Kangaatsiaq District

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Kangaatsiap Communia
Kangaatsiaq District
location
Symbols
coat of arms
coat of arms
Basic data
Country Greenland
Commune Qeqertalik municipality
Seat Kangaatsiaq
surface 43,500 km²
Residents 1217 (January 1, 2019)
density 0 inhabitants per km²

Kangaatsiaq has been a district in western Greenland since 2009 . It is congruent with the previous community Kangaatsiaq, which was incorporated into the Qaasuitsup Kommunia in 2009 . The Kangaatsiaq district has been part of the Qeqertalik municipality since 2018 .

location

The Aasiaat District is located between the Aasiaat District in the north and the Sisimiut District in the south.

history

Until colonization

The current district area was first settled by the Inuit . House ruins, pagan graves and stone tools bear witness to this. In Aalatsivik in particular, there are many remains of early settlement.

In addition to the settlement of Inuit, today's district area was visited by the Grænlendingar during the time of Erik the Red and was part of the Norðrsetur area . It is believed that the summer place Karlsbúðir was on the Ataneq fjords of the Arfersiorfik . The Northmen hunted seals and whales and collected driftwood, which was particularly abundant here.

On June 26, 1605, the British explorer James Hall reached the Ataneq. He drove a little further north and turned back the next day, after which he drove the area a second time.

The oldest living places in the district were Eqalussuit , Kangeq , Maniitsoq , Rifkol , Tununngasoq , Ikerasaarsuk , Simiutalik , Simiutarsuaq and Inussulik .

The Dutch Lourens Feykes Haan described the area at the beginning of the 18th century. At that time the Dutch were whaling intensively in Disko Bay.

18th century

The history of the Kangaatsiaq district from the time of colonization is closely linked to that of the Aasiaat district, as both formed a common colonial district.

In 1759 Niels Egede founded the Egedesminde colony. Originally he wanted to build it in a place he called Mannuk , but no one knew of this place. He probably meant Mannik ("egg") or Maneq ("peat") and was referring to Manermiut in today's Aasiaat district. Instead, the colony was established about a hundred kilometers south in the extreme south of what is now the Kangaatsiaq district. At first the colony seemed to be flourishing, but very soon the fishing conditions deteriorated and in 1763 what was later to become Gamle Egedesminde was relocated .

The old residential area Aasiaat , located almost 120 km to the north, was chosen as the new location . The colony was now a little more economically successful than before, but the establishment of Godhavn (Qeqertarsuaq) on Disco Island created competition. In addition, surreptitious trading inhibited economic success. From 1776 things went uphill and Marcus Nissen Myhlenphort mentioned that the large number of living spaces contributed to this. At that time, Qeqertarsuatsiaq , Aalatsivik , Simiutarsuaq , Simiutalik , Ikerasaarsuk and a settlement in Ataneq in what is now the district area were inhabited. In addition, there were living spaces in today's Aasiaat district, which also belonged to the colonial district.

The places in today's Kangaatsiaq district have always belonged to the parish of Aasiaat. If the church was administered by another missionary, the southern places were also passed to this missionary.

In 1785/86 there was a major epidemic that had been brought in from South Greenland . It bears the name Nungunersuaq , translated "the great disappearance". People fled their homes, many of which became extinct and the economy came to a complete standstill. On Tulugartalik Island , only two people who ate berries, roots and seaweed survived before they were found. Because until then there were no catechists who evangelized in the living quarters, those to be baptized were always gathered in the colony, which led to the fact that especially the baptized died.

Immediately after the epidemic, the hunting grounds lay fallow and the colonial district found itself in a serious crisis. In 1789 the entire colonial district had only 298 inhabitants (72 of whom were baptized) and many of them lived in Kitsissuarsuit , which was so remote that the epidemic spared it. In order to help the economy on its feet, attempts at whaling began in what is now the Aasiaat district. It was not until 1791 that the Rifkol attempt at whaling was founded in what is now the Kangaatsiaq district, and a year later it was transferred to the island of Nunarsuaq . In 1793 the places Tupertalik , Aalatsivik , Ikerasak , Nunarsuaq and Akunnaaq were inhabited in today's Kangaatsiaq district . In 1797 Rifkol was given up again. In 1795 the colonial district had 465 inhabitants again, of which just under 200 lived in Kitsissuarsuit and Killiit. In 1799 the residential areas Qeqertarsuatsiaq , Inussulik , Qipingasoq , Aalatsivik and Ikerasak were inhabited in what is now the district area.

In June 1800 a smallpox epidemic, presumably brought in by the English, broke out in the Southeast Bugten between Aasiaat and Qasigiannguit , and it spread rapidly. Around a third of the population was killed: the epidemic claimed 150 lives. Colonial administrator Myhlenphort, who had established the colonial district economically with the yarn catching that he had introduced and now forcibly abandoned, left the district in 1801 to rebuild the Holsteinsborg colony, which had been hit even harder by the epidemic. In 1803, yarn fishing was resumed in Qipingasoq, but together with the yarn fishing attempts in today's Aasiaat district, there were too few residents to keep them going. Around 1805 the colony could only be kept alive because whaling was successful in Killiit. In 1805 the colonial district had 218 inhabitants, almost all of whom lived in what is now the Aasiaat district. At that time, Aalatsivik was the only inhabited place in today's Kangaatsiaq district.

19th century

From 1807 to 1814 the gunboat war raged between Denmark and England, which severely hindered the supply of Greenland and almost completely lost economic and ecclesiastical control over the colony. Whaling was stopped and the yarn catching stations were abandoned. In 1812 and 1815 the hunting grounds were also extremely bad.

The colonial district recovered quickly, however. In 1818 the Attu plant was founded in the south and Iginniarfik was founded in 1825 . In the same year there was another epidemic brought in by English whalers. In 1831 the following places were inhabited in today's district: Qeqertarsuatsiaq, Qipingasoq, Kangaatsiaq , Iginniarfik, Aalatsivik, Attu and Nasersorfik. The entire colonial district had 489 inhabitants again in 1831. Subsequently, the economic success increased again strongly and several places received the Udstedsstatus . A fourth epidemic was introduced in 1852.

20th century

In 1911 the colonial district was divided into seven parishes, of which three with Kangâtsiaĸ , Igíniarfik and Agto were in the area of ​​today's Kangaatsiaq district. In 1918, eleven residential places were subordinate to these communities. In 1939, the community was Niaĸornârssuk spun off Igíniarfik.

In 1918 the parish Aasiaat consisted of four chief catechetical districts, two of which were Kangaatsiaq and Attu in what is now the district area.

In 1921, Hother Ostermann and Morten P. Porsild described the colonial district. About the population, they said that a small part of the inhabitants are Danish-Greenlandic descendants of the survivors of the four epidemics, but a large part originally immigrated from the south of Greenland, which is why a large number of the inhabitants had no European ancestors. This is also evidenced by the fact that Ugpernángitsoĸ , Inûsugtoĸ , Mikisuluk or the Greenlandized Alauphesen and Barbarusiusen are the only cases of Greenlandic surnames in western Greenland in the Kangaatsiaq district . The way of life of the population at that time was even more archaic than in other areas of West Greenland.

During the administrative reform in 1950, the colony district was divided. The small northern part became the municipality of Aasiaat , while the much larger southern part formed the municipality of Kangaatsiaq. During the administrative reform in 2009, the municipality of Kangaatsiaq was incorporated into the Qaasuitsup Kommunia and became a district. The Kangaatsiaq district has been part of the Qeqertalik municipality since 2018 .

places

In addition to the city of Kangaatsiaq , the following villages are located in the Kangaatsiaq district:

In addition, the following abandoned settlements are in what is now the district area:

coat of arms

Blazon : Azure, a back seeing silver ptarmigan above the left Obereck a right open silver crescent moon floats.

literature

Coordinates: 68 ° 12 ′  N , 50 ° 0 ′  W