Greenland NGO Uses AI to Revitalize Traditional Song-Poems Amid Cultural Shifts

Greenland Rising, an NGO co-founded by Ivalu Kajussen and John Toomey, is mounting a Piseq contest to celebrate the character, culture, and toughness of Greenland's Kalaallit people during a period of significant change. The initiative aims to spotlight the actual accomplishments of native Kalaallit culture, which the organizers say is currently overshadowed by the machinations of Europe and America. The contest involves creating videos twice a week depicting native peoples undergoing life transitions such as birth, weddings, returns from fishing trips, Mitaartut (Greenland's 'Halloween'), funerals, tribal conclaves around campfires, Meetings of the Elders, or Arctic Palerfik (dogsled races).

To produce these videos, the group elicits the help of AI tools including ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude Cowork. Contestants then write two or three sentences expressing the emotional and psychological essence of the video in their own style. Greenland Rising translates these submissions into Kalaallisut and formats them as Piseqs with AI assistance. The completed Piseqs are posted in both languages to the group's Substack and to siku.org, the indigenous website for Inuit in Greenland, Canada, and the U.S. Judges evaluate the submissions, and winners are honored with the Angakkoq Prize, named after the Kalaallit word for Shaman.

This effort matters because it represents a strategic fusion of ancient tradition and modern technology to assert cultural sovereignty. Historically, some of the most powerful Piseqs emerged from song-poem 'duels,' where disputes were resolved through poetic stand-offs rather than violence. The rival who 'lost his cool' first, according to a tribal vote, won the dispute, with the result gaining permanent legal standing and becoming part of the tribe's oral tradition. Greenland Rising has expressed a desire to see Europe and the U.S. adopt similar methods for resolving disagreements. By digitizing and disseminating these Piseqs through platforms like Substack and siku.org, the NGO ensures these traditions reach broader audiences while reinforcing their contemporary relevance.

The implications of this announcement extend beyond cultural preservation to geopolitical commentary. As Greenland navigates its relationship with external powers, initiatives like this contest serve as acts of soft resistance, reclaiming narrative control about what it means to be Kalaallit. The use of AI not only facilitates translation and formatting but also symbolizes adaptability—a key trait for survival in the Arctic. For those interested in deeper context, foundational works include Collections of Ammassalik Songs by Knud Rasmussen, Greenlandic Oral Traditions: Collection, Reframing, and Reinvention by Kirsten Thisted, and Inuit: the Story of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference by Aqqaluk Lynge. Ultimately, this project underscores how indigenous communities can leverage technology to protect their heritage while challenging dominant global narratives.