Forced assimilation of Indigenous children: The case of the Danish-Greenlandic experiment

Sammanfattning: This thesis examines personal consequences of forced assimilation in relation to identity and belonging of 22 Greenlandic children who were sent to Denmark to participate in a ‘social experiment’ in the beginning of the 1950’s. By adopting a social psychological approach, the theoretical framework of intergroup identification and cultural trauma theories has been applied to the experiences of the children as accounted in the two books ‘For Flid og God Opførsel’ by Thiesen(2011) and ‘I den bedste mening’ by Bryld(1998). Findings of the analysis show issues of identity division and confusion, lack of belonging and severe hurt caused by forced assimilation in childhood. Furthermore, elements of cultural trauma theories such as contemporary consequences, trauma as a structural process and intergenerational effects are identified in the narratives. The thesis speaks to the larger case of Danish colonialism in Greenland and contributes to the academic field of forced assimilation of Indigenous children.