Upernavik district

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Upernaviup Communia
Upernavik district
location
Symbols
coat of arms
coat of arms
Basic data
Country Greenland
Commune Avannaata Communia
Seat Upernavik
surface 199,000 km²
Residents 2698 (January 1, 2018)
density 0 inhabitants per km²

Upernavik has been a district in western Greenland since 2009 .

location

The district of Upernavik was the northernmost district of northern Greenland . In the north today the district borders Qaanaaq , while in the south the border with the district Uummannaq runs.

history

Until colonization

The district was visited by the Grænlendingar in the Middle Ages . This is attested by the rune stone from Kingittorsuaq found in 1824 , which dates from around the 13th century. There is also an old legend according to which Greenlanders attacked a group of Europeans here, one of whom turned to stone. This place was called Qallunaarsuit ("the great whites"). In 1825 only one of the stones was left, in 1920 both had disappeared. Some ruins were also believed to have been built by the Grænlendingar, but they may also have come from Dutch whalers.

In 1616, the English navigator William Baffin visited the archipelago, which he named Women Islands . In 1635, Dutch whalers first reached the area, who named the islands Vrouwen Eylande , according to the English name . The name Zwarten Hoek for the Sigguup Nunaa peninsula , which forms the southern border of the district, goes back to them. The Dutch whalers remained active in the area until around 1800 when they were replaced by English and Scottish whalers.

Foundation phase

Even almost half a century after the start of colonization, the area was not known to the Danes and there was no interest in expanding the colonial areas to this point. After the founding of the Uummannaq colony around 1760, Carl Dalager suggested moving further north in 1768 to found a new colony there. On June 30, 1769, Andreas Bruun left the Ritenbenk colony and reached the island of Qeqertaq on July 5 . In the area he was looking for a suitable place for a colony. The idea of founding the colony in Kangersuatsiaq was discarded because of the poor port conditions. Instead, the Rosenkrantz colony was founded in Eqaluit, far south of what is now the district, named after Minister of State Frederik Christian Rosenkrantz , who at the time was director of Det almindelige Handelskompagni , which was responsible for trading in Greenland.

The next Greenlanders lived in Kangersuatsiaq, 26 km northwest. In February 1770 Bruun counted 14 houses with 91 hunters and their families. In 1771 Carl Dalager had 66 fathers, 140 hunters and a total of 380 inhabitants. In addition to Kangersuatsiaq, other residential areas were Arnarissoq , Naajaat , Kingittoq , Upernaviarsuk and Uigorleq . In addition, Bruun reported three houses that were up to 28 (Danish) miles (over 200 km) north of the colony, which roughly corresponds to today's Nuussuaq . Because the population lived so far away, Bruun was still looking for a more suitable job in the area in autumn 1769, which he found in Upernavik . In 1771 the colony was moved to its current location and officially inaugurated on August 8, 1772.

In the winter of 1773, twine fishing began in Upernavik and it turned out to be successful, but the Greenlanders, who had not been familiar with this type of hunting, could not really be persuaded to change their hunting methods.

In 1779 missionary work began in the colonial district of Upernavik. The first missionary was the Icelander Ólafur Gunnlaugsson Dahl, but he died of ill health after eight years, as did many of the Europeans. In 1790 there were 80 baptized Greenlanders in the colonial district.

Double task and re-establishment of the colony

The colony, which was unusually far to the north for the time, was not very successful in terms of trade and many colonialists died of scurvy , starved to death, froze to death or escaped directly through suicide. In 1788 they considered giving up the colony and allowing the population to migrate to the colonial district of Uummannaq. Merchant Christen Andersen Enghel suggested relocating the colony to Eqaluit, while Carl Dalager preferred to see it further inland. Although the resident colonists wanted to continue operating the colony, albeit in a different location, it was decided on May 18, 1789 to give up the colony. The plan was implemented in 1790, but most of the people stayed in the area and so the resumption of the colony was discussed shortly.

After it was not possible to integrate the district into the colonial district of Uummannaq, a ship was sent there in 1793 by inspector Børge Johan Schultz to conduct trade. Because this was successful and the Greenlanders asked for Danish protection from predatory English whalers, the inspector proposed the construction of a facility that should belong to Uummannaq. The management of Den Kongelige Grønlandske Handel refused and so Schultz instead let a ship from the Godhavn colony sail through the district, which was led by senior assistant Johan Christian Steen from Imerissoq .

Because the trips were extremely successful, a facility was established under Godhavn in 1796. In 1797 the colonial district had 403 inhabitants who lived next to Upernavik in Illunnguaq , Ikerasak , Qaarsorsuaq , Aappilattoq , Naajaat , Taartoq , Tussaaq , Paagussat and Uigorleq . In 1799 consideration was given to classifying the facility under a potential new colony in Nuussuaq (the former colony site of Uummannaq, not to be confused with the above), but the plan to make Nuussuaq a colony again was rejected.

A whaling manager was hired to use the area for whaling. In 1805 an attempt at whaling was started in Kangersuatsiaq. The whaling turned out to be unsuccessful and was soon abandoned. In 1827 a second attempt in Kangersuatsiaq was ended just as quickly. Instead, it was decided early on to concentrate on catching yarn again. In 1800 an Udsted was built in Kangersuatsiaq, in 1802 in Kingittoq and in 1805 Udsted in Aappilattoq and Tasiusaq followed .

In 1805, 449 people lived in the colonial district, spread over the towns of Upernavik , Kangersuatsiaq , Nunngarut , Ingiullisoq (?), Illorsuaq , Illunnguaq , Naajaat , Aappilattoq , Saveerneq , Uigorleq , Paatit and Tasiusaq .

In 1805 Upernavik was reassigned to the colony. During the war from 1807 to 1814 Upernavik got into an economic emergency because no ship reached the colony for years. In 1811 some of the colonists were picked up, including the merchant. In 1812 the rest of the ship was supposed to be brought home, but the ship did not reach the colony because of the bad weather. In the winter of 1813 dog sled groups were sent to Upernavik to take care of them. In the summer of the same year, more Danes were picked up. When a smallpox epidemic broke out in 1814, Niels Larsen Steenholdt and his Greenland family were the only ones left to leave the place.

From 1817 trade trips were again made from the Colony of Godhavn, but they were not very successful because the English had the area back in their hands. In order to forestall them, the re-establishment of Udstedern was proposed and in 1823 Upernavik itself was re-established as Udsted under Godhavn. In 1826 Upernavik was again given colony status.

19th century

In the first few years it was not possible to rebuild the mission. The missionary Andreas Fridsch Hønne offered to do both church and trade services in Upernavik in 1823, but the missions college refused to work so far north. It was not until 1825 that a catechist was employed, but he gave up after two years. In 1833, Christensen Østergaard was again employed as a missionary. At the beginning of the 19th century the last pagans of West Greenland were baptized in the colonial district of Upernavik, but paganism remained close to many Greenlanders and so there were still many pagan influences on the Christian faith in the district in the 20th century.

In the 1840s, an English mining company mined graphite on Akia Island just south of the colony. The area near Eqaluit had previously been used for coal mining at the time the colony was located there. In 1826, a reuse of the coal reserves there was rejected.

In 1850 450 people lived in the colonial district, spread over Upernavik , Kingittoq , Qamaneq , Inussuk , Aappilattoq , Arpik , Kangersuatsiaq , Saveerneq , Ammaasaq , Sioraq , Kissaaq and Ikerasak .

20th century

In 1911 the colonial district was divided into six parishes: Tasiussaĸ , K'agsserssuaĸ , Augpilagtoĸ , Upernavik , Prøven and Søndre Upernavik . In 1918 a total of 19 residential places were subordinate to these communities. In 1923 the municipality of Kraulshavn was spun off from the municipality of Tasiussaĸ . The parish of K'agsserssuaĸ was replaced by the parish of Tugssâĸ in the mid-1920s . When the towns of Kullorsuaq and Qaarusulik were settled, the border of the colonial district had to be moved to the north because the Greenlanders had settled in no man's land .

In 1915 the colonial district became a separate medical district after it was spun off from the medical district of Uummannaq.

When Hans Jensen Bryder , Morten P. Porsild and Hother Ostermann described the colonial district in 1921, it was said that most of the residents were partly of European descent, but many were also pure Inuit. Some were thought to be of Inughuit descent.

During the administrative reform in 1950, the colony district became the municipality of Upernavik. Several places in the Upernavik district that are still inhabited today were never officially given village status when they became de facto villages as a result of the local reform in 1967. This applies to Ikerasaarsuk , Innaarsuit , Naajaat and Nutaarmiut . Only Innaarsuit received village status in 1985. The other three places therefore still hardly have any infrastructure.

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

places

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

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

coat of arms

Blazon : In blue, three silver sea lions around a silver toothed disc in clockwise direction.

literature

Coordinates: 74 ° 0 ′  N , 52 ° 0 ′  W