Abstract

The Inuit are a circumpolar Indigenous people whose homelands span contemporary state borders, including those of Canada and Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat). This paper synthesizes recent demographic, legal, and policy sources to compare the differences in Inuit population distribution, language status, and governance frameworks between Canada and Greenland, and how shared pressures—especially housing constraints and climate-linked food security risks—shape wellbeing and self-determination. Using comparative document analysis of Canadian census publications, Inuit representative organization reports, and Greenland self-government/legal materials, the paper finds: (1) Inuit are a demographic majority in Greenland but a small national minority in Canada; (2) Greenlandic is legally established as Greenland’s official language, whereas Inuktut in Canada is central culturally yet governed through a more fragmented constitutional and policy landscape; (3) Inuit self-determination is institutionalized through different pathways—modern land claims and regional institutions in Canada versus territorial self-government within the Danish Realm in Greenland; and (4) both contexts face intensifying socio-ecological challenges, with overcrowded housing and changing sea-ice conditions acting as compounding risks. The study concludes with implications for policy comparability, community-led research, and cross-border Inuit governance. It also situates Inuit governance within international norms of self-determination and the UN Charter’s prohibition on the threat or use of force, and uses neo-feudalism as a heuristic for understanding how rent extraction and dependency can constrain Arctic autonomy.

Keywords: Inuit; Kalaallit; Inuit Nunangat; Greenland Self-Government; land claims; language policy; housing; climate change; food security; self-determination; non-use of force; neofeudalism

Across Borders, One People: A Comparative Study of Inuit in Canada and Greenland