Itinnera

Itinnera (its crossing point)
Itivnera
Commune	Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq
District	Nuuk
Geographical location	64 ° 22 '38 "  N , 50 ° 23' 50"  W Coordinates: 64 ° 22 '38 "  N , 50 ° 23' 50"  W.
Residents	0 (1993)
founding	1952
Time zone	UTC-3

Itinnera [ iˈtˢinːɜʁa ] (according to the old spelling Itivnera ) is a deserted, fallen Greenland reindeer herding settlement in the Nuuk district in the Sermersooq municipality .

location

Itinnera is located in a valley on the south bank of the Kapisillit Kangerluat . Kapisillit is located 8.8 km northeast of Itinnera.

history

prehistory

The indigenous barren ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) lives in Greenland and was traditionally the target of hunting. The population declined and the introduction of more reindeer to Greenland was considered. After the Second World War, the Greenlander Jens Rosing (1925–2008) was in Denmark and worked there together with the office manager in Grønlands Styrelse , Magnus Jensen (1906–1973), with Fridtjof Nansen's and Knud Rasmussen's ideas about resettling reindeer in Greenland. Jens Rosing made his first trip to the Norwegian Hardangervidda to get familiar with the conditions of reindeer herding. In 1950 he was employed as a reindeer guard in Sweden for half a year, and when he returned the KGH saw a real opportunity for reindeer herding in Greenland. Jens Rosing was granted further study trips to Nord-Trøndelag and Finnmark . He then explored the situation in the Nuuk community together with the Sami politician Anders Stueng (1902–1984) . It was concluded that the area around Itinnera was perfect for reindeer herding, and together with the Lappenvogt Peder Hagen, who was the chief official for reindeer herding in Norway, Jens Rosing worked out a plan which was subsequently approved by Magnus Jensen .

Reindeer herding in Itinnera

In September 1952, 300 reindeer were caught near Kjøllefjord and brought to Nuuk on board the Hanne S. 37 of the reindeer died during the trip and so only 263 made it to their destination. Jens Rosing ran Itinnera in the following years together with some seeds. In 1956 the ownership of Itinnera passed from the Danish state to the KGH. By 1961 the population had grown to 3000 animals and 500 were brought to the other side of the fjord to Kangerlupiluk. In 1967 4500 reindeer lived in Itinnera. In 1973 some reindeer were brought to South Greenland, where the Isortoq reindeer herding settlement was established. In 1974 the company in Itinnera was privatized and in 1978 it was handed over to Kapisillit. The residents had no experience of keeping reindeer and the herd was not guarded. At the annual slaughter, all spontaneously found reindeer were caught and slaughtered. In 1998 about 100 animals escaped from the area and the rest were slaughtered, ending reindeer herding in Nuuk Township. Itinnera itself had not been inhabited since 1978. Only in 1992 was a single resident counted again.

Archaeological site

From 1958 to 1962 a Saqqaq culture dwelling was excavated in Itinnera, dating from 1400 to 1200 BC. Is dated. The buildings were round and had a fireplace in the middle. Soapstone lamps and harpoon tips were found for the first time in Greenland . The used in Itinnera chert came from the Disko Bay .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Map with all official place names confirmed by Oqaasileriffik , provided by Asiaq
2. ↑ Jens Fynbo: Renvogteren Jens Rosing in the Tidsskriftet Grønland (1995/4; .pdf)
3. ↑ Christine Cuyler: Success and failure of reindeer herding in Greenland. 1998 (.pdf)
4. ↑ Population figures Itinnera 1977–2019 at bank.stat.gl
5. ↑ Itinnera in Den Store Danske