Uummannaq District

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Uummannap Communia
Uummannaq District
location
Symbols
coat of arms
coat of arms
Basic data
Country Greenland
Commune Avannaata Communia
Seat Uummannaq
surface 93,000 km²
Residents 2228 (January 1, 2018)
density 0 inhabitants per km²

Uummannaq has been a district in western Greenland since 2009 .

location

The Uummannaq district is located in the large fjord complex of Uummannap Kangerlua between the Nuussuaq peninsula in the south and Sigguup Nunaa in the north. To the north is the Upernavik district , while the Ilulissat district is on the other side of the peninsula .

history

Before the colonial era

The district was visited by the Grænlendingar in the Middle Ages . It can be assumed that the Eysunes ("coal cape ") was probably on Nuussuaq. It is also likely that the building called Bjørnefjælde in Nuussuaq was built by the Grænlendingar.

One of the oldest inhabited places in the district include Uummannaq , Salliaruseq, Akia, Akulleq, Alannguaraq, Uummannatsiaq , Ikerasak , Issua, Saattoq, Qeqertaq, Nuussuaq , Niaqornat , Ikorfat, Qaarsut , Qaarsuarsuk , Kuuk, Qilakitsoq , Pooruseq, Iseqqat, Itilleq, Umiartorfik, Soqqaq , Nuffiumaneq, Eqaluk, Kuussuaq, Akuliarusersuaq, Ukkusissat , Innerit and Upernavik Næs . The archaeological remains from Qilakitsoq, where several mummies were found in the 1970s, are particularly significant .

Before the colonial era, parts of the district were known to Dutch whalers who hunted and traded with the Greenlanders, particularly in the southeast of Illorsuit Island .

At the beginning of the colonial era there were significantly fewer people living in the district than was probably the case in the past. The residents of the district had little contact with the neighboring areas to the south, as the mountainous peninsula was probably a natural border.

18th century and early 19th century

In 1758 a colony was established in Nuussuaq , which at that time was the northernmost colony in Greenland. A merchant, an assistant, a carpenter, a cooper, a cook and a few workers were employed and a house, a provision house and a bacon house were built. It soon turned out that the colony's position in the extreme southwest of the colonial district was extremely impractical, as the distance to the Greenlandic living quarters was too great and the residents continued to trade with the Dutch. In addition, the climatic situation was difficult and three men died of diseases in the first winter. In 1760 it was decided to look for a more suitable colony location and so in 1761 the bacon house was relocated to Uummannaq on a trial basis and the assistant began to trade there together with two men. In 1763 the entire colony was finally transferred to Uummannaq.

The economic situation improved rapidly, but the climate was so cold that the fjord complex was frozen too long in winter and trade was therefore limited to the short summer. In addition, there was competition from the Dutch side, which was to be reduced from 1764 onwards by the fact that the Danes were to offer the same goods as the Dutch.

In 1765 the mission began in the Uummannaq colony. In 1774 there were already 41 baptized adults, in 1777 there were already 90. In 1791 the missionary was temporarily transferred to Uummannatsiaq . By 1800, 287 adults and 226 children had been baptized, 170 of whom had since died. From 1799 to 1817 the Missionaria belonged to the colonial district of Jakobshavn .

Due to the cold climate, the district was hardly suitable for kayak hunting, but great economic successes could be achieved with the emerging yarn catching. The colonial district flourished especially from 1783. Thus the colonial district also became the first in Greenland in which Udsteder were founded. In 1787 a yarn catching experiment was set up in Eqaluk , but it was moved to Uummannatsiaq in 1791 because of the ice conditions . In 1793 a Udsted was founded in Innerit , which was transferred to Ukkusissat in 1794 . In 1794 a Udsted Kakilissat was built, which was moved to Naqerloq in 1797 . Eqaluk was rebuilt in 1796, but moved to Ikerasak in 1799 . In 1798 an Udsted was founded in Saattut and in 1799 in Niaqornat . During the war from 1807 to 1814, most of the Udsted had to be given up.

In 1782 an epidemic of dysentery raged in the colonial district. However, due to its remoteness, the area was spared the great epidemic of 1785/86. The population increased because many people from the south fled the disease. In 1791 many people moved from the north to the colonial district of Uummannaq, so that in 1793 404 people lived in eleven places, but in 1794 110 moved back north again. In the 1790s, however, 23 different living spaces were in use because the population was still moving around a lot. In 1798 375 people lived in nine places and in 1805 there were 393 people in eleven places. In 1812 149 people died of a plague , mostly after less than 24 hours of the disease. It was believed that English whalers had brought the disease, although the Greenlanders murdered an old man and his wife because they suspected him of causing the epidemic through witchcraft .

In 1775, coal deposits were discovered near the colony . Dismantling began in 1778. The coal was supposed to supply the colony in Uummannaq as well as some whaling facilities in Disko Bay, and later also Upernavik . The extraction of alum and vitriol was soon abandoned. In 1782 there was a strike because the miners wanted more wages, and the merchant, assistant and missionary had to take over the coal mining instead. Inspector Johan Friedrich Schwabe had little pity, however, and the miners had to pay fines for their strike. Mining could then be continued. The mining sites were moved further and further west over time, all the way to Qaarsuarsuk , where mining was reorganized in 1905. In the 1850s was in Qaarsut also graphite mined.

20th century

In 1911 the colonial district of Uummannaq was divided into eight parishes: Ũmánaĸ , Sãtut , Uvkusigssat , Igdlorssuit , Nûgssuaĸ , Niaĸornat , K'aersut and Ikerasak . In 1918, a total of twelve residential spaces were subordinate to these communities. In 1925, the community was Nûgâtsiaĸ outsourced from Igdlorssuit.

The parish consisted of two Upper Katcheten districts, Illorsuit in the north and Uummannaq in the south.

Since 1905 the colonial district was a separate medical district, which until 1915 also included the colonial district of Upernavik.

In 1921 the colonial district was described by Hother Ostermann and Morten P. Porsild , according to which some Greenlanders without European ancestors lived there at that time. Most of the others, on the other hand, had European ancestry, although these made up a much less significant part of the ancestry than further south.

During the administrative reform in 1950, the colony district became the parish of Uummannaq. During the administrative reform in 2009, the community Uummannaq was incorporated into the Qaasuitsup Kommunia and became a district. The Uummannaq District has been part of the Avannaata Kommunia since 2018 .

places

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

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

coat of arms

Blazon : A white, flying petrel in blue.

literature

Coordinates: 70 ° 27 ′  N , 50 ° 0 ′  W