Saskatchewan Professor from Greenland Draws on Worldview Amid Sovereignty Threats
Karla Jessen Williamson, an Inuk professor and researcher from Greenland, brings a unique perspective to her work at the University of Saskatchewan. As a scholar focused on Indigenous knowledge, Arctic policy, and decolonization, she faces current challenges with resilience and hope.
Teaching in Inuktitut: A Personal Commitment
Each time Professor Williamson prepares a course for students at the University of Saskatchewan, she ensures she can deliver her lectures in her first language, Inuktitut. "I make absolutely certain that I can actually express that in my own language," said the 72-year-old, who grew up in Greenland as one of nine children in a tight-knit family.
She explained this practice by noting, "So that, should one of my grandmothers all of a sudden appear to me, I have to be able to deliberate in my own language as to what I’m doing." Her office reflects her heritage, with a muted, warm red accent wall, a matching armchair, and personal items like a pair of tiny sealskin boots made by her mother.
Responding to Threats to Greenland's Sovereignty
With extensive experience in Inuit sovereignty, including serving on Greenland’s Commission for Reconciliation, Williamson was deeply affected by recent threats from U.S. President Donald Trump to take control of her homeland. "I was very troubled by this very immediate and very urgent message," she said.
Greenland has been working to negotiate self-governance with Denmark, despite a history of forced assimilation policies imposed on the Inuit population, who now make up nearly 90% of the approximately 57,000 people. Williamson noted a sense of recent progress, stating, "In my thinking, we were just about there, and bang, comes Trump’s assertion that he wants to take over."
For her siblings still living in Greenland and Denmark, the news has brought shock and desperation. "Anxiety, desperation, not sleeping properly, not breathing properly, and not being able to cope with the stress associated with that. These are the things that I’ve heard," she shared.
A Journey to Saskatchewan for Academic Pursuits
Due to Danish forced assimilation, Williamson’s family was displaced from her birthplace of Appamiut to Maniitsoq, Greenland. Eager to attend university, she went to high school in Denmark, living with Danish families away from her culture and language.
She later returned to Greenland for teacher training but soon sought a destination to attend a "proper university," leading her to Saskatchewan. There, she cultivates independent thought and aims to make the Inuit worldview understandable to the academic community, drawing on it for solutions in the face of sovereignty threats.
Through her work, Williamson maintains hope for decolonization, using her personal and scholarly perspectives to inspire discussions on identity and resilience.
