‘We are very much one people’: Dozens rally in Iqaluit to protest against Trump’s threats to control island

Iqaluit residents Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory and Siku Rojas hold a Greenlandic banner during a solidarity march through Nunavut’s capital on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026.

IQALUIT — As thousands marched Saturday in Greenland to protest U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewed threats to take control of the island, about 825 kilometres away, dozens did the same in Nunavut’s capital.

Aaju Peter, the lawyer and activist who organized the morning rally in Iqaluit, says about 70 rally-goers chanted “Greenland is owned by the Greenlandic people” in Inuktut as they marched for an hour in freezing and windy weather.

“After I found out that the Greenlanders were going to hold their own demonstration at 1 p.m. their time, I decided let’s show our support and that’s what we did today, which was 10 a.m. in Iqaluit,” said Peter, who also teaches Inuit languages in Iqaluit.

“The rally was incredible. It’s cold up here. I was really impressed with the young people, children, older people, politicians, my students and everybody else coming out to show their support for Greenland.”

She said similar to Nunavut, Greenland is mostly inhabited by Inuit and other Nordic Indigenous peoples but the island is under Danish sovereignty.

“The Inuit from Arctic Canada moved to Greenland so they’re blood-related. They have a lot of exchanges and visits,” she said.

“We are very much one people. We are all descended from the same ancestry.”

Thousands of Greenlanders marched through snow and ice in the capital, Nuuk, chanting “Greenland is not for sale” and waving national flags, as Trump announced Saturday he will charge a 10 per cent import tax starting next month on goods from eight European nations in his effort to control the island.

Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland would face the tariff, Trump said in a social media post while at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Fla.

The rate would climb to 25 per cent on June 1 if no deal was in place for “the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland” by the United States, he said.

The Republican president appeared to indicate that he was using the tariffs as leverage to force talks with Denmark and other European countries over the status of Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark that he regards as critical to U.S. national security.

The demonstration by Greenlanders, the largest police say they have ever seen in Nuuk, drew people of all ages and emphasized support for Greenland’s self-governance, culture and future.

The U.S. already has access to Greenland under a 1951 defence agreement.

Since 1945, the American military presence in Greenland has decreased from thousands of soldiers over 17 bases and installations to 200 at the remote Pituffik Space Base in the northwest of the island, the Danish foreign minister has said.

That base supports missile warning, missile defence and space surveillance operations for the U.S. and NATO.

In Iqaluit, Peter, who is 66 years old, said she was also born in Greenland and has relatives there who are extremely concerned about Trump’s threats to take over the island.

“We are all feeling the threat and uncertainty, but we are trying to stay calm and level-headed because we don’t want some to think (Trump’s) won,” she said.

“He’s not gonna divide and conquer us. We are sticking together even more than before.”

Laakkuluk Williamson, a filmmaker and artist, says she attended the morning rally in Iqaluit because Inuit people in Nunavut and Greenland are only divided by colonial borders but they stick together in solidarity.

“We were a one nation, with the same language, same culture,” she said in a Saturday interview.

“When Trump threatens Inuit homelands, we feel the threat in Nunavut.”

Williamson said her maternal relatives in Greenland are terrified because of the threats.

“They’re stocking up on food, household items and ammunition so they can hunt on our lands,” she said.

“There are soldiers marching their streets. That’s making my relatives feel safe but there’s irony even in that.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 17, 2026.

--- With files from The Associated Press

--- By Fakiha Baig in Edmonton