In a time of significant geopolitical focus on Greenland, the NGO Greenland Rising is turning to an ancient tradition—the Piseq, or song-poem—to showcase the resilience and cultural richness of the Kalaallit people. Co-founded by Ivalu Kajussen and John Toomey, the organization is mounting a Piseq contest that uses artificial intelligence to bridge languages and amplify indigenous voices.
Twice a week, the group enlists AI tools such as ChatGPT, Vibe, Pond5, Gemini, and Claude Cowork to create videos depicting life transitions of native peoples—birth, weddings, return from fishing, Mitaartut (Greenland's 'Halloween'), funerals, tribal conclaves, Meetings of the Elders, or the Arctic Palerfik (dogsled race). Contestants then write two to three sentences capturing the emotional essence of each video. Greenland Rising translates these into Kalaallisut and formats them as Piseqs with AI aid, posting them in both languages on their Substack and on siku.org, the indigenous website for Inuit in Greenland, Canada, and the U.S.
Submissions are evaluated by judges, and winners receive the Angakkoq Prize, named after the Kalaallit word for Shaman. The contest draws on the historical power of Piseqs, which often originated from song-poem 'duels.' Traditionally, when two Kalaallit had a dispute, they would face each other—sometimes inches apart—and trade insults in verse, with the one who 'lost his cool' first, as determined by observing tribal members, losing the dispute. The result had permanent legal standing and became part of the tribe's oral tradition.
Greenland Rising hopes that Europe and the U.S. might adopt this approach to resolve disagreements. The initiative comes as Greenland faces what the NGO calls a year of 'flux,' with increased international attention. By celebrating Kalaallit culture through Piseqs, the organization aims to spotlight the actual accomplishments of the native people, often overshadowed by geopolitical machinations. For more on Piseqs and Greenlandic literature, see 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.
