Seven Graves on Sundays! Behind the Scenes 2

Disclaimer: the following opinions are my own, based on my experiences. I do not pretend to speak on behalf of the people of Greenland, and I never will. This is my interpretation formed during the seven years I lived there. Please, seek out genuine Greenlandic voices if you want to know what the Greenlanders really mean. I write fiction, not fact.

Seven Graves, One Winter was my first real crime book. Some might question just how much of a crime book it really is, and I’m okay with that. While I don’t want to make my writing important, because it’s only fiction, and is written purely for the purpose of entertainment, I felt I had something to say, and I chose Maratse to help me say it. So, in some respects, there was less mystery and more message in the story.

But before we get to that, I’ll just mention that the photo above is taken on the pebble beach facing south with the houses of Niaqornat to the north. I’ll take you around the settlement with more photos from Niaqornat with subsequent blogs.

Back to the so-called message.

I’m not Greenlandic. Spoiler alert – I’m not even Danish. But I fell in love with Greenland and the people when I lived there. So much so, that it was difficult to see events unfold in a general election when one party refused to speak Danish, and implied that any Greenlander who didn’t speak Greenlandic didn’t really belong. That was the gist of it, and it was sad to see the debate unfold on national television. Now, on the one hand, when looking at Greenland’s colonial past, when Denmark colonised it – for good and bad (quite a lot of bad), then one can begin to understand their message, and their desire to preserve the Greenlandic identity. But as the debates unfolded on television, it was then that I truly understood the link between language and identity, and the emotions that arise when one’s identity is called into question.

I learned a tiny bit of West Greenlandic when I lived and worked in Greenland, and a tiny bit more of the Qaanaaq dialect, which is much closer to Canadian Inuktitut. I even taught some lessons in Greenlandic. And yes, I was terrible, but we got by. There was no one else. It was also strange to get a standing ovation when I gave a short speech in Greenlandic for my pupils’ graduation. I butchered the language, but I made an effort, and I was rewarded for it. A bit embarrassing, because even with a lot of practice, I didn’t actually say much.

Anyway, you get the picture. 😉

But when I went to hospital in Nuuk – I was a patient – and I spoke a little Greenlandic with a Greenlandic nurse. However, she switched to Danish because she didn’t speak Greenlandic. That experience, combined with the political debates, gave me the initial inspiration for the story behind Seven Graves, One Winter, but it was several years before I wrote it.

There are other aspects to identity, not least the mixed genes – European and Inuit (Greenlandic). This is where it gets even trickier to talk about things such as race, racism, and everything in between. Yes, difficult subjects, but let’s just say one might presume that a Greenlander who looked European and lived in Nuuk might only speak Danish. It’s not the case, of course. But there are many Greenlanders of mixed parents who don’t, and many Greenlanders of Greenlandic parents who also don’t speak Greenlandic. I needed a character to represent (in my mind, at least) that portion of Greenlandic society, who were Greenlandic, with Greenlandic parents, but only spoke Danish. I wanted them to be a professional, contributing to society, invested in Greenland and its future, and passionate about its people.

Enter Constable Petra ‘Piitalaat’ Jensen.

It wasn’t a stretch. I had met a police officer who ticked all the above criteria, but he only spoke Danish. I’ll just add that his English was fantastic. Many Greenlanders speak fabulous English, and often more languages besides. I gave Petra Danish, English, and German. I put her in an important profession, and I gave Maratse his foil.

Foil.

That’s not right.

What I tried to do, is to voice what I wanted to say, and if we agree that Maratse is, in many ways, Greenland – or, at the very least, he represents my understanding of the people, the culture, and the land – then his role in this story is to counter the negativity, and, simply put, to tell Petra that she and others like her, are Greenlandic. That they belong. And he does so by calling her…

Piitalaat.

So, if you are a repeat offender, and you have often read a scene in my stories when Maratse calls Petra Piitalaat, and if you didn’t know already, now you know why. So, dear reader, you can expect that I will continue to use Maratse and Petra to tell that side of the story through all my stories, starting with Seven Graves, One Winter.

Actually, full disclosure, you can trace Petra back to a novella called Container. That’s her very first appearance when I was trying writing shorter works to “find” Maratse, after plucking him out of The Ice Star.

Phew.

I should stop.

This is chapter 2. I’ve got twenty more Sundays to blog about Seven Graves, One Winter. I’ll leave it at that for today!

Chapter 2 is now LIVE for all patrons, from the “Behind the Scenes” tier for 25 DKK and up, on my patreon page.

There’s a lot to read on my patreon page now, not just Seven Graves, One Winter. Please ask if you want to know more.

Alternatively, you can buy  Seven Graves, One Winter (digital and physical formats) starting from $0.99 USD.