Qasigiannguit District

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Qasigiannguit Communiat
Qasigiannguit District
location
Symbols
coat of arms
coat of arms
Basic data
Country Greenland
Commune Qeqertalik municipality
Seat Qasigiannguit
surface 13,000 km²
Residents 1182 (January 1, 2018)
density 0.1 inhabitants per km²

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

location

The Qasigiannguit District is located on the southeast coast of Disko Bay . The Aasiaat district borders to the west and the Ilulissat district to the north .

history

Until colonization

The current district was only partially inhabited in ancient times. Larger amounts of old ruins can only be found in the Sydostbugten . The oldest residential areas in the district include Upernaviup Saqqarlii, Agissat, Puagiarsuk, Ikerasakitsut, Sarpiusat, Imerissoq, Annertusoq, Eqeqqoq, Qeqertarmiut, Sarpiusat, Saattut, Saarlat, Tussaaq., Nukeratiaat, Nuarsqorniaat, Nuarsqorniaat, Narsqorniaat, Narsuatsaat.

The area was described by the Dutchman Lourens Feykes Haan in the early 18th century . At that time the Dutch were whaling intensively in Disko Bay and remains in ruins and graves show that the Greenlanders had traded with the Dutch in the district.

18th century

As early as 1724, Hans Egede reported about Disko Bay and said that a colony should be established there in order to forestall the Dutch. In 1727 an expedition was sent under Mathias Andreas Fersleff to concretise the plans. Although Fersleff made it clear that a colony should be established here, it was not until 1733 that Jacob Severin sent a ship to Disko Bay to test the trade there. The expedition was successful and the Christianshaab colony was founded in 1734 . The Dutch weren't happy about the competition and conflicts soon arose. In 1738 Fersleff captured a Dutch ship near the colony and a year later four ships were bombed and captured near Ilulissat . The Dutch then threatened to burn down the colony. Because the Dutch were selling their goods, which were of better quality, at lower prices, the economic situation of the Danish colony was difficult for a long time. Originally, the colonial district comprised the entire Disko Bay and the area north of it.

In 1736 Poul Egede began to visit the Ilimanaq residential area regularly , where he began to evangelize . In reference to his father Hans, the "Apostle of Greenland", Poul was nicknamed "Apostle of North Greenland". His work was extremely successful and a small community soon sprang up at the living space. The Greenlander Arnarsaĸ was one of them. Due to her role in missionary work, she is the only Greenlandic woman whose name is recorded in old Danish sources. Poul Egede traveled all over Disko Bay, where the number of baptized rose rapidly. In over 40 years of activity, the catechist Jens Pedersen, who worked from 1739 to 1780, made a decisive contribution to the mission.

In 1738 Poul Egede and the colonial administrator visited the Tasiusaq fjord complex for the first time , which flows south into the Kangiata Sullua (Ilulissat Isfjord). At that time, the Qajaa residential area was probably located there. The fjord was later uninhabited again, but it was considered extremely productive and was called "Claushavn's pantry".

In 1741 there was an epidemic of dysentery , which killed many people. In the same year the Claushavn Lodge in Ilimanaq was established to support the mission. At that time, according to Niels Egede, over 1000 people were living in the area. In 1743 there were 23 baptized in the colonial district. In 1746 the colonial district of Jakobshavn was founded, which shortened the district in the north to Kangiata Sullua. In 1752 another epidemic reduced the number of baptized. In the same year the mission was relocated from the colony to the lodge, so that the missionary was based there, where significantly more people lived due to the poor hunting conditions in the colony. In 1754 there were already around 90 baptized people in the colonial district. In 1763 the district in the west was also shortened when the colony Egedesminde was moved to Aasiaat . In 1773/74 many residents died again during an epidemic. In 1776 there were already 229 baptized for 251 pagans. During the great epidemic of 1785/86, 69 baptized people and numerous pagans died. In 1792 the mission of the colonial district was assigned to the missionary of the Jakobshavn colony. In 1793, all residents of the colonial district lived in just 22 houses. In 1793 there were only 94 unbaptized Greenlanders left and in 1798 the last baptism of a pagan took place. The smallpox epidemic in 1800, which originated in the district and spread across the district boundaries, largely spared the colonial district of Christianshaab.

In the first few years, whaling was of great importance, mainly from the Ilimanaq facility, which was in operation until 1826. From around 1770, however, the catch of yarn began to increase, first in the Tasiusaq fjord complex, and later also in the Sydostbugten. In 1795, the sailor Jens Hvass settled deep in the interior of the fjord and founded Udsted Island in 1797 . Poul Egede had given the area the name 60 years earlier. In the war period from 1807 to 1814, this was the only successful yarn attempt in the district. 15 people lived there in 1808 and Jens Hvass stayed there for 20 years. In 1807 Nuuk was ceded to the colonial district of Egedesminde, where a yarn trial had also been started shortly before. Similar attempts began around the same time, including in Ikamiut , but all these attempts had to be abandoned during the war.

From the 19th century

The colony and the whaling facility also suffered severely from the war and the economy did not recover afterwards either. In 1826 the colony was abandoned and Christianshaab was demoted to Udsted, while Claushavn became a new colony. In llimanaq, however, the port conditions were poor and the place was not in the center, but at the very north-eastern end of the colonial district, and so Christianshaab became a colony again in 1829. The colonial district was not officially renamed until 1834.

In 1841 the last six residents left Udsted Island when it was no longer worth it, but on the way to Ilimanaq they all drowned when they crossed a lake.

Around 1885, the Kitsissunnguit archipelago became part of the colonial district of Egedesminde, with the exception of the easternmost island of Angissat .

In 1911 the colonial district of Christianshaab was divided into four parishes: Christianshaab , Ilimanaĸ (Claushavn), Akugdlît and Ikamiut . In 1918 a total of two residential spaces were subordinate to these communities. During the administrative reform in 1950, the colony district became the municipality of Qasigiannguit. At the end of the 1960s, the northern municipality boundary was moved south, so that the area of ​​the former municipality of Ilimanaĸ fell to the municipality of Ilulissat .

During the administrative reform in 2009, the community Qasigiannguit was incorporated into the Qaasuitsup Kommunia and became a district. The Qasigiannguit district has been part of the Qeqertalik municipality since 2018 .

places

In addition to the city of Qasigiannguit, there is only the village of Ikamiut in the Qasigiannguit district:

Next to it is the abandoned settlement Akulliit in today's district area.

coat of arms

Blazon : Shield divided into silver and blue shows a red shrimp at the top and a silver shrimp facing backwards at the bottom . At the upper plate edge of the community name in old orthography with blue capital letters "K'ASIGIÁNGUIT municipality".

literature

Coordinates: 68 ° 30 ′  N , 50 ° 0 ′  W