The Importance of Silence and Space

NUUK, Greenland — Greenland has been thrust to the forefront of the world’s political stage, which has led to a steep increase in tourism and journalists visiting the country and talking to its people. However, this has caused issues for many who call Greenland home, making some of their local hangouts no longer feel like their own space.

According to the UK Parliament House of Commons Library, President Donald Trump first started talking about buying Greenland during his first presidency, in 2019. This has been reignited heavily during his second term, starting in 2024.

Coast in Greenland — Nuuk coastline in Greenland. Photo: Shannon Knowski

The result of this has been a steep increase of media and content produced in Greenland, involving Greenlandic people. While some people are okay with this increased presence of journalists and tourists, not everyone is.

“The United States’ attempt to buy Greenland has been an issue that has influenced life here over the past year,” Professor Lars Demant-Poort of the University of Greenland said. “It has not been good.”

This negative impact stems in part from citizens of Greenland feeling questioned by journalists significantly more than before.

“People are so over journalists,” Rosa Flügge, a local, said.

Non-Greenlandic residents have also commented on the increased presence, questioning whether journalists are asking for permission and consent before carrying out projects about the country.

“My Greenlandic friends are so over-solicited that we should at least ask for their opinion before taking such an initiative,” Suzy Basile, a professor of Indigenous Studies at the University of Quebec at Abitibi-Témiscamingue, said.

One of the main problems that is causing this mindset is the lack of respect and understanding of the Greenlandic culture from visitors.

“Our culture of stillness and quietness,” Hanne Kirkegaard, the museum director at the Nuuk Art Museum, said. “We speak to each other; we don’t speak to the whole space we are in. We listen to each other; we listen to our surroundings. We give space to each other.”

Kirkegaard continued to share how integral silence and awareness of noise levels, especially when speaking to others, is to the culture in Greenland, and specifically Nuuk.

“Be aware of your volume and what space you take when you visit,” Kirkegaard said. “Also, be aware that the world’s interest in Greenland has disrupted our day-to-day life here in Nuuk, so that some people avoid the city center or certain grocery stores or cafes, when they know there are lots of reporters in town.”

Others have spoken out about feeling mistreated by journalists, feeling that their culture has been twisted in the media.

“Lately, modern Inuit Culture in Nuuk has been getting bashed in the face by foreign journalists with microphones,” Reddit user ImATacticalTurtle, said. “It’s gotten to a point where people avoid the center of the city during journalism rush hours. I’ve seen people being ambushed in cafes, telling journalists to ‘go away’, only to be conned into giving statements anyway.”

Trust has been strained because of this for the people of Greenland, especially when it comes to inquiries from American media platforms.

“Since 2025,” Demant-Poort said, “I have been quite concerned about approaches from the U.S.”

The caveat to this influx of foreign presence in Greenland is the boost to the economy via tourism. According to Joanna Bailey of Euro News, Greenland is seeking to increase its tourism, which is the reason it opened its new international airport in 2024.

Some of the country’s residents have said they don’t mind the American tourism, but don’t want Trump or government presence on their land.

“[Trump’s] not a genius,” Ilannguaq, a worker at a Nuuk fish-processing plant, said. “He’s a piece of sh*t for us. We don’t want to be part of the United States. We already said no to that. When he threatened to annex [Greenland], we felt a bit scared, of course. Back in January, what happened in [Venezuela], and also, all of a sudden, in Iran. We feel like we could be the next being annexed, to being attacked or something like that. Stay away from us. We are our own Greenlandic people, and we don’t want to become [colonized again].”

When Vice President JD Vance visited the military base in Greenland on March 28, 2025, it sparked outrage among the Greenlandic parliament and people, according to Kirsten Grieshaber, Philip Crowther, and Aamer Madhani of the AP News. People spoke out about the trip on R/geopolitics on Reddit, speaking about how the vice president was not invited.

“I want to say about Trump and his gang coming here,” Albrecht Damgaard, a blacksmith in Nuuk, said, “The vice president wanted to visit Nuuk. I was afraid if he came here, a Greenlander would shoot him. I was very happy that he didn’t come to Nuuk. Greenlanders can shoot, and not just in the ear. Somebody in Denmark told me that if President Trump came with his army to Greenland, he would fight against 30,000 Greenlanders with guns. Personally, I have seven guns. We don’t need to have a permit.”

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.

Share this: