NGO Greenland Rising has launched a Piseq contest to celebrate the character, culture, and toughness of Greenland's Kalaallit people, aiming to spotlight native accomplishments often overshadowed by international interests. Co-founders Ivalu Kajussen and John Toomey describe 2026 as a year of 'flux' for Greenland, with the initiative serving as a cultural response to the shifting horizons facing the Arctic island.
The contest involves participants watching videos produced twice weekly with the assistance of AI tools including ChatGPT, Vibe, Pond5, Gemini, and Claude Cowork. These videos depict native peoples experiencing 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. Contestants write two or three sentences expressing the emotional and psychological essence of these videos in their own style.
Greenland Rising then translates these submissions into Kalaallisut and formats them as traditional Piseqs using AI assistance. The completed Piseqs are posted in both languages to the group's Substack at https://theheroaward.substack.com/p/helping-greenland-and-yoo and to the indigenous website https://siku.org, which serves Inuit communities in Greenland, Canada, and the United States.
Judges evaluate all submissions, with winners receiving the Angakkoq Prize, named after the Kalaallit word for Shaman. This recognition carries cultural significance within Greenland's indigenous communities and represents a modern continuation of traditional artistic practices.
Historically, some of Greenland's most powerful Piseqs emerged from song-poem 'duels' that served as non-violent conflict resolution mechanisms. When two Kalaallit had disputes, their tribe would arrange a poetry stand-off where participants faced each other and voiced insults, each trying to top the other. The rival who 'lost his cool' first, according to a vote of observing tribal members, would lose the dispute. These results had permanent legal standing within the community and became oft-quoted Piseqs that entered the tribe's oral tradition.
Greenland Rising has expressed interest in seeing Europe and the United States adopt similar non-violent approaches to resolving disagreements, suggesting the traditional Piseq duel model could offer alternatives to contemporary diplomatic conflicts. The organization's work connects to broader Greenlandic literary traditions documented in works such as 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.
The initiative represents a significant intersection of traditional cultural preservation and modern technology, demonstrating how AI tools can support rather than replace indigenous knowledge systems. For Greenland's Kalaallit people, this comes at a critical moment as increased global attention focuses on the Arctic region's geopolitical importance and environmental changes. By elevating traditional Piseqs through contemporary platforms, Greenland Rising provides both cultural reinforcement for native communities and educational opportunities for international audiences seeking to understand Greenland beyond simplified narratives.
The project's implications extend beyond cultural preservation to potential models for conflict resolution, community building, and the ethical application of artificial intelligence in cultural contexts. As indigenous communities worldwide navigate modernization pressures, Greenland Rising's approach offers one template for maintaining cultural integrity while engaging with technological tools that are increasingly shaping global communication and artistic expression.
