OS SIAN HAMBER G | IN TER VIE W
CAMCORDERS VS COLONIALISM H O W S T O R YTELLING IS U S E D T O F I G H T T H E COLO NI A L LEGACY IN G REEN L AN D WI TH DEB ATE S ABO U T C OLON IAL LEG AC Y AN D R ACIAL DIS CR I M I NATION R AG I NG ACROS S TH E WE STER N H EM ISPH ER E , TH E OF T-F ORG OT TEN I N DIG ENO US PEOPLE OF NOR TH ER N EU ROPE AR E ONCE AG AI N SI DELI N ED. BU T CHANG E IS HAPPEN I NG—THO UG H TH E PATH TO EMANCI PATION HA S NOT BEEN F O UG H T ON TH E STR EE T S, BU T R ATH ER TH RO UG H CU LT U R E AN D STOR Y TELLI NG .
T
he question of indigenous rights is not only a question of morality. Issues such as high suicide rates and substance abuse disproportionally affect indigenous communities—not least of which those in the circumpolar region. However, while mental health issues amongst the circumpolar indigenous communities is a serious issue, it is often met with ridicule and lukewarm interest. The source of mental health issues is of course difficult to pinpoint, but a multitude of papers pointed to the importance of preserving and
24
developing indigenous culture, as well as combating societal inequalities. THE PERSPECTIVE reached out to Emile Hertling Péronard, a Greenlandic-Danish documentary filmmaker known for the documentary SUMÉ— the Sound of a Revolution, to better understand how and why culture plays such an important role in the fight against the colonial legacy in Greenland. Emile, who has a Greenlandic mother and Danish father, grew up in Nuuk before moving to Denmark to study film. "A product of the Kingdom of Denmark, for better and worse," as he himself
