This June 21 marks not only the summer solstice, but in Canada it’s National Indigenous Peoples Day, a time to celebrate the resilience of the Arctic’s original inhabitants.
Yet, celebration without sovereignty is incomplete. True self-determination for Inuit requires political transformation. The path to a unified, sovereign Inuit state runs through Nuuk, Iqaluit, and Washington: by leveraging Greenland’s path to independence, negotiating with President Trump, and more tightly integrating Greenland and Nunavut under an American defense umbrella, Inuit can finally achieve a cohesive and sovereign Arctic state.
The current geopolitical map fragments the Inuit nation across artificial colonial borders. Greenland operates under Danish self rule, while Nunavut remains a territory within the Canadian confederation. Both face a shared vulnerability: vast geographic scale, small populations, and intensifying pressure from near-Arctic neighbors like China and Russia. Neither Nuuk nor Iqaluit possesses the economic or military heft to secure the top of the world alone. A bold diplomatic realignment is required to bridge this divide.
This alignment would not be entirely unprecedented, but rather an historic restoration. During World War II, the United States stepped in as the de facto protector of both regions. Following the 1940 Nazi occupation of Denmark, Washington established a protective mandate over Greenland to secure its strategic cryolite mines and critical Arctic weather stations. Simultaneously, the U.S. Army Air Forces built a massive, vital airfield at Frobisher Bay — the modern-day Iqaluit — to ferry aircraft to the European front. This shared history of wartime continental defense laid the early structural and geometric foundations for a unified North American Arctic strategy.
Greenland holds the key to unlocking this future. As Greenland moves closer to full independence from Denmark, it faces an immediate financial and security vacuum. Denmark’s annual subsidy cannot be easily replaced, and an independent Greenland cannot defend its massive coastline. This is where strategic pragmatism meets historic opportunity. President Trump has famously viewed Greenland through a lens of immense strategic and economic value. Rather than resisting this interest, Greenlandic leadership should lean into it.
Instead of pivoting to Copenhagen’s familiar embrace, Nuuk could instead leverage its ongoing (if fractious) discussions with Washington to flip the script and directly negotiate a compact of free association with President Trump.
Under such a framework, Greenland would achieve full sovereignty and a seat at the United Nations, while granting the United States exclusive military basing rights and a mandate over its external defense. This would instantly solve Greenland’s security dilemma and inject massive American infrastructure investment into the domestic economy, replacing Danish financial dependence with American strategic partnership.
With a secure, America-protected Greenland established, the second phase of Inuit unification can begin: the integration of Nunavut. Nunavut’s current status within Canada limits its economic autonomy and binds its security to Ottawa’s chronically underfunded, albeit newly reaffirmed ,Arctic defense strategy.
To break this stagnation, Nunavut should exercise its right to self-determination, secede from Canada, and merge with an independent Greenland to form a unified Inuit state.
This expanded Arctic state would logically fall under the existing U.S. protectorate framework negotiated by Greenland, and once Ottawa came to accept Nunavut’s secession, could remain part of NORAD.
For Washington, extending its defense umbrella over Nunavut is a logical victory. It creates a contiguous, secure North American Arctic buffer, streamlining continental defense under a single, unified command structure.
For Inuit, it joins families, ecosystems, and resources separated for generations by Western cartography. Nunavut can offer Greenland its distinct, multilevel governance model wedding its three decade-long settled Indigenous land claim treaty to its quarter-century of territorial self-government deftly balancing tradition and modernity.
Critics will claim that trading Canadian or Danish oversight for an American protectorate merely swaps one master for another. This misunderstands the nature of modern protectorates, such as Palau or the Marshall Islands. Under a compact of free association, the Inuit state would retain complete domestic sovereignty, cultural autonomy, and control over its natural resources. The United States would handle the financial and logistical burden of defense, leaving the Inuit free to govern their homeland.
On this day infused with such symbolic meaning across the North, we cannot forget that the Arctic is melting, and the geopolitical scramble for its resources is accelerating. The status quo leaves the Inuit homeland divided and exposed to global power struggles.
On this year’s Indigenous Peoples Day, let us look beyond symbolic recognition. A sovereign Inuit state, anchored by Greenland, expanded by Nunavut, and shielded by American power, is neither a radical nor imperial fantasy. It is instead a realistic and enduring pathway to permanent Arctic autonomy, and a true Inuit sovereign restoration.
Barry Scott Zellen, PhD, is a research scholar in the Department of Geography at UConn and a nonresident Senior Fellow (Arctic Security) at the Institute of the North.