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'There are some shocking things in our common history - also things where I get a lump in my throat' | Culture | DR Nukâka Coster-Waldau is in charge of 'The History of Greenland and Denmark' together with Lars Mikkelsen. And she does so for a very special reason. Because if Greenland and Denmark were in a relationship on Facebook, it would probably be described as "complicated". Greenland and Denmark's relationship stretches back several hundred years, and we have not least been an indisputable part of each other's history, since the Danish-Norwegian priest Hans Egede a little over 300 years ago - in 1721 - sailed the long and dangerous road to missionize in Greenland. Since then, the relationship has been filled with ups and downs and dramatic events .- There are some shocking things in our common history - also things where I get a lump in my throat. Some of the things have taken place in my parents 'and grandparents' generation, says actor and singer Nukâka Coster-Waldau, who is currently hosting the program series 'History of Greenland and Denmark'. You can watch 'History of Greenland and Denmark' at 20.00 on DR1 Sunday or .Here she sheds light through four episodes on the long - and sometimes very complicated - relationship with co-host Lars MikkelsenAnd Nukâka Coster-Waldau has accepted the hosting position for a very special reason: - I hope these programs can be included to create a greater understanding and curiosity among both Danes and Greenlanders. And one bigger for each other. Because we are part of each other's history and will always be - for better or worse. They were born and raised in Denmark, but get Greenlandic jokes thrown in their heads. Prejudice is alive and well. Nukâka Coster-Waldau, actress and singer Nukâka Coster-Waldau herself saw this when she grew up in Uummannaq in Greenland: - We have a lot to be proud of in Greenland, but it has been suppressed in so many year. We have had to fight for, she says and elaborates: - I think it has been hard to feel good enough in your own country, when a Dane got twice as much in salary as a Greenlander and free travel to Denmark every year and a nice housing. I have seen this myself from my childhood, she says, referring to the so-called place of birth criterion, which meant that people born in Greenland received less in pay and poorer conditions than expatriate Danes. play in, which has given her what she calls "Greenlandic legs" because of the many scars.- We played outside and in, and then you get some scratches.In 1990, Nukâka Coster-Waldau took as a 19-year-old Denmark to educate herself, and here she herself felt the consequences of the complicated relationship between Greenland and Denmark. - I can only start from myself, but I have felt the prejudices about Greenlanders who may be in Denmark, she says and emphasizes that we all have prejudices.- And if we say we do not have it, then we are lying.- I laughed myself in for many years, but at one point I stopped it. It's not because I'm touchy-feely, but if it's not funny, I do not mind laughing at it. but gets Greenlandic jokes thrown in his head. Prejudices are alive and well, says Nukâka Coster-Waldau. - I hope these programs can push them a little - just as Özlem Cekic (former politician for SF) does with his dialogue coffee. When you become wiser about the history that a human being is rounded off, you both become wiser and get more for each other. But let's just return to the relationship between Greenland and Denmark. Because what exactly is it that makes it so complicated? One of the reasons may be Hans Egede. During the four episodes of 'The History of Greenland and Denmark', you are introduced to the Christian missionary who went to Greenland to make Inuit Christians. A person who still brings the minds to a boil more than 300 years after his arrival. As recently as 2020, a statue of him in Nuuk was drenched with red paint and had the text "Decolonize" painted on it. It has gone over my head, how many decisions about Greenland have actually been made in Denmark - a completely different country with a completely different culture.Nukâka Coster-Waldau, actor and singer in 1776, how 1,600 Greenlandic children in the 1960s were sent a year to Denmark to go to Danish school, and how adults built in the middle of Nuuk in the same period fundamentally changed the way Greenlanders lived.- It has been difficult (to be host) occasionally, for it has been sensitive. Sometimes I have stood and thought: "What, did it actually happen there?", When I have had to tell about an event, says Nukâka Coster-Waldau and elaborates: - It has gone over my head how many decisions about Greenland, which has actually been taken in Denmark - a completely different country with a completely different culture. However, she has also been happy to experience her country with new eyes. This is what you do when you travel with someone who is in Greenland for the first time, she believes. For example, when they say, "God, it's a rugged nature!" I have been used to that. Something that was just as wild and different for Nukâka Coster-Waldau, as icebergs and northern lights would probably be for most Danes, was the Danish summer she experienced as a child every year. the holidays to Denmark.- I remember that feeling that something was pushing me down because there were tall houses and trees all over my head all the time. I could not see as far as I can up here. It took me many years to learn to like to go for a walk in the woods, where you are completely wrapped up, because I am used to the large open expanses. Now she hopes that more people will open their eyes to both the Greenlandic expanses and Greenland and Denmark's large, common history.- In the Danish schools you have something about Greenland for one week during ten school years, so if you are sick that week, you do not get to know anything. In Denmark, you know incredibly little about the commonwealth, and when you know nothing, it is incredibly easy to have prejudices. - I therefore hope that these programs will be shown in schools and high schools, and that you can talk about them and thus get wiser together. 'The story of Greenland and Denmark' can be seen from 24 April on DR1 and DRTV.