The island’s population might not be easily convinced as the president tries to clinch what he may see as one of history’s greatest real estate deals.

© Evgeniy Maloletka/Associated Press

For Greenlanders, there’s the same kind of acute uncertainty about the past and the future that people in and outside America are feeling right now.

There is excitement about the potentially lucrative resources scattered around the island, especially the rare earths. But extreme weather, fired-up environmentalists and other factors have tempered hopes of a bonanza.