Oqaatsut

Oqaatsut ( cormorants )
Rodebay (Red Bay) Oĸaitsut
Oqaatsut (2008)
Commune	Avannaata Communia
District	Ilulissat
Geographical location	69 ° 19 '53 "  N , 50 ° 57' 46"  W Coordinates: 69 ° 19 '53 "  N , 50 ° 57' 46"  W.
Residents	29 (January 1, 2020)
Time zone	UTC-3

Oqaatsut [ ɔˈqaːt͡sːut ] (according to the old spelling Oĸaitsut ) is a Greenlandic settlement in the Ilulissat district in the Avannaata Kommunia .

location

The port of Oqaatsut in Umiarsualivik Bay (2015)

Oqaatsut is located on a headland on the central west coast of the Paakitsup Nunaa peninsula, 14 km north of the municipal capital of Ilulissat . The Ikerasannguaq strait separates Oqaatsut from the island of Qeqertaq . It forms the Umiarsualivik Bay on the east coast of Oqaatsut.

history

Oqaatsut (2010)

Even before the colonization, the Dutch visited the residential area to trade with the Inuit. The old name Rodebay ("Red Bay") goes back to the Dutch whalers, who were inspired for this name by the color of the water after successful whaling . According to another theory, the name goes back to the at Lourens Feykes Haan traditional Roo Bay ( "calm bay") back and implies that you stayed here.

Very few people lived in Oqaatsut in the first years of the colonial era. In 1767 Jørgen Sverdrup mentions "some pagan murderers". Another mention follows in 1775. In 1781 Carl Dalager suggested moving the Jakobshavn Lodge from Ilulissat to Oqaatsut, which was rejected. Around 1790, Marcus Nissen Myhlenphort built a house for a yarn catching experiment. In 1807 only one family lived in Oqaatsut for the winter. In 1842 trading began in Oqaatsut. Only in the second half of the 19th century did the population increase. In 1877 the place received the Udsted status . A bacon house was built for this and the Udsteds administrator Johan Reimer (1832-1896) was employed.

Oqaatsut is the place of origin of the Greenlandic families Reimer, Rosbach and Olrik. In 1890 115 people lived in Oqaatsut. In 1905 there were 142.

In 1915 Oqaatsut had 127 inhabitants. 25 of the residents were active as hunters. There were 20 houses in the village. There was also a Udsteds administrator's apartment, which was built in 1898 as a half-timbered building with wood paneling and roof shingles. It was rebuilt in 1914 and measured 60 m² and had two rooms, a kitchen and a pantry. The 1907 store was 49 square meters. There was also a provisions store. Both buildings were half-timbered buildings. The new bacon house from 1894 was a peat wall house. The midwife had her own house. The catechist was employed in a school chapel from 1805 with a free-standing church tower. It was a timber-clad half-timbered building with roof shingles and a harmonium inside.

In the 1920s a new school chapel, a new shop and a packing house were built. In 1930 the place had 89 inhabitants. In the 1940s, Oqaatsut received a salt factory and a drying house. In 1947 a school chapel was built again. In 1952 there were 240 m² of fish houses. By 1960 the population increased to 170 people.

Until 1950 Oqaatsut was a separate community, to which the residential area Qilersiut still belonged until it was abandoned . The community belonged to the Jakobshavn colony district and was part of the 5th district electoral council of North Greenland. Oqaatsut was part of the parish of Ilulissat. 1950 Oqaatsut was incorporated into the municipality of Ilulissat .

economy

The main income in Oqaatsut comes from hunting and fishing. In the fish factory, which was privatized in 2000, halibut and cod are processed and, among other things, ræklinger (strips of dried fish) are produced. The proximity to the Greenland tourist stronghold of Ilulissat also favors tourism in Oqaatsut. With the support of WWF , ecotourism in Oqaatsut has been strengthened. There has been a hotel run by Ole Dorph in Oqaatsut since 2011 . The H8 restaurant was run by a German couple who drowned in Oqaatsut in 2015 .

Infrastructure and supply

There is a heliport in Oqaatsut, but there are no flights. All transport is carried out by ship, snowmobile and dog sled. There are no paved roads within the village.

The electricity and water supply is guaranteed by Nukissiorfiit . The water is provided by a seawater desalination plant . Garbage and sewage are disposed of via the landfill north of Oqaatsut. TELE Greenland provides the telecommunications connection of the place.

Development

There is a Pilersuisoq branch in Oqaatsut for the provision of goods . The Oqaatsut Atuarfiat, Oqaatsut's school, is attended by around five students who then attend a secondary school in Ilulissat. The school is in the same building as the church. In Oqaatsut there is also an infirmary and a community workshop. Several buildings in Oqaatsut are listed as worthy of conservation.

See also : List of architectural monuments in Oqaatsut

Population development

Oqaatsut is the smallest village in the Ilulissat district and also one of the smallest in the municipality. The population is falling steadily, which is why the place has lost two thirds of its inhabitants in the last 40 years.

Web links

Commons : Oqaatsut  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Map with all official place names confirmed by Oqaasileriffik , provided by Asiaq
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Oqaatsut at qaasuitsup-kp.cowi.webhouse.dk
3. ^ ^{A b} Hother Ostermann : Beskrivelse af Distrikterne i Nordgrønland: Jakobshavn District. De enkelte Bopladser i Jakobshavn district. Udstedet Rodebay . In: Georg Carl Amdrup , Louis Bobé , Adolf Severin Jensen , Hans Peder Steensby (eds.): Grønland i tohundredeaaret for Hans Egedes landing (=  Meddelelser om Grønland . Volume 60-61 ). tape 1 . C. A. Reitzel Boghandel, Copenhagen 1921, p. 202 ff . ( Digitized in the Internet Archive ).
4. ↑ Jens Christian Madsen: Udsteder og bopladser i Grønland 1901-2000 . Atuagkat, 2009, ISBN 978-87-90133-76-4 , pp. 148 f .
5. ↑ In the first person: Pete Ewins of WWF Canada at panda.org
6. ↑ Nyt bygdehotel at knr.gl
7. ↑ We mourn our friends at vogtlandspiegel.de
8. ↑ Population of Oqaatsut 1977–2020 at bank.stat.gl