'A wrong question'

"In our understanding, owning land is the wrong question," Kristiansen said. "The question should be who is responsible for the land. The land existed before us, and it will exist after us." Back in Kapisillit, a cold wind sweeps down from the Greenland ice sheet. Two sea eagles circle above the fjord and seagulls cluster around fishing boats.

Here, the focus is on survival.

But there are fewer hunters and fishermen now, as the pull of education, jobs and services has drawn people away from the settlement in recent decades.

At the school, William, 8, Malerak, 7, and Viola, 7, are the only remaining students, studying beneath a map of Greenland printed in 1954. During recess, they go sledding. All three are moving away soon, and the school may close.