How Greenland’s Sled Dogs Entered a Diplomatic Row

The island’s sledding championship is taking on added cultural — and political — importance.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
How Greenland's sled dogs entered a diplomatic row by Morgan
Meeker read by Danny Scott. One of the biggest events
in Greenland's sporting calendar starts with the sound of four
hundred barking sled dogs, husky sized with dense fur like
Arctic foxes. The dogs howl in anticipation of the start
of the race, and then thereof sleds battling for the lead,

(00:23):
dogs running over one another, their paws kicking up snow
as mushers scrambled to prevent a tangle of ropes. A
the Nata Kimusersua, or the Great Race of the North,
has rarely garnered attention outside Greenland, unlike Alaska as I
did Arod or the Finnmock Sluppa in Norway. The other
Nata Kimusersua is a forty kilometer twenty five mile sprint,

(00:46):
not a multi day marathon. Last year, fur clad announcers
from the National Broadcaster narrated the sled's progress to thousands
watching on YouTube. When winter Thomas Tussen crossed the finish
line after less than two hours, his dogs were greeted
with a bucket of raw meat as a dozen or
so onlookers lifted the winner and his sled above their heads.

(01:07):
This year, preparations for the race have been very different.
Since US President Donald Trump declared ownership and control of
Greenland a matter of US national security, it has become
an unlikely focus of global interest and a flash point
in a diplomatic row. On Sunday, Usha Vance, the wife
of Vice President J. D Vance, announced plans to visit

(01:28):
Greenland as part of a high level delegation that included
National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Energy Secretary Chris Wright,
and that she intended to watch the dog sled race
with her son. That plan was met with a backlash,
with Greenland's outgoing prime minister calling the trip highly aggressive,
while the Danish prime ministers said the delegation was placing

(01:50):
unacceptable pressure on Denmark and Greenland. On Tuesday, the itinerary changed, Vance,
who initially said she was thrilled at the prospect of
seeing the sled dogs, will instead visit a remote American
military base. Meanwhile, J D Vance is also now planning
to come to Greenland and will accompany his wife to
the base. Despite the back and forth, the US still

(02:11):
has an impact on the race. The US Consulate in
Greenland's capital, NUK is paying for the cost of transporting dogs, sleds,
and mushers from across Greenland to the town of Sisimiut,
where the race is taking place, according to a State
Department spokesperson and one of the race organizers, both of
whom decline to provide further details, we believe that sharing

(02:32):
and supporting culture, language and sports facilitates international collaboration with
like minded partners and can cultivate lasting international relationships, the
State Department spokesperson said in an email before Vance's trip
to Sassimut was canceled. Greenlanders are surprised by the sudden
global interest in Avanata Kimussua. Traditionally this event has not

(02:54):
attracted international tourists, said Annetta Gronkierling's, who runs a hotel
in Sassimut. But one person has been working for months
to raise the profile of the race in the US.
Tom Dans, a former Treasury Department official who was also
appointed to the U s Arctic Research Commission during the
first Trump presidency and has been described by Danish media

(03:14):
as Trump's man in the Arctic. Since late last year,
Dan's has been working to promote greater ties between the
US and Greenland through American Daybreak, an America first foreign
policy organization he founded in twenty twenty two. The group's
aims are vague. In an interview in February, Dans talked
about Greenland becoming part of Greater America through a friendly deal,

(03:37):
which involves investment in cash. American Daybreak's Greenland director, Bricklayer
Jurgen Boison, has become notorious in the country for his
support of the MAGA movement and his t shirts featuring
pictures of Trump. When Donald Trump Junior visited Greenland in January,
Boisson welcomed him at the airport. In recent months, Dans
said he has been working to persuade major US brands

(04:00):
to sponsor of Anata Kimusersua, which he calls Greenland's Super Bowl.
The American describes himself as a private investor, a person
who runs a nonprofit. He does not represent the Trump administration,
though he had a consulting role on Ushavanz's proposed dog
sled trip. He said, like Ushavn's, Dans canceled his plans

(04:20):
to watch the race because of the response from some
of the top in Greenland. He said in a phone
interview this week. We don't want to detract from the event.
Many Greenlanders have resisted American overtures toward the island, a
semi autonomous territory owned by Denmark. An election earlier this
month backed parties supporting a slow move toward independence, spurning

(04:41):
a path that may have led to a quick deal
with the US. Last week, anti Trump demonstrations took place
in NUK as well as in Sassimeiat and the northwest
town of Kannak. We must not be pressured, Jens Friedrich Nilssen,
leader of Greenland's Democratic the most popular party in this
month's election, said on Facebook on Mark and we should

(05:01):
not be forced into a power game that we ourselves
have not chosen to be a part of. Mikli Remisen,
chairman of Greenland's dog sledding organization, told Bloomberg earlier in
March he welcomed international sponsorship of the race, including from
the Americans, but last week he distanced himself from Vance's visit.
We did not invite them, he said in a statement,

(05:23):
adding that anyone could attend the race. A Anata Kimusssua
was first run in nineteen eighty nine. This year. It
has taken on added cultural significance as Greenlander's attempt to
navigate overlapping threats to the island's identity, from intensifying US
interest to fast melting ice that makes using dog sleds
more difficult. Many people see the race as a way

(05:44):
to preserve and celebrate the island's dog sledding tradition, which
is a cornerstone of Greenland's culture and heritage. Some researchers
suggest the bond between Greenland's dogs and its human inhabitants
goes back four thousand years. More recently, however, dogs sled
cutting has come under threat. In the past twenty years,
the population of sled dogs in Greenland has dropped dramatically

(06:06):
as climate changed, The rise of snowmobiles and the cost
of keeping dogs have combined to mean fewer Greenlanders used
dog sleds for travel or traditional hunting. Rasmus Poulsen, who
runs a tourism business specializing in dog sled tours, said
he has reduced the numbers of dogs in his pack
because of poor snow conditions and the rising price of

(06:26):
imported dog food. In the nineteen seventies, Pipalukluge author of
Arctic Nomads, a book about dogsled culture, said the sound
of sled dogs and their puppies was heard constantly in Sassimiut,
where she grew up. But today, she said, Greenlander's risk
losing their understanding of nature, weather and snow conditions because
of the decline in dog sledding. Some Greenlanders hope outside

(06:50):
interest in the race is a sign of the potential
benefit of new international focus on the island. Since Trump's
election in November, eighty one percent of tourism operators have
reported it increased international attention, with the majority coming from
the US. According to Visit Greenland. In Ito Kotomi in
eastern Greenland, Charlotte Pike says she hopes the overseas spotlight

(07:11):
will boost her two year old tourism business. Pike and
her partner have twenty sled dogs at their site, which
is usually reached by helicopter. A group of Americans visited
earlier this month, and she's expecting more will now follow. Still,
even in this remote part of the country, there is
trepidation too. After Trump said he would make Greenland part
of the US one way or another. I'm a little

(07:34):
bit excited about the prospect of more tourism, said Pike,
but she added I also feel unsafe because of Trump.
The first sign of this week's American influx came on
Sunday as two US Air Force planes landed on the
tarmac of NYUK Airport. The white, greenlandic landscape stretched out
behind them. Khaki clad personnel and cars with black tinted

(07:55):
windows filed out of the plains ahead of the arrival
of the US delegation in the capital. On a nearby hilltop,
a mob of press and people brandishing their phones strained
for a better view. By Wednesday, some cars could be
seen being loaded back onto one of the plains. Farther
north in Sassimiute, the town has continued preparing for the race.
In recent days, the dogs arrived, the hotels filled up,

(08:19):
and some locals planned an anti American demonstration. It's unclear
if the protest will still go ahead. The office of
local mayor Malik Berthelsen, who declined a meeting with Vance,
described the atmosphere as tense. Lynks of hotels Sissimute said
the town's excitement was mixed with concern and confusion. It
has unfortunately shifted some of the focus away from what

(08:41):
the event truly celebrates, Greenlandic culture and the incredible Greenland
sled dog, she said.