Who has the right to tell our story?

For how long do we need to hear our story told by others?

When you visit Greenland's National Museum, you can encounter some of the most famous finds in our history: eight mummified humans from the Qilakitsoq settlement near Uummannaq.

They are over 500 years old - and have been the subject of much attention from researchers around the world ever since they were discovered in 1972.

But one important question has often been forgotten in the story of Qilakitsoq: How do modern-day Greenlanders feel about their ancestors being researched, exhibited and talked about - without being heard?

Sara Næss Elleskov, PhD student at Ilisimatusarfik, asks this question in her PhD project "Qilakitsormiut - research and perception of historical human remains in Greenland illuminated through the study and dissemination of the mummified people from Qilakitsoq".

Here she examines both how the famous mummies from Qilakitsoq have been used in research and communication over time - and just as importantly, how people in Uummannaq and the rest of Greenland view it today.

Western perspectives still rule the research - and the narrative

Sara's project is also a critical look at research itself - and who decides how the world should be understood and explained. Because even though we now have our own university and a thriving research community in Greenland, Western institutions and research environments still largely set the agenda, both methodologically and institutionally.

This affects not only the questions that are asked - but especially the answers that are given.

That is why Sara wants to do away with the one-sided Western research view. She uses a de-colonial approach, where the Greenlandic worldview and indigenous knowledge from the local environment play a very important and central role.

Uummannaq's voices

As part of the project, Sara will regularly be in Uummannaq - the settlement closest to Qilakitsoq. Here she will conduct interviews with the local population, collaborate with Uummannaq Local Museum and organize local activities where she invites local people to share their views on the mummified ancestors - and on the research and communication of them.

The aim is not only to collect data and important indigenous knowledge, but also to open up a conversation where local people have a say in how their own story is told.

From archive to future

In addition to the fieldwork in Uummannaq, Sara will also delve into historical archives, research reports, museum exhibitions and media. She will look at how the Qilakitsoq mummies have been used in research and communication over time - and what it actually says about our view of Inuit culture.

Later in the project, she will gather Greenlandic researchers and practitioners for a workshop at Greenland's National Museum to discuss how to work with historical human bones and remains in a way that respects both science and indigenous traditions and knowledge.

Sara also hopes that the project can help start a broader debate in Greenland - about the past, the present and who has the power to define both.