As Trump menaces Greenland, Inuit leader fears homeland in Canada is next

National Inuit Leader Angajuqqaaq Natan Obed looks on during a press conference regarding the launch of the Arctic Foreign Policy during an event at Global Affairs Canada headquarters, in Ottawa, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

ST. JOHN’S — Inuit leader Natan Obed says the Canadian government must act now to secure Inuit homelands as United States President Donald Trump wages a campaign to take control of Greenland.

Obed, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, said Canadian leaders do not understand the role of Inuit Peoples in securing Arctic and Canadian sovereignty. Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami represents Inuit in Canada.

Inuit, he said, must be partners in the federal government’s work to assert its sovereignty.

“We’ve heard almost a complete absence at the global stage about Inuit, and the term ‘Inuit’ to describe Greenland’s people, or even in conversations around Canadian sovereignty,” he said in an interview.

“We’re demanding in this moment to be understood and treated with the respect that we deserve,” he added. “We’re proud Canadians. We want to help Canada. But we also want to be respected by Canada.”

Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, and estimates suggest roughly 90 per cent of its 57,000 residents are Inuit.

Trump has argued that U.S. ownership of the Arctic territory is vital for his “Golden Dome” -- a multibillion dollar missile defence system that he says will be operational before his term ends in 2029.

He falsely claimed earlier this month that Denmark’s military presence in Greenland consisted of “two dogsleds.”

But the criticism that Denmark has not invested enough in Greenland and could not defend the territory could easily be lobbed at Canada and its investments in Inuit Nunangat, Obed said.

Inuit Nunangat stretches from the tip of the Yukon Territory to the north coast of Labrador and it is the homeland of Inuit in Canada. It comprises roughly 40 per cent of the country’s land mass and is home to 72 per cent of Canada’s coastline, but it only has one deep water port, Obed said.

Many of the 51 communities in Inuit Nunangat don’t have paved runways, and rely on trucked-in water and sewage, he added.

Obed said Prime Minister Mark Carney has not contacted him to discuss Canada’s response to Trump’s position on Greenland, but he expects to meet with Carney soon.

“We think now is the time for Canada to work in partnership with Inuit, not only on our diplomacy and our messaging, but also on securing a stronger foothold in the sustainability of Inuit Nunangat, and the respect that the world has for nation states,” Obed said.

In Labrador, the Inuit Nunatsiavut government expressed its solidarity with Greenland in a press release Thursday.

Nunatsiavut president Johannes Lampe said any attempt to impose outside control on Greenland was an attack on all Inuit.

“It is the freedom to be Inuit that is being threatened,” Lampe said in an interview Friday. “When there are threats to those values that we have as Inuit ... we have to support each other.”

Inuit are making moves to demonstrate who owns their land and what sovereignty and self-determination look like, he said. He cited Gov. Gen. Mary Simon’s expected visit to Greenland next month to open a consulate in Nuuk as an example. Simon is Inuk.

Lampe agreed with Obed that Inuit should be included in discussions and plans about Canadian sovereignty. Nunatsiavut was the first Inuit region in Canada to achieve self-government.

“Inuit know how important sovereignty and self-determination is,” Lampe said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 23, 2026.