In the period 1961-1976 a total of 1,615 Greenlandic school children were sent on a one year school stay in Denmark in connection with the so-called ‘preparation scheme’. The purpose of the scheme was to improve the children’s Danish language skills in order to enable them to pass the lower secondary school exam faster compared to children going to school in Greenland. The selection of children aimed at handpicking the children with the highest academic potential as well as the necessary psychological robustness.   The purpose of this paper is to analyse the selection procedure described from both a synchronic and diachronic perspective. The ambition is to deconstruct categorisations and  unmask problematic universalisms. In other words it is about recovering the lost ‘other’ of history.   Methodologically the analysis operates on the micro-, meso-, and macro levels in order to comprehend various relevant processes and their dynamic interaction. Each of these levels is addressed through a set of questions each contributing to the illumination of the sorting and documentation of Greenlandic school children in connection with the preparation scheme.   Possible area of focus: 1. The relation between intercultural education and the narration of nation states.