Focusing on Strength: Asiarpa Fredriksen-Lund

NUUK, Greenland — On the top floor of the Nuuk Center shopping mall, tucked away in the very back down a long corridor, you will see a sign for a shop full of knick-knacks and Greenlandic art. The shop sign reads “ASIARPA”, named for its owner, Asiarpa Fredriksen-Lund, a half Greenlandic half Danish woman.

Lund grew up in a small village in southern Greenland named Narsarsuaq. She grew up on a sheep farm with her parents and brothers.

“I’m a woman,” Lund said, “And my brothers can be home, they can be sheep farmers also, but I must go to town and learn and have education and have a work. My husband went to have higher education here in Nuuk; therefore, we came here. We also like to be here, but I like my village, too. We go home every summer and holiday.”

Even though Greenland has free education through Denmark, the resources are limited and have vastly changed in content since the Home Rule Act of 1979 was passed. Due to this, Lund explained that her English is limited compared to those who grew up in a more populated area, such as Nuuk.

Lund spoke on this being one of the major reasons for Greenlanders not being able to secure jobs. She also said that money plays a large role in those who get hired, as well.

“We can work,” Lund said. “We know we can work, and yet, so many Philippines people come here and work. So many young people here in Greenland do not have work, because Philippines people are not as expensive, Greenlandic people are more expensive.”

While Denmark and the United States argue over Greenland for matters that would make the countries more money, Lund focuses on the real issues in life.

“I don’t have so much money,” Lund said. “Always people must have more work. But also, more life, more glad, also stronger inside. People in the whole world must be more strong. I know money very good for all of us, but life is not only money.”

Lund touched on the complicated relationship Greenlanders have with Denmark, especially due to how many people come from both cultural backgrounds.

“Me and my husband, we are half Danish and half Greenland, but he is Greenlandic because his mother is Greenlandic, and he don’t know who his father is. Many people here also don’t know who the father is. He was born in 1960, and many women would go to parties and meet a Danish man, for only one night.”

Despite having free education and healthcare through Denmark, the systems are not capable at serving the Greenlandic people to a quality standard.

“I think if [Denmark] has so much money from here,” Lund said, “why don’t we have a good hospital? We don’t have a good hospital here, but Denmark has a very good hospital and very good education system and many teachers, So, I think if they have money from us, and truly want to help us, why doesn’t Denmark make it better for us Greenlandic people? For example, me, I am Greenlandic and Danish, I’m Greenlandic, so it’s not enough for Danish people. I go to higher education, only I can’t speak English, so I think Greenlandic and Danish will be enough, but it’s not enough.”

She also understands that these issues stem from the governments at work, and not the people who live in those countries.

“I’m not angry at any people,” Lund said. “I think it can be better for all of us, if we have more culture, and talk more about our culture. We Greenlandic people have good culture, and good food. They also say our food, seal, is not good. But I can also understand that thinking.”

Ultimately, Lund wants to see her nation and her people flourish and touches back on how strength should be the main goal.

“My parents are very good parents,” Lund said. “Therefore, I can self-make myself into something and do something. I hope many people here in our country can also be more strong.”

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This story is part of a semester-long investigative reporting project into Greenland’s people, history, and culture. It was created by an advanced reporting class in the Journalism, Advertising, and Media Studies program at UW-Milwaukee. Other stories from the project are available on Edge of the Arctic: Greenland, the Land of the People.

This work was made possible through the support of MPC Endowment Ltd., the philanthropic affiliate of the Milwaukee Press Club, and a private donor.