Canadian Inuit head to Greenland to show solidarity, attend consulate opening

NUUK – As Canada prepares to launch its new consulate in Greenland this week, dozens of Inuit from across the Canadian Arctic flew into the Danish territory’s capital Nuuk on Thursday to show solidarity.

Makivvik, the group representing Inuit from across northern Quebec, commissioned an Air Inuit flight Thursday from Montreal with more than 60 Inuit leaders and youth on board, along with a handful of journalists.

The Canadian Press spoke with passengers on the flight about why they’re going.

‘Unity’ and ‘strength’

“It’s basically us wanting to show unity and our strength as Inuit, in being united,” said Makivvik vice-president Adamie Delisle Alaku.

“We’re bringing a plane full of Inuit to show support and to show unity with our Greenlandic fellow Inuit facing all kinds of threats, especially from the United States wanting to take ownership of Greenland and its resources.”

Delisle Alaku said U.S. President Donald Trump’s demands for control of Greenland remind many of his ambitions to make Canada an American state.

“He has ulterior motives, much like the resources that he’s seeking in Venezuela. He’s seeking oil and gas and minerals in Greenland,” he said.

He said the new consulate could make it easier for people to travel between Greenland and the Canadian North, which could build up a market case for more frequent flights.

A commercial flight between Iqaluit and Nuuk takes two hours and only operates from June to October.

There are many extended family ties between Inuit communities in Canada and Greenland.

‘I’d sometimes cry’

Minnie Annahatak, an executive with the Kativik Regional Government in northern Quebec, said the stream of threats and boasts about Greenland coming out of the Trump administration — and its initial refusal to rule out taking the island by force — filled her with fear.

“I felt they were going to invade, like they did in Venezuela. It was very worrisome and I kept watching the news,” she said, adding she was alarmed when Greenland’s government advised people that it had enough resources to manage for five days in the event of an armed invasion.

“I’d sometimes cry because of just worrying about it,” she said.

Annahatak is from the village of Kangirsuk in a region she said is under pressure from firms looking to quickly extract rare earths. Already, she said, caribou herds are dwindling due to climate change.

“We all want to keep our tradition and culture alive,” she said.

Annahatak said Trump’s rhetoric feels like an attempt at a second colonization of Inuit.

“It’s really important to support our fellow Inuit, especially for sovereignty,” she said. “They should have their freedom like anybody else in the world. It’s 2026.”

‘A lot we could learn’

Lukasi Whiteley-Tukkiapik, 29, leads Saqijuq, an Inuit wellness organization in Kujjuaq, Que. He said he went to Greenland for a conference in November 2024 and was impressed by infrastructure and services which seemed miles ahead of what he’d seen back home and in Iqaluit.

He said he hopes the new consulate can help improve programming in Canada with measures like suicide prevention programs grounded in Inuit culture.

“There’s a lot we could learn from them, and vice versa,” he said.

“They have the same social issues (but) there’s more of an importance and it’s more on the front-burner for them. I find in Nunavik, we’re not there yet.”

Whiteley-Tukkiapik said Canadians must send a unified message that Trump’s behaviour is unacceptable.

‘Our voices stolen’

Eliza Lauzon, 26, is a board member with the Qarjuit Youth Council. She said many Inuit youth have viewed Trump’s commentary through the lens of colonization.

“We are a circumpolar population, and historically from all angles — whether it’s Russia, the U.S., Canada, or Greenland with Denmark — we’re constantly having our voices stolen from us, she said.

“They take our language and they take our children, and that’s just a way for them to access our lands and our resources.”

Lauzon said this trip to Greenland simply revives ancient ties between the two polar communities.

“From Greenland, they used to travel to Nunavut. We used to travel in return. It was exchanges that were made since time immemorial. So coming here is just a continuation of that tradition,” she said.

“Often we see settler-colonial powers speak about how they protect us. They’d die on our lands without us.”

‘At the forefront’

Jean Dupuis, a Quebecer married to an Inuk woman, directs Makivvik’s relations with the Quebec government. He said many Inuit from northern Quebec are proud that a local — Gov. Gen. Mary Simon — will be in Nuuk for the opening of the consulate.

“She’s been doing a good job at promoting reconciliation and everything else and putting Inuit and Indigenous groups at the forefront of discussions that were rarely happening before,” he said.

Dupuis said he hopes the consulate will advance efforts by Inuit to open up cross-border travel without passports — an ambition shared by Inuit groups in Canada, Alaska and Greenland for years.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 5, 2026.