In 1953, 30 Inuit families in the Dundas region were told they had to leave their traditional lands to make way for the nearby Thule U.S. military base. The deal was made at the beginning of the Cold War, and near the end of Danish control of Greenland (the territory is now semi-autonomous). After decades of struggle by the Hengitaq 53, (the “1953 Exiles,”) the U.S. has signed a memorandum of understanding to return the land. However, the memorandum gives Denmark and Greenland full responsibility for environmental clean-up. The land is to be returned ‘as is,’ with three garbage heaps and the possibility of nuclear waste still remaining.
