16th August Union
The 16th August Union is a small miners association in Greenland that was founded by local citizens after a group of Inuit collecting ruby out on their land were forcibly removed by the Home Rule Government in compliance with the wishes of an international mining company on the 16th of August 2007.
Their expulsion from long-standing village property is a violation of their native rights such as are enshrined in tradition, and are guaranteed in the Constitution. The government is breaking its own laws.
For thousands of years, Greenlanders out hunting and fishing have gathered stones for building material, heat and sustainence, tools and weapons, and, of course, for jewelry. The Greenland Ruby has been cherrished by native people in art and culture for generations.
Now, the Home Rule Government of Greenland, under the direction of the remnant colonial government in Copenhagen, Denmark, is supressing the rights and the initiative of the members of the Greenland Small Miner’s Association to work freely and trade in natural ruby.