans and North Americans on their skin and meat products from sea and land mammals, are now working in the tourist trade as guides on tours by dog sledges or boats. The climate change, which eventually will create a new seaway in the Northwest Passage and connect the Atlantic with the Pacific Ocean with the Arctic Ocean in the middle, also represent new changes, increased traffic, increased development, pollution and political tension. 1.3
The situation of women
While many male Greenlanders face serious problems as a result of the changes they have experienced in their livelihood, women seem to have benefited from the development processes. In the hunting community, women traditionally played a very important role in the management of resources and in generating income. This appears to be still the case and data show that women in the household often contribute with the largest income. But at the same time women are charging forward in high schools, university, teacher’s college, media, and even in parliament, as well as managers and board members of important companies. Women are the ones that make up the majority in the educational institutions. In the 2005 national elections, women won 35 % of the seats – compared with 0% in 1979 when the first elections took place. 1.4
Future dilemmas
The main dilemma, now as before, is what kind of future do the few Kallallit want for themselves in a globalized world with millions of people. Is it good or bad to cooperate with the Scandinavians or to be a member of the EU along with many millions of people? My impression is that the Kalaallit enjoy, and benefit from, interacting with others. But our concern has always been how to manage this interaction. The Kalaallit want to be in control, especially when it comes to land: the feeling of belonging to the land is very strong. Two other major challenges are the contamination of the Greenlandic environment and climate change. The contamination by air and sea from the industrial areas in Europe, Asia and North America has for some time been of great concern and now climate change is of particular concern. 10
The Arctic environment is extremely vulnerable, so the situation is quite serious. The contamination of natural food sources (fish, sea mammals, wildlife, etc.) and temperature changes, which may affect the food situation too, put Greenland’s health situation under threat. Over the next 100 years, climate change is expected to accelerate, contributing to major physical, ecological, social, and economic changes, many of which have already begun. These new challenges cannot be solved without international cooperation and without the biggest and most powerful states in the world taking action. The foreseen melting of the ice will probably facilitate the extraction of mineral resources and the development of oil and gas fields, as well as open up new sea routes. All this can potentially make Greenland economically self-supporting and make life easier. But what will it mean in terms of increased (polluting) sea traffic, increased foreign migration? Will the few Kalaallit become a minority in their own country and in whose hands will democracy continue? The discussion in Greenland is between those who think that independence should be declared as soon as possible, and those who want to be very cautious and first see with which allies that independence should be. The situation in North America and the American Indians is a reminder of scary perspectives. The North American Indians once roamed all over the Americas, as free and proud peoples. But within less than hundred years of European colonization, they were displaced and forced into reservations. They had to give up most of their lands, their rights, their culture and languages, due to the colonization and industrialization of the ‘New World’. Today, we see that the American Indians have not benefitted from the wealth brought about by this development. Will the Greenlanders be prepared to face the challenges that the huge multinationals and the foreign immigration will entail? Only time will tell. Development – yes. But, at the same time, it is crucial for the Kalaalit to hold it back and control it. 2
OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY
2.1
Objectives
The overall objective of this case-study is to use the history of the Greenlandic language and educational policies as an example of best practice for the implementation of the principles of ILO Convention no. 169 on education as expressed by its provisions on General Policy, on Education and Means of Communication (Part VI of the Convention) and Contacts and Co-operation Across Borders (part VII). This includes more specifically the following articles in Part VI of the Convention – Education and Means of Communication: Article 26 on equal accesses to education Article 27 on participation and cooperation in designing, formulating and implementing education programmes (1 & 2) and on the right to establish own education institutions and facilities (3) Article 28 on teaching children to read and write in their own indigenous language (1), on the right to attain fluency in the national/official language of the country (2) and on preserving and promoting the development and practice of indigenous languages (3) Article 29 on imparting general knowledge and skills that will help children to participate fully and on an equal footing in their own community and in the national community. Article 30 on the right to be informed about their rights and duties… deriving from this Convention, using written translations and mass communication.
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Article 31 on eliminating prejudices and ensure that textbooks and other educational materials provide fair information And in Part VII of the Convention – Contacts and Cooperation Across Borders: Article 32 on the duty of governments to take measures to facilitate contacts, co-operation and joint activities between indigenous peoples across border (For full text please see text of convention) The specific objectives of the study are to look at:
2.2
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The development and achievements of the Greenlandic language and educational system and the factors and policies that have affected the process positively and negatively.
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The dilemmas and challenges when a small language has to survive in the globalized world of the 21rst century.
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The lessons learned in order to assess whether the Greenlandic experience can be useful to other indigenous peoples in their efforts to save their languages and establish bi-lingual education systems. Methodology
The case study is based on meetings and interviews with different stakeholders. These included the Minister of Culture and Education and staff in the ministry, researchers and staff members at the University of Greenland (Ilisimatusarfik), the Curriculum Development Centre and the Language Center (Oqaasileriffik). At these meetings relevant historical data and other written documentation were collected. The Ilisimatusarfik institutes dealing with culture, media and language in particular provided many welldocumented articles, reports and research on the linguistic situation. Finally, a number of more in-depth interviews have been conducted with key persons working within the areas of education and culture. 3
LANGUAGE AND EDUCATION
Kalaallisut belongs to the Eskimo language group, and is spoken by approximately 44,000 individuals in Greenland. If we include Greenlanders living in Denmark, we are talking about 55.000 individuals speaking the Greenlandic Inuit language. The structure of this language group is very different from that of Indo-European languages, including the Nordic languages. It is a so-called polysynthetic language, which means that words are formed with a root (i.e. nouns and verbs) to which prefixes and suffixes are added to provide characteristics and grammatical information (e.g. sex, numbers, tense, etc.). A Greenlandic word can therefore be very long and mean what corresponds to a whole sentence in other languages. 3.1
The history of written Kalaallisut
The first lists of transcribed words date back to 1650, and were based on information given by four captured Inuit women. This transcription was used to develop a script that was in use until approximately 1850. In 1740, the first book in Greenlandic was published with excerpts from the Bible and some psalms. The first Danish-Greenlandic dictionary and the first grammar soon followed it. In 1851, Greenlandic orthography was systematized and modernized and this version remained in use until 1973 when it was replaced by the current orthography based on the Roman alphabet.
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The first periodical in Greenlandic, ‘Atuagagdliutit’, was published in 1861. It still exists but now as a daily bi-lingual newspaper (www.ag.gl). Bringing different translations and articles written by Greenlanders, it soon became very popular throughout the country. In 1893, a translation of the Bible as well as some Greenlandic teaching books were published and in the beginning of the 1900s poetry and fiction books as well as new local newspapers followed suit. Greenlandic had become a literary language. Greenland has a unique oral heritage in forms of myths, legends and drum songs. Fortunately many of these rich cultural expressions were collected and written down in the 1850s, thanks to the efforts of the Danish Royal Inspector for Greenland, H.J. Rink. Rink encouraged hunters, catechists, and trade post managers, even Danes able to understand Kalaallisut, to collect and transcribe stories and drum songs. Many responded to his call and the material they sent him was later compiled and published in Nuuk by a Danish printer, whom Rink had brought with him. Four books with old legends were published in the years 1859 to 1863.4 Dictionaries over the Greenlandic language have been published since the mid 19th century, and the newest issued is from 2003, a Danish-Greenlandic and Greenlandic-Danish dictionary. In the early 20th century, the famous polar explorer Knud Rasmussen, whose mother tongue was kalaallisut, collected stories and poetry, that later were published in Danish in two books - Myths and legends from Greenland (1925) and Songs of the Snow Hut (1930). From 1921 to 1924, Knud Rasmussen travelled on dog sledges from Greenland to as far as Eastern Siberia, crossing Canada and Alaska. With him he had Greenlandic hunters and their meeting with other Inuit in Canada, Alaska and Chukotka was later described in a book, this time in Greenlandic too, Across Arctic America, Narrative of the 5th Thule Expedition, printed in New York 1927 and reprinted by the University of Alaska press in 1999. 3.2
The development of school education
School education was introduced with colonialism. Traditionally, education took place within the family. The mother was probably the most important teacher of all, as she was the one bringing up the new generations in a sustainable hunting society. From her, the children would learn to collect and prepare food, without wasting anything; they learned to talk and tell stories, they learned ethics and sewing basic and small things. The father taught the boys hunting skills, the making and the use of tools for hunting, and other skills like building shelters and homes, skin boats like the kayak and the umiak.5 The women elders were the ones to teach the important preparation of many different kinds of skins for clothing, big tents, and selecting and sewing the skins for the boats. The grandmother would teach her granddaughters about womanhood, menstruation, child rearing and so on. This is how it was in the past and in our parents’ generation. However, the past, in my case, is so near that this was actually the situation during my own childhood in the 1950s in northwestern Greenland. As one of the purposes of the Danish colonization was to Christianise the Inuit, the Lutheran Protestant, and later the Herrnhutter, missionaries were greatly concerned that the population be able to read the Bible and other religious works, so schools were established. The Danish missionaries and catechists who as a rule lacked both training and language skills usually did the teaching. To remedy the situation, a catechists’ college (Ilinniarfissuaq, i.e., the big place for learning) for Greenlanders was established in 1840. Public schools were introduced in Greenland in 1905, and the Church and School Act became the framework under which the whole population in Greenland, including the remote villages, was to be given a basic education. The curricula included religion, Greenlandic, and mathematics, and trained
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catechists were now in charge of teaching. Besides teaching, these catechists had also church duties to perform. In 1925, the Act on Administration introduced compulsory education for children aged 7 to 14 and opened up for teaching the Danish language, culture and history. At the time, the young generation of educators and writers welcomed this development as an eye opener and a way of accessing the outside world. This act led to innovative trends in Greenlandic literature, interpreting Greenlandic with new literary tools like theatre and poetry. It also led to greater interest for the world outside Greenland, and especially for new political trends. Up to World War II, the income-base for the majority of the population was still traditional hunting and fishing. For those few who wanted to continue their education for another two years, there were three continuation schools on the west coast of Greenland. After that, the only place for higher education in Greenland was the Teacher College. It was also possible to choose on-the-job training at the Royal Greenland Trading Company - Kongelige Grønlandske Handel (KGH). Finally, a few Greenlanders had the possibility for attending school in Denmark, provided they were given the permission to travel. 3.3
Becoming Danish
Literacy and enlightenment came to Greenland in the 19th century, thus making it possible to build a system of education based on Kalaallisut. Yet, Danish remained the language of the administration and of most workplaces, and from the 1950s and on, school education became more and more influenced by Danish norms and traditions. Especially throughout the development boom in the years 1960-80, Danish was pushed forward as the language of instruction in primary school, the assumption being that educational achievements would be reached more quickly. Kalaallisut was even seen by some as redundant. When Greenland became a part of the Danish Realm, in 1953, a new school law was introduced. It provided for nine years compulsory schooling ending with a final exam. From early on, children were divided in two streams: a literary one (leading to grammar school) and a general stream. Danish was the language of instruction in the literary stream, and in the general stream it was Greenlandic in the first classes, with Danish being gradually introduced in the other classes and replacing Greenlandic in the final classes. The new educational demands set by the Danish state as well as the accelerating modernization of the Greenlandic society soon created a growing demand for education. Better health care resulted at the same time in a lower infant mortality rate. From 1951-1960, the number of pupils in the public schools increased by 70%; and doubled between 1960 and 1967. The need for more kindergartens, schools, teachers, etc., was overwhelming and a challenge for which Greenland was not prepared: not enough Greenlandic teachers had been trained and Danish teachers had to be brought in from Denmark. Greenlandic teachers who used to be twice as many as the Danish teachers soon became a minority. This, in turn, created many problems, and providing teaching in Greenlandic was often not possible. The high turnover among Danish teachers, who tended to leave again after a couple of years, created problems with the continuity in education. Other challenges were the lack of school buildings, curricula development and materials in Greenlandic. This “danification trend” was reinforced with the Greenlandic School Act of 1967 that was almost identical to the Danish Public School law. It also introduced a new feature, a junior high school, where the final examination was to be held in Danish. Few children, however, were able to qualify
14
for the junior high school and a two-year preparation was established. The ability to master the Danish language had become the criteria for having an education or not. 3.4
Language and education as political issues
The speed of all these changes and the problems they caused were beginning to send chock waves throughout the Greenlandic society. Greenlandic politicians, scholars and parents started criticising the School Act and calling for school legislation more attuned to the needs of the Greenlandic society. There was a real concern for the future of the Greenlandic language. The Inuit in Greenland saw – and still see – the language, as an essential part of their identity and language became a political issue and an important element in our emancipation process. This became evident at the already mentioned 1970 conference on the future of Kalaallit Nunaat’. Conference participants made it quite clear that they did not want to give up Greenlandic. The conference was to become a benchmark for the coming years’ educational policies and the Greenlanders’ demands for keeping and using their own language was one of the main arguments put forward by the Landsting in its appeal to the Danish Government in 1975. Accordingly, the Home Rule law § 9 about language states: ‘Greenlandic is the main language. Danish shall be thoroughly taught. Both languages may be used in the administration’. 3.4.1
Greenlandisation
When Home Rule was introduced, there came a reaction to all the years of “danification”. Now, all efforts were to be concentrated on a “nation-building” process based on a policy that proposed to develop the country according to its own conditions and available resources. This Greenlandisation policy aimed at making Greenland more Greenlandic and creating a sense of national Greenlandic identity. The new school law from 1980 had as its key objective “to strengthen the position of the Greenlandic language”, by making it the language of instruction while Danish would be taught from Grade 4 as a first foreign language. The other important objective was to ensure that the contents of the school subjects be adjusted to a greater extent to the needs of Greenlandic society. An obligatory and free nine-year school was established. In Grade 2, the pupils were divided in two streams, according to their prospects for literacy in Danish. Upon completion of Grade 9, students could choose to attend a two-year “continuation school” (Grade 10 and 11), thereby gaining a public school diploma. For further qualifications, students could continue in a “Course School” (Grade 12). Once more, these objectives were conditioned by the availability of Greenlandic teachers and teaching materials in Greenlandic; often these conditions could not be met, and Danish teachers would be in charge of teaching but at the expense of the teaching in Greenlandic. Throughout the 80s efforts were therefore made to increase the number of Greenlandic teachers by creating two more teachers’ colleges and improving the training. The gradual improvement in instruction in the public school resulted in the need for the introduction of high school/college training in Greenland. A two-year Danish "Adult Education" course, with substantial accommodations to Greenlandic culture was introduced at Ilinniarfissuaq in Nuuk in 1977. A few years later, two more high school/college training courses were established on the west coast. The 1980 law has been amended three times (1990, 1997 and 2002). In 1990, a School Decree stated that •
Public schooling in Greenland should be developed on its own terms; 15
•
The quality of teaching should be improved through the introduction of a higher degree of subject specific education and by creating several streams in the optional classes (Grade 10 to 12);
•
A higher degree of school discipline should be ensured. The Decree also stipulated “that Danish speaking students shall be integrated into Greenlandic speaking classes, beginning with Grade 1 in school year 1994/1995”. School subjects include Greenlandic, math, religion and sports. In Grade 4, Danish, history, biology and geography were added to the curriculum. Art and song/music were taught from Grade 2 to 11, carpentry and needlework from Grade 5 to 9, English from Grade 7 and house economics, physics and chemistry from Grade 8.
In 1997, school administration was decentralized. While the responsibility for the overall legislative framework remained with the central authority, the Landsting and Landsstyre, the municipal councils were now given the responsibility to define the administrative and pedagogic goals for their schools in accordance with the local situation. Thus the local authorities became responsible for the hiring of teachers, principals and other school employees. In order to support the local authorities with their pedagogical responsibilities, pedagogical /psychological resource centres were established in three different localities in western Greenland. 3.4.2
Atuarfitsialak – The Good School
The latest substantial changes in the school legislation are as recent as 2002. They were introduced after a thorough preparation with both national and international participation and a broad public debate on the future school system. North American school people with experience from Hawaiian and Indian education systems, and Scandinavian educational experts, not Saamí themselves but with experience in Saamí education systems in the Nordic countries, were enjoined to contribute with their expertise. Several conferences were held with the participation of schoolteachers from all levels, parents and municipal politicians. A special conference was organised for school children. The objectives have been to build a flexible school system shaped on Greenlandic premises and needs, while at the same time make it possible for students to take a higher education outside Greenland. The Good School is a ten-year school where the first nine years are compulsory. It has three levels: primary level from Grade 1 to 3 for the youngest children; a middle level from Grade 4 to 7; and a level for elder children (lower secondary) from Grade 8 to10. Classes can be organized with pupils of the same age or not. The pupils are taught in subject specific groups as well as in cross cutting subject groups and the groups consist of pupils from one or several classes, on the basis of the individual pupil’s needs and interests and in line with the agreed learning objectives. The languages of instruction are Greenlandic and Danish. English can also be used as instruction language as part of the pupils’ language learning. Teaching at all levels includes the following subjects: 1. Languages, i.e., Greenlandic, Danish, English and a third foreign language 2. Culture and society, i.e., social science, religion and philosophy 3. Mathematics and nature - and in the highest grades, separate classes in physics/chemistry, biology and geography 4. Personal development, i.e., teaching in health, social and emotional issues, educational and professional information and other psychological and social topics
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5. Local choices, i.e., instruction in subjects within the area of handicrafts and art (music, drama, etc.) and participation in local traditional cultural, social and occupational activities.¨ 3.5
The current situation in the education system
3.5.1
The school system
There are presently 24 urban schools and 62 village schools6 with a total of 10,688 pupils in 813 classes. 909 teachers are employed, including principals as well as teachers trained as kindergarten teachers but upgraded to work in public schools. 74 % of the teachers and 81% of the 73 principals were Greenlandic speakers. New public schools are under construction, primarily in the urban areas as Nuuk, Qaqortoq, and Ilulissat. A new private school opened recently, and that is quite a new concept in Greenland. Greenland has three high schools with a total of 850 students and 85 teachers (2007). Most of the students are bi-lingual, with Greenlandic as their mother tongue. Teaching is done in Danish and the curriculum follows the Danish one; only a few classes with typical Greenlandic subject like “Hunting and fishing” are being taught. The rationale is that this will prepare the students, so they are able to continue in the Danish higher education system if they want to. Student hostels are provided for out-of-town students. 3.5.2
Vocational and specialized schools
Vocational training is very important for providing the society with all kinds of necessary skills, and it has been developed since the first years of Home Rule. Today, Greenland has several vocational training schools as well as commercial and other specialized schools. These schools are spread all along the coast and specialize in different areas, including building and construction, iron and metals, trade and office, food production, social and health workers, graphic design and art school, etc. There also exist technical schools within fishery, shipping and sheep farming, as well as a School of Journalism and Teachers’ Training colleges. Greenlanders head most of these institutions and instruction is partly conducted in Greenlandic depending on the teachers’ language. 3.5.3
The University – Ilisimatusarfik
The university opened in 1987, in Nuuk, the capitol of Greenland. It has four institutes and the period of study is in average five years. At the Institute of Administration, the studies in economics, political science and administration are adapted to the Greenlandic society and provide a systematic introduction to the country’s political, social and economic conditions. Graduates from this department can find employment in the public and private administration sector. The Institute of Greenlandic teaches Greenlandic language and linguistics, literary science and media communication. Graduates from this Institute and from the Institute of Cultural and Social Issues, will typically become high school teachers, work at the Teacher college and other higher education institutions, in museums and cultural institutions, in radio and television, and in the Home Rule administration. The Institute of Theology provides teaching up to a bachelor degree. The lack of sufficient Greenlanders with an academic training means that the language of instruction is very often not Greenlandic, but rather Danish and some times English. But outside the classroom, people very often speak Greenlandic, and if Greenlandic-speaking examiners can be found, it is possible to write your thesis in Greenlandic. 3.5.4
Greenland’s research policy
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In the period researchers from abroad conducted 1950-80 social researches, and their work was based on the documentation provided by Greenlandic informants. Local people felt victimized and reacted by demanding more feed back and more contributions from the research being done. Especially in the case of social sciences there have been demands that research should address and try solving the social problems in Greenlandic society. The Greenland Home Rule’s policy mirrors these demands and stipulates that research should: •
Contribute to the improvement of the quality of life of the Greenlandic society; and
•
Contribute actively to the development of the country, support sustainable development and address the problems generated by the rapid economic and cultural changes in Greenlandic society.
In order to achieve these goals, the Home Rule has chosen to establish a number of research institutions in Greenland. To name a few: •
University of Greenland, where research on Greenlandic language and literature and Arctic cultures and societies is conducted.
•
Greenland Institute on Natural Resources, whose responsibility is to provide scientific data that can contribute to a sustainable development of Greenland’s natural resources, and to the safeguard of the environment and its biological diversity.
•
Greenland National Museum and Archives, which deals with the country’s archaeological and cultural history as well as with the description and documentation of its present history.
•
Statistics Greenland, which apart from statistical data is handling the international joint research project “The Survey of Living Conditions in the Arctic: Inuit, Sámi and the Indigenous Peoples of Chukotka (Russia)”.
Other institutions, like ASIAQ (Greenland Survey of climate and hydrology) and Inerisaavik (the Centre for Pedagogical development and In-service Teacher Training), also conduct research; there is also a tradition for health related research at the main hospital Dronning Ingrids Hospital and the Ambulant clinic, both in Nuuk. In 2000, the Arctic Technology Centre was established in Sisimiut as a result of the cooperation between the Technical University of Denmark and the Construction School. 3.5.5
Recent developments: Ilimmarfik
In the 1990s, critic was voiced that the small learning and training institutions were very expensive and their results not satisfactory. Some consideration was therefore given to the possibility of moving the training of social workers and journalists to Denmark. However, every time this option was presented to the Landsstyre, it was rejected with the argument that these two educations required Greenlandic language skills and that the training of social workers was based on Greenlandic social legislation. The two educations therefore differed so much from the educations provided in Denmark that moving them to Denmark was not an option. On the contrary, politicians argued that investing in the areas of education and research was necessary in order to understand and shape the society of to-morrow according to its needs. Language, culture, history, pedagogy, administration, social conditions and media communication were all too important for a country’s development to be moved to another country. There was moreover a political demand to establish a coherent educational system. The idea was to create a wider learning and research environment and to use the professional educators more efficiently. As in the international debate on education, there was a quest for more flexibility and 18
mobility in the education system. It was therefore decided to build a new university and research centre in Nuuk and thereby create a learning and research environment that would benefit the students and make it possible to use the teachers’ skills more efficiently. This new centre – Ilimmarfik – opened at the end of 2007. It groups all the present institutions of higher learning, including the University of Greenland and its four Institutes, Statistics Greenland, the National Archives, the National Library, the School of Social Work, the School of Journalism, and the Language Secretariat. There will also be a new research center dealing with the social sciences and humanities in the Arctic that will be of use to the entire world community of Arctic researchers. Furthermore, new areas of research, including media and communication, social research, pedagogy and theory of education, will complement the existing research areas at the University. Ilimmarfik also includes student residences and lodgings for guest professors or researchers. Ilimmarfik will without any doubt give Greenlandic research new and exiting possibilities. Research will provide a basis for the decisions to be taken by the politicians and by people in the business and industrial sector, and thus be to the benefit of the society at large and contribute to the development of the goals formulated since Home Rule was introduced. 3.5.6
ITCP
In late 1990s, an International Training Centre for Indigenous Peoples has been initiated. The training sessions have a duration of two weeks and take place in Greenland, where representatives from different parts of the world come to join a course on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights and Greenland Home Rule. Renowned international indigenous leaders have been the instructors at these events, which for the most part, have been financed by the Ford Foundation. The lack of feed back from the participants and the fact that it often takes place in the summertime, where most Greenlandic people are away on vacation, makes it difficult to assess its success. 3.6
The current situation within means of communication
3.6.1
Radio and TV
In a region as vast as Greenland, with a population living dispersed and at great distances, radio has meant a lot as a source of news and enlightenment. But it has also been important for the development of a new form of journalism and a creative way of using the local language. Greenland’s first broadcasting radio developed after WWII with the support of experienced Danish radio journalists and Danish Radio, where young Greenlanders went for training as technicians and journalists. Broadcasting was done in Greenlandic and Danish but just like the newspapers nearly 100 years earlier, local people that spoke Kalaallisut ran the radio. Everybody from the director to the technicians, journalists and producers were locals. The cultural impact was enormous. News, reportage, debates, personal stories, radio theatre, European, mostly classic, music as well as North American modern music were reaching into the Greenlandic homes. Today, the national Kalaallit Nunaata Radiua, (Radio of Kalaalit Nunaat) KNR, is digitalized. It also runs a public TV channel and a bilingual on-line news service. It is an independent institution with 100 employees and its own board of directors. But it works within a legal framework set up by the Government and the government mainly finances its budget. Emphasis is on the dissemination of information, based on objectivity and impartiality and freedom of speech. Quality, versatility and diversity are other priorities. TV and radio programmes can be received throughout Greenland, but some towns also have their own local radio and TV production with local news, music and entertainment. They too get some 19
financial support from the government and their productions are sometimes bought by the KNR and used in the national programming. In 2005, 8.243 hours of radio and TV broadcasting included 60 % on art and culture, 33% news and current issues, while 7% targeted children and youth and were produced with their participation. KNR Radio broadcasts about 5,400 hours of material each year, divided into 2,500 hours in Greenlandic, 900 in Danish and 2,200 hours of music. KNR TV broadcasts about 300 hours of Greenlandic, and about 2,000 hours of Danish programmes per year. Television programmes (and DVDs) are almost always in Danish or English, and have a strong impact on Greenlandic culture. Especially radio has been perfect for the emerging of a modern society, and it is still today the most influential media in the local language as it can be heard in all local communities. One of the obvious differences with other Inuit in North America is that, when you visit Inuit homes in Alaska and Canada, you’ll find the TV-set broadcasting all kinds of programmes in English, while in Greenland, the media, which is turned on, is much more often the radio playing in Kalaallisut. 3.6.2
Newspapers
Atuagagdliutit, the first Greenlandic news periodical (1860s), is still published today, now as a bilingual newspaper. Another popular weekly publication in Greenlandic, Sermitsiaq, is also on-line in a bilingual version, and has recently also included an English version. This is a very popular online paper, in which there is a great deal of political debate. Besides these publications of national coverage, there exist a number of smaller publications like Kalaaleq (The Greenlander), issued in Greenlandic only by the Greenlandic Writers’ Association, and Arnanut (‘for women’) a bilingual magazine published by Sermitsiaq. 3.6.3
Electronic media
Most people have access to Internet and according to Tele Greenland, the telecommunication department, the bigger institutions, private as well as public, have all their own homepages. These are usually at the least bilingual, although some of them try to have pages in English too. There are several chat sites in Kalaallisut specifically targeting young people. In the homepages of the radio KNR, and these of the national newspaper Sermitsiaq, which is also an on-line paper, lively interactive debates prevail in both Kalaallisut and Danish. Telemedicine was introduced in Greenland a few years ago to provide health care to the remote areas of Greenland. Although the possibility of medical consultations through the “net doctor” was well received by the public and proved an efficient way of using the medical personnel, it did not receive sufficient funding and had to stop. 3.6.4
Literature and theatre
Authors writing in Greenlandic are still few. The first novel was released in 1910. The literary production includes novels, plays and poetry inspired by the old culture and the clashes with Western civilization. A number of initiatives aim at helping potential writers and that include courses in creative writing. The national publishing house established in 1957 with the support of the Landsraad has now been privatised and this has made it more difficult for writers to get published. Public libraries are a feature in many towns and communities. There are also book clubs. But in general, book reading is no longer widespread as it used to be in previous times and is being challenged by the electronic media. Listening to book CDs, on the other hand, appears to be popular.
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One thing that characterizes the Kalaallit is the pleasure they take in story telling, and even in Nuuk, people will swarm in the main library for story telling evenings. They are good listeners and an unmistakable characteristic is their sense of humour and disposition for laughter. Theatre in Greenland is relatively recent. The only theatre is the National Theatre in Nuuk. Plays are in Greenlandic, but lack of funding makes theatre a rare commodity. There is also a lack of trained people and of manuscript writers. There is therefore a need to promote education in artistic expression, incorporating the rich heritage of legends and myths, our traditional performing skills, etc. As one of the persons interviewed said: “If we want to achieve independence, we must know our heritage. Without knowing our heritage, we will not get independent.” 3.6.5
Music
Music deserves to be mentioned when dealing with the Greenlandic language. As previously mentioned, poetry, songs and dances are important elements of the Greenlandic culture. Singing is done in Kalaallisut as a reaction to the cultural domination from European and American culture. The youth are inspired by foreign culture like pop, rock, and rap, but create their own interpretations and every year new releases come out in Kalaallisut. People also like to organize choirs where they either sing songs with semi-religious content or old songs with a more national Greenlandic content. From the 1970s and on, a very rich rock pop music and poetry have evolved, and is still very popular. It is further more an economic viable commodity, because people buy the music. It is said that Greenlandic music is sold in very large numbers in comparison with, i.e., Danish music. 3.7
Future challenges
Kalaallisut is today the language of power. Greenlandic Inuit language is one of the indigenous languages that survive the globalization process. It is due to perseverence and a strategy for linguistic survival established through formal recognition. Greenland Language Committee, Greenland Place Names Authority and Greenland Committee on Personal Naming are formal committees appointed by the Greenland Government and formally supported by the Language Secretariat of Greenland. The language survived the colonial period and is today the least threatened language in comparison with the Inuit languages spoken in Canada, the U.S. (Alaska) and Russia (Chukotka). There, people struggle to teach the native language to their children and fight against the influence of world languages such as English and Russian. But at the same time, they need these languages in order to progress and access education. In Greenland, Kalaallisut is the language spoken in the society, in the Landsting and the Government, and the language used by the local media. The children in Greenland speak, read and write Kalaallisut, and it is used as the language of instruction in the primary school. The Greenlandic Inuit language is the main language in Greenland. It is spoken by 90 per cent of the population according to a survey conducted by Greenland Statistics in year 2000. But like other small nations, it is indispensable to know other languages, like Danish and English, in order to communicate and, not the least important, to get a formal education. Therefore, Greenland is also a bi-lingual society with 20% of the population – whether of mixed descent or Danish expatriates – speaking Danish and, more often than not, only Danish. The Landsting’s meetings, for instance, are held in Kalaallisut with simultaneous translation for those members (and expatriate staff in the administration) who do not speak it. There also exist strong cultural ties between the two countries, as many Greenlanders study in Denmark and many others have founded a family and settled there.
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Over the years, the status of the two languages has fluctuated and their respective value has been discussed. For many years, the language of power was Danish, and then it became Kalaallisut. Speaking Danish was for many years considered an asset. This is no longer the case. Greenlanders who speak only Danish, and who often are well educated within the Danish educational system, sometimes feel themselves discriminated by the Greenlandic speakers who look down on them as being “danificized” Greenlanders, ignorant of their Greenlandic culture. Today, the debate is about the merits of Greenlandisation; about the need to look critically at the education system; and about language integration as a necessary step towards a multi-lingual society prepared to meet the challenges of a globalized world. 3.7.1
Greenlandisation
The Greenlandisation process that started in the early 1980s was seen as a natural and necessary reaction to the previous decades of Danification. But while Kalaallisut had survived the colonial period, the educational achievements were not as high as anticipated by the Danish colonial power or the Greenlandic Home Rule. Analysing the situation, many scholars therefore argue that beginning the “greenlandisation process” at a time when the Home Rule was still very young, was a fatal mistake. The lack of knowledge of other languages than Kalaallisut has jeopardized young Greenlanders’ possibility to take over the administrative and educational leadership. The whole purpose of choosing another political path (i.e. Home Rule) than that of a passive observer has therefore not been fulfilled. While government services have expanded substantially, sufficient educational excellence has not been achieved, and Greenland remains therefore to a great extent a society with a large amount of imported workforce and expertise to run all these services, such as lawyers, economists and doctors, nurses and even teachers in primary and secondary education. One of the reasons for this may be that Greenlandisation has been prioritized instead of focusing on political skills and the realities of the world surrounding us. 3.7.2
New trends within language and education policies
Today, the political emphasis is put on the main language being Greenlandic. This done, the long term strategy for Greenland language is now to develop it further in order to become the language of research and studying with the additional requirement of two or three international languages and Danish as supportive languages. Greenlandic scholars increasingly acknowledge that bilingualism or even trilingualism is a must, first of all for the benefit of the coming generations. Their concern is that if you are monolingual, your possibilities to act socially as a citizen will be limited in a globalized world, where knowledge of several languages is a must. Domestic language policy continues stressing that education in Greenlandic is of vital importance and that children must be able to speak it. Therefore, the Language Secretariat recommends that kindergarten pedagogues learn about language development. The school must teach reading and writing in the mother tongue, and curricula have to be revised so they are more in accordance with the policy of having the Greenlandic language as the main language. The instruction in mother tongue should be dynamic and develop the children’s creative as well as intellectual capability. Youth should be given good possibilities for using the Internet at school and other educational institutions; they should be offered prime time radio and TV-programmes as well as publications that specifically cater for them. It is also important that Kalaallisut be developed into a modern national language with new words emerging to cover modern fields of knowledge. As emphasized by some researchers,
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Greenlandisation in itself is not a goal; the goal must be a qualifying Greenlandisation, i.e., Kalaallisut, as the main language, should not be kept as if in a museum. It must develop as well, and measures are being taken to further the evolution of the Greenlandic language used in the administration and education system into a modern national language. At the same time, it is now widely recognized, also by the Greenlanders themselves, that learning Danish is very important, because it is a tool to access knowledge, insight and higher education. So, on the one hand it is important to keep and develop one’s own language, Kalaallisut; on the other hand, it is also very important to learn Danish (as well as other foreign languages like English and Spanish), as it is still the link to the outside world. Of the children starting school, 80 % speak only Greenlandic, 12 % speak both Danish and Greenlandic and 8% speak only Danish. Much money has been invested into the bilingual education system but the educational and employment statistics are only just beginning to show results in terms of native Greenlanders completing a competent education. The problem of early “drop-out” rates is something Greenlanders have in common with many other former colonies, where the education systems are not made to suit the demands of the culture and the students. Atuarfitsialak - the Good School should be seen as an effort to better adapt the education system to the needs of the Greenlandic children. Even this is greatly debated in the public. The Danish parents would rather have their children to go through the Danish educational system than the Greenlandic. 3.7.3
Language integration
Greenland Government appointed the Language Secretariat to conduct a survey of the language integration strategies. In conjunction with that, a seminar on language integration, attended by representatives from the university, political parties, the public administration, labour unions and educational institutions, was held in early 2007. The seminar noted that recent investigation showed that the number of monolingual Greenlandic speakers was declining, meaning that bilingualism in Greenlandic and Danish was increasing, and that this was an indication of the language policies adopted at the political level, at workplaces and educational institutions. The word respect was a keyword throughout the discussions, which brought forward ideas and suggestions regarding language regulations and policies, rights, identity, culture, status of the languages in the society, regulations about languages to be used in public and status of minority languages. References to international conventions, like ILO Convention No. 169, the Nordic countries’ language declaration and human rights were made. The seminar concluded that it is not enough to implement a language integration programme. In order to achieve a better society with true language integration, a more inclusive language policy is required. A multilingual society demands good education. Language integration brings along social and cultural influence. To know two or more languages is a skill that the citizens will benefit from in terms of education, work, cultural knowledge and ability to learn more subjects. In other words, knowing more languages opens many doors. Therefore, the recommendations presented by the seminar to the politicians in the Landsting and Landsstyre included the amendment of the Home Rule paragraph on language, a coherent policy regarding the teaching of foreign languages and the introduction of a clear language policy with respect to public and private workplaces, where the Danish language still prevails. The Danes in Greenland are encouraged to learn Greenlandic, some workplaces give courses, and the present government made a decision that heads of Departments should at least be bilingual, meaning that they should be able to speak the language. Admitting that these recommendations cannot be implemented over night, a time frame of 20 years was suggested.
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4
CONCLUDING REMARKS
Looking at Greenland’s language and education policies, the conclusion is that they fulfil the ILO Convention No. 169’s provisions on education and communication. Greenlandic children have equal access to education (Art.26); the Greenlanders themselves develop and implement their education programmes, establish their own education institutions and facilities (Art.27); Greenlandic children are taught to read and write in their own language as well as in Danish, and Kalaallisut is not only preserved but is also being developed and practiced (Article 28); Greenlanders are imparted with general knowledge and skills that will help them to participate fully and on an equal footing in their own community and in the national community (Article 29); the textbooks being used provide fair information and are to a large extent taking into account the history of Greenland, the local knowledge and skills, and the indigenous value system (Article 31). With respect to Article 32 on Contacts and Cooperation across borders, Greenland has numerous contacts, cooperation and joint activities with other indigenous peoples through, for instance, its involvement with the Arctic Council and the Nordic Council, as well as through its membership of ICC. This has been achieved through a process that has been facilitated by a number of factors: -
The limited impact of Danish culture during almost 300 years of colonialisation due to the geographical distance, the climate, etc., that limited the number of Danish settlers.
-
The early acknowledgement by the Danish colonizers of the importance of documenting and systematising the language, developing a Greenlandic script, establishing schools, teachers training college, etc.
-
The implementation of a policy that early on involved the Kalaallit in decision making processes at the local level through the district councils.
-
The fundamental differences between Greenland and Denmark in terms of language, mentality, livelihood and culture that prevented any form of assimilation.
-
The strong attachment to Kalaallisut as a vital part of the Greenlandic identity
-
The prominent place Kalaallisut has had from the very start in the education system and later in the media (printed media and radio) and other means of communication.
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The fact that primary education was made compulsory and free at an early stage.
Other factors have been less conducive to the process, and have at times threatened Kalaallisut’s position. Especially, the period from 1953 to the late 1970s when Denmark implemented a development policy, which on the one hand had positive results (e.g. in health), but on the other hand entailed some profound changes within Greenlandic society that endangered the Greenlandic identity. Another important element is the impact, the Danish education system, its traditions and norms have had – and still have - on the Greenlandic school system. Much of the curriculum in the high schools, for instance, is based on these traditions and norms. Many believe that this is one of the reasons why we have not achieved our education efforts. The goals have not been clear enough and there has been no coherence since Danes and Greenlanders have different views on educational issues, on pedagogy, on language instruction. Today, not only is Kalaallisut no longer a threatened language, but it has become strong enough to accept the fact that the knowledge of Danish (and other languages) is still needed in order to gain access to the outer world. The challenge now is to develop a bi-lingual education system that is 24
attuned to the Greenlandic culture and needs and at the same time is capable of integrating other languages in a fruitful way. The Commission on self-government has passed its recommendations to the Greenlandic and Danish governments. There will be a referendum in Greenland in November 2008. The Greenlandic political aim is to implement the recommendations on June 21, 2009 – on Greenland’s national day. That includes a draft law, which states in its Preamble, that the Greenlandic people are a people according to international law with the right to self-determination. The draft law also stipulates that “Greenlandic is the official language in Greenland”. Globalization is changing our lives in both good and less desired ways. Among the latter, is the fact that many languages are being lost, and many of those are the languages of indigenous peoples. The question is whether the Greenlandic example can be useful for other indigenous peoples in their struggle for maintaining their native language and revitalizing their cultures. In times of great advances within communication and audio-visual technologies, an interesting and important task would be to collect the oral traditions, the mythologies and legends of indigenous peoples, to elaborate dictionaries and to built up and further develop bi-lingual education systems, so that the vanishing of indigenous peoples’ cultural heritage can be stopped. The problem of school drop outs is widespread among indigenous school students. Could these problems be minimized if the indigenous peoples themselves were educated to teach their own children in their own languages - at least in primary school, before the national languages are introduced in the school curricula? Could indigenous children achieve higher educational skills if the provisions of ILO Convention No. 169 were followed and indigenous peoples themselves, as has been the case in Greenland, were able to develop and implement their own education programmes, especially in the primary education? Could exchange programmes be organized in the area of language and education so that Greenlanders could share their know-how and experiences with other indigenous peoples who want to revitalize and strengthen their own culture? Another important and interesting suggestion would be to collect and document customary law among indigenous peoples. This valuable traditional knowledge is often intimately related to the indigenous language and therefore at risk too for being lost along with the indigenous language and as a result of economic development. Another useful and important path to follow would be to have a language planning at the national level. We have a long history, but it is only recently that we have been able to begin studying it; this became possible as we gained greater political freedom and were able to make our own priorities. My hope is that our experiences in Greenland give inspiration to others and the loss of indigenous languages can be stopped; our children can achieve educational excellence; and we, as indigenous peoples, can keep our dignity and develop according to the UN goals for the diversity of cultures.
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Bibliography “…but the word” report and recommendations of the Language Policy Survey, 2001. Brochmann, Helene og Bente Hamann. 1990: Forvaltning i forandring, Nuuk: Atuakkiorfik SLiCA. 2007: The Survey of Living Conditions in the Arctic http://www.ipy.org/index.php?/ipy/detail/slica_raas Berthelsen, Christian.1994: Kalaallit Atuakkiaat. Nuuk: Atuakkiorfik.] Bruun, Eske og Finn Gad. 1956: Grønlandsbogen. Copenhagen: Schultz Forlag Darnell, Frank (ed.). 1972: “Education in the North: Selected Papers of the International Conference on Cross-Cultural Education in the Circumpolar Nations and Related Articles (1st, Montreal, August 18-21, 1969)”. Fairbanks, Alaska: Center for Northern Educational Research, University of Alaska. Gynther, Bent og Aqissiaq Moeller (eds.) 1999: Kalaallit Nunaat. Copenhagen: Gyldendal. Ilisimatusarfik. 2004: Grønlænder og Global. Nuuk: Ilisimatusarfik. Kalaallit Nunaat, 2006: Greenland Statistical Yearbook 2006 Kanstrup, Jan. 1984: ”Taama allappugut Ilulissani piniartut – om Forstanderskaberne og tørveskærersagen i Jakobshavn”. Grønlands Arkiv. Minority Rights Group. 1994: Polar Peoples. London: MRG. Oqaasileriffik. 2007: Seminar Report, January 2007. Petersen, Hanne (ed.). 2006: Grønland i Verdenssamfundet. Nuuk: Forlaget Atuagkat 2006. Rasmussen, Knud. (1927) 1999: Across Arctic America, Narrative of the 5th Thule Expedition. University of Alaska Press. Rasmussen,Rasmus Ole. 2006: Analyse af fangererhvervet i Grønland. Report from the Roskilde University Centre ( RUC). Rink, Heinrich (1875) 1974: Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo. London: C. Hurst & Company, & Copenhagen: Arnold Busck. Rosing, Peter Fr. & Marianne Stenbaek. 1998: Radio Greenland 1958-1998. Nuuk: KNR/Atuakkiorfik 1998 Sisimiuni ataatsimeersuarneq 1970 Thisted, Kirsten (ed.). 2005: Grønlandsforskning, Historie og perspektiver. Copenhagen: Det Grønlandske Selskab.
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UNESCO. 1998: First World Culture Report. Winther, Gorm (ed.). 2003: Demokrati og Magt I Grønland. Aarhus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag.
Personal communications: Minister of Culture and Education, February 2007. Director Carl C. Olsen, Oqaasileriffik, (the Language Secretariat), March 2007. Author Hans Anthon Lynge, 2007. Communication officer, Greenland Home Rule, 2007. Websites: www.inerisaavik.gl – website of the Centre for Pedagogical development and In-service Teacher Training www.nanoq.gl – website of the Greenlandic Home Rule. www.oqaasileriffik.gl – website of the Language Secretariat. 1
See Robert Petersen 1999. The Nordic Council is a parliamentarian organisation of Scandinavian countries 3 The Arctic Council is an intergovernmental forum that includes Canada, Denmark (including Greenland), Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation, Sweden and the USA. 4 This recollection of stories, legends and myths gave very good results, and provided an important basis for later publications on oral heritage. Other important collections were published subsequently in 1888 (East Greenlandic stories) and in 1931 (“East Greelandic poems”) 5 A kayak is a man’s boat, umiak a women’s boat, rowed by several women. 6 There is also a Special school for handicapped children and instruction is also provided in a number of sheep and fishing posts. 2
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