Sunday, September 22, 2019, Qaqortoq, Greenland

Greenland

The world's largest island, located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.  It is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark.  Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe (specifically Norway and Denmark, the colonial powers, as well as the nearby island of Iceland) for more than a millennium.  The majority of its residents are Inuit, whose ancestors migrated from Alaska through Northern Canada, gradually settling across the island by the 13th century.  Nowadays the population is largely concentrated on the southwest coast of the island while the rest of the island is sparsely populated.  Greenland is divided into five municipalities  —  Qeqertalik, Qeqqata, Sermersooq, Kujalleq, and Avannaata. It has two unincorporated areas — the Northeast Greenland National Park and the Thule Air Base.  The last one, even if under Danish control, is administered by the United States Air Force.

Three-quarters of Greenland is covered by the only permanent ice sheet outside Antarctica.  With a population of about 56,480 (2013), it is the least densely populated territory in the world.  About a third of the population live in Nuuk, the capital and largest city.  The Arctic Umiaq Line ferry acts as a lifeline for western Greenland, connecting the various cities and settlements.

Greenland has been inhabited at intervals over at least the last 4,500 years by Arctic peoples whose forebears migrated there from what is  now Cana-da.  Norsemen settled the uninhabited southern part of Greenland beginning in the 10th century, having previously settled Iceland to escape persecution from the King of Norway and his central government.  These Norsemen would later set sail from Greenland and Iceland, with Leif Erikson becoming the first known European to reach North America nearly 500 years before Columbus reached the Caribbean islands.  Inuit peoples arrived in the 13th century.  Though under continuous influence of Norway and Norwegians, Greenland was not formally under the Norwegian crown until 1262.  The Norse colonies disappeared in the late 15th century when Norway was hit by the Black Death and entered a severe decline.  Soon after their demise, beginning in 1499, the Portuguese briefly explored and claimed the island, naming it Terra do Lavrador (later applied to Labrador to Canada).

In the early 18th century, Danish explorers reached Greenland again.  To strengthen trading and power, Denmark–Norway affirmed sovereignty over the island.  Because of Norway's weak status, it lost sovereignty over Greenland in 1814 when the union was dissolved.  Greenland became Danish in 1814, and was fully integrated in the Danish state in 1953 under the Constitution of Denmark.  In 1973, Greenland joined the European Economic Community with Denmark.  However, in a referendum in 1982, a majority of the population voted for Greenland to withdraw from the EEC, which was effected in 1985. Greenland contains the world's largest and most northerly national park, Northeast Greenland National Park (Kalaallit Nunaanni nuna eqqissisimatitaq).  Established in 1974, and expanded to its present size in 1988, it protects 375,292 square miles of the interior and northeastern coast of Greenland and is bigger than all but twenty-nine countries in the world.

In 1979, Denmark granted home rule to Greenland, and in 2008, Greenlanders voted in favor of the Self-Government Act, which transferred more power from the Danish government to the local Greenlandic government.  Under the new structure, in effect since 21 June 2009, Greenland can gradually assume responsibility for policing, judicial system, company law, accounting, and auditing; mineral resource activities; aviation; law of legal capacity, family law and succession law; aliens and border controls; the working environment; and financial regulation and supervision, while the Danish government retains control of foreign affairs and defense.  It also retains control of monetary policy, providing an initial annual subsidy of DKK 3.4 billion, which is planned to diminish gradually over time.  Greenland expects to grow its economy based on increased income from the extraction of natural resources.  The capital, Nuuk, held the 2016 Arctic Winter Games.  At 70%, Greenland has one of the highest shares of renewable energy in the world, mostly coming from hydropower.

(more info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland)

Qaqortoq, formerly Julianehåb, is a town in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland, located near Cape Thorvaldsen.  With a population of 3,089 in 2016, it is the most populous town in southern Greenland and the fourth-largest town on the island.

Qaqortoq is a seaport and trading station.  Fish and shrimp processing, tanning, fur production, and ship maintenance and repair are important activities, but the economy is based primarily on educational and administrative services.  The primary industries in the town are fishing, service, and administration.

The native subsistence economy was long preserved by the former monopoly Royal Greenland Trading Department, which used the town as a source of saddle-back seal skins.  The Great Greenland Furhouse is the only tannery in Greenland and the primary sealskin purchaser on the island; it remains one of the major employers in the town.  Like the rest of Greenland, Qaqortoq is critically dependent upon investment from Denmark and relies heavily on Danish block funding.  Of all exports produced in Qaqortoq, 70.1% are headed for the Danish market.

Qaqortoq is a repository of Viking, Inuit, and Danish history.  Greenland’s largest and best preserved Viking settlement lies 12 miles out of town at Hvalsey, established by Erik the Red’s uncle in the 10^th century.  The Inuit soon followed, and left behind many artifacts from their early days.  The Danish colonial era, too, is finely reflected in historic buildings, including an 1804 blacksmith’s shop and the harbor-side 1797 black tar log building.  The fascinating Qaqortoq Museum adds enormous insight into an eventful history.  With its many boxy, multihued houses, dozens of “Stone and Man” sculptures and busy fish and meat market, Qaqortoq lends itself to leisurely strolls.  Its spectacular setting attracts outdoor enthusiasts.

More info:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qaqortoq

Qaqortoq Walking Tour

We explored the history, culture, and lifestyles of coastal Greenland during a self-guided walking tour.  Viking provided a map to get us oriented to this tiny town and local guides greeted us at meeting points to provide insight.  From our ship, we walked to the town square, where colonial-era buildings evoke early days of Danish settlement. 

Later, we walked past recreations of the stone-and-peat houses used by the Inuit people until the 1970s.  

Old Church, or “Annaasisup Oqaluffia,” built in 1832.  Inside, admire original paintings from the mid-19th-century. 

Small building used for viewing bodies in caskets.

Side view of the 1832 church.

Raven.

Town meeting/entertainment building.

Street sign; please translate.

  

We passed the New Church to see the supermarket, and paused at the Arctic Café restaurant.

 Local pub.

Local child having fun jumping off this 6" high boardwalk.

" We accept you" (and your money). 😊

 Souvenir shop.

 

We proceeded toward the Bench of Love on Vatican Hill before viewing the town’s thirty "Stone and Man" sculptures, each carved by a Scandinavian artist. 

 Bench of love.

Our waiting cruise ship anchored in the fjord.

Around 4 PM we departed Greenland, heading toward the very northern tip of Newfoundland - we will have a sea-day tomorrow, arriving Tuesday at 7 AM.  Diane and I spent about ten days on Newfoundland June-July 2006 in our motorhome; it was a great way to see and learn and get to know locals.