Lynge knocks Newsweek

When we refer to killers, we are talking about the brutal colonizers that killed off the indigenous peoples in many parts of the world. Therefore your reference is deeply offending

Fredag d. 5. april 2002
Nunatsiaq News
Emnekreds: Anmeldelser af bøger, film mv, Bøger, Grønlands historie, Jagt, Miljø og natur, Oprindelige folk.

"On behalf of the 152,000 Inuit in Russia, Alaska, Canada, and Greenland, I must set straight the unfair record that you paint in your interview with Danish journalist Kjeld Hansen on 11 March," Inuit Circumpolar Conference president Aqqaluk Lynge wrote Newsweek.

Lynge was infuriated over an interview called "Killer Inuit," which appeared in the international edition of the newsmagazine.

In this interview, Hansen said Greenlandic Inuit were responsible for the depletion of wildlife in Greenland.

But Lynge said Hansen, a Danish journalist and author of "A Farewell to Greenland's Wildlife," had overlooked the impact of climate change on Greenland?s environment.

"I believe it is far-fetched to presume that the climate and the ecosystem is the same as it was 50-100 years ago and blame the Inuit for all the negative effects of the state of the eco-system," Lynge said. Lynge also knocked Hansen over his criticism of subsidies that Greenlandic seal hunters receive.

"The paternalistic tone in this new "crusade" sounds all too familiar," Lynge wrote. "In the '70's concerned' environmental groups made a crusade against seal hunting with devastating economic effects to the Inuit peoples...Ironically, this meant an enormous increase of the seal population. And now Kjeld Hansen sees it as grotesque that Inuit hunters living in this harsh climate, with no other means for economic income than selling skins from an abundant seal stock, have to receive subsidies in order to make a living."

Lynge disputed Hansen's claim that Greenland is "in denial" over the damage its hunters may have caused to the environment.

"We do not think of our past or our present as "idyllic," as he tries to imply. We acknowledge that Greenland Inuit are human and make mistakes. But all Greenland Inuit - and the social, political, and economic institutions through which we express ourselves - know that our living resources are the backbone of our existence. As such, we want to protect them and use them sustainably. And yes, we selectively use new technology as equal members of the peoples of this planet."

Lynge also criticized Hansen's use of third-party data in his book.

"Newsweek commits the same error by giving no voice to those who live the indigenous hunting life, but only to those who want to disgrace it," Lynge wrote. "When we refer to killers, we are talking about the brutal colonizers that killed off the indigenous peoples in many parts of the world. Therefore your reference is deeply offending."

Kangerluq