Pooq

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Pooq (right with bird arrow) and Qiperoq, painting by Bernhard Grodtschilling , 1724

Pooq (according to the old spelling Pôĸ , also Pok , baptized Christian in 1728 ; * around 1700 in Greenland ; † May 1, 1729 in Copenhagen ) was the first Inuk who voluntarily traveled to Europe and returned to Greenland. He told his compatriots about his experiences and impressions in songs. The first book printed in Greenland - it was published in Greenlandic and Danish in 1857 - reproduces a chant by Pooq written in dialogue form.

Life

Pooq was a West Greenlander who arrived in Hans Egedes colony and mission station Håbets Ø (Hope Island ) in the winter of 1722/23 as part of a group of six . Egede had accommodated the group in the attic of the mission house, where two other Inuit already lived. Following Christmas in 1723, Pooq asked to visit Denmark / Norway with one of the Danish sailing ships. The young Inuk's request came in handy for Egede. He hoped that the sensation it would cause in Copenhagen would give him greater support for his missionary and commercial activities in Greenland. Egede managed to persuade a second Inuk, Qiperoq, to ​​accompany Pooq.

On August 3, 1724, the two Inuit left Greenland on board the Pink Cronprintz Christian . A month later they arrived in Bergen . Pooq and Qiperoq were not the first Inuit to be brought to Europe, but they were the first to volunteer. Nor had a stolen Greenlander ever returned to his homeland. The Greenland Company in Bergen decided to bring Pooq and Qiperoq to the King in Copenhagen and on this occasion to draw attention to the company's financial plight. The ship reached Helsingør in time for King Frederick IV's birthday . The Greenlanders' appearance on October 11th in Fredensborg Castle became one of the highlights of the festival program. When the King birthday of his brother, Prince Carl , on October 26, another festival hosted denied pooq and Qiperoq again a part of the program: they paddled their kayaks on the lake esrum that led Eskimo roll before and showed their art with the bow as well as duck hunting with the bird arrow ( nufit ). On November 9th, the company organized a “Greenland Procession” - a boat parade through Copenhagen with Pooq and Qiperoq in their kayaks, with musicians, singers and a gunboat firing a salute. Six boats presented the "products of Greenland" - the pelts of various arctic animals, whalebone or tusks of the narwhal . The two Inuit were now so popular in Copenhagen that they were invited by wealthy men. The influential poet Ludvig Holberg , who also received her, expressed appreciation for Pooq's intelligence. When Pooq and Qiperoq were forced to play the Hanswurst in the theater , the company brought them back to Bergen at the end of November, where they waited for their return trip to Greenland. Qiperoq died here on February 11, 1725. Pooq set sail on April 20 on board the Cronprintz Christian and was back at the mission station on May 25.

The gifts received in Denmark made Pooq a wealthy among the Inuit, and his stories made him a respected man. He processed his travel experiences in songs that are traditionally accompanied by the drum. Pooq's reports made a major contribution to consolidating Hans Egede's position among the Greenlanders. Soon he was able to baptize the first Inuit, including Pooq on January 18, 1728, who was given the name Christian.

Soon after his return, Pooq married Nerivoq, a young woman from the island of Illutalissuaq, who was named Christina after she was baptized. The couple had their son Christian in 1727 and their daughter Anna Sophia in 1728.

At the request of Frederick IV, Egede sent Pooq's family and the young Inuit Carl, Daniel and Sophia, who were also baptized, to Denmark. Accompanied by Egede's son Poul , who wanted to study theology , they traveled aboard the Moriana via Bergen to the Danish capital. Like four years before, they were received by the Danish king. The citizens of the city could take a look at the "savages" for a fee. Until the fire in Copenhagen on October 27, 1728, the Greenlanders lived in the city's orphanage . Then they were housed at Frederiksberg Castle. Pooq was an apprentice and learned to make buttons from reindeer antler. All seven Greenlanders contracted smallpox in the spring and died one after the other in April and May.

Pooq's songs

Pooq reported in detail to his compatriots about his experiences. This happened, among other things, in the form of drum songs , so-called Aya-Yait (named after the recurring "Aya-ya"). By Poul Egedes Grammatica Groenlandica Danico-Latina there is also a singing in dialogue form. Some friends ask questions about Pooq's trip, which he then answers. He describes his visit to the royal palace ("as big as an iceberg") and his encounter with armed soldiers, but also goes into the social conditions in Copenhagen. Although the report was edited by Poul Egede and is no longer identical to Pooq's original song, it is one of the rare surviving Inuit reflections on Europe. It shows the astonishment about the material culture of the Europeans, especially about their technical level, the many people, the noise in the cities, the hot climate and the unfamiliar food. Pooq's dialogue takes up about half of the first book printed in Godthåb, published in 1857. The work, illustrated with colored woodcuts by Rasmus Bertelsen , was printed by Lars Møller in both Greenlandic and Danish.

The Danish Royal Library keeps a manuscript, probably by Hans Egede, entitled Relation om Grønland , which contains the text of another song by Pooq. Although aya-yait is passed down from generation to generation in Greenland society, this song has been lost in western Greenland. In East Greenland , however, a variant has been preserved that was written down by Jens Rosing in 1961 . The song describes the crossing to Greenland and the visit to the Round Tower in Copenhagen.

Pooq in art

There are several oil paintings by Pooq that were painted during or after his first stay in Denmark. The best known is a double portrait with Qiperoq by Bernhard Grodtschilling (1697–1776), which is now owned by the Danish National Museum , but originally belonged to the king's private collection. A miniature copy is in the Historical Museum in Frankfurt am Main . The Arctic Institute in Copenhagen owns a portrait of Pooq, the painter of which is unknown.

Two woodcuts from 1724 are in the Royal Library. They show the “Greenland Procession” with Pooq and Qiperoq in their kayaks. The cuts were probably made for advertising purposes and adorned programs for invited guests and leaflets for onlookers. Six woodcuts made by Rasmus Bertelsen in 1857 depict Pooq and Qiperoq in a Denmark of the 19th century, dressed according to the taste of Biedermeier .

A colored drawing by the Greenlandic artist Aron von Kangeq shows Pooq / Christian and his wife Christina visiting church dignitaries in Copenhagen in 1728.

Since 1967 Pooq's name has stood for a social institution in Copenhagen, Pok, the Greenlandic Advisory Office (Danish: Pok, Det Grønlandske Rådgivningskontor ), where Greenlanders can get help with their problems during their stay in Denmark. However, Qiperoq is shown on the club logo due to confusion.

In 1968 the Danish Post issued a stamp designed by Jens Rosing showing Pooq and Qiperoq in the Round Tower of Copenhagen.

Pooq is also the title character of Alfred Otto Sweden's historical tale Pooq Grönländer .

literature

  • Johannes Balle: Grønlænderen Pôk: Hvorledes han kom til Danmark, hans oplevelser der, and hvad han keep sine landsmænd derom, da han kom tilbage . In: Grønland . tape 13 , no. 9 , 1964, pp. 321–348 (Danish, tidsskriftetgronland.dk [PDF; 1.8 MB ]).
  • Christian Berthelsen : Pooqs vise . In: Grønland . tape 41 , no. 6 , 1993, pp. 253–265 (Danish, tidsskriftetgronland.dk [PDF; 817 kB ]).
  • Verena Traeger: Poq and Qiperoq - to eskimoportrætter . In: Årbog / Handels- og Søfartsmuseet på Kronborg . tape 51 , 1992, pp. 117-144 (Danish, tidsskrift.dk ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Pok, kalalek avalangnek, nunalikame nunakatiminut okaluktuartok. Angakordlo palasimik napitsivdlune agssortuisok. - agdlagkat pisorkat navssarissat nongmiut ilanit (PDF; 11.2 MB). Nongme 1857 (Greenlandic), and Pok, en Gronlænder, who travels and ved sin Hjemkomst fortæller derom til sine Landsmænd and Angekokken as moder Præsten and disputerer med ham. Efter gamle Haandskrifter, fundne hos Gronlændere ved Godthaab . Godthaab 1857 (Danish).
  2. ↑ Hans Christian Gulløv : From Middle Ages to Colonial Times. Archaeological and ethnological studies on the Thule culture in South West Greenland 1300–1800 AD . Museum Tusculanum Press, 1997, ISBN 978-87-635-1239-8 , p. 355 (English, limited preview in Google Book search).
  3. ↑ Michael Harbsmeier: Pietists, Shamans, and the authenticity of the other: Greenlandic voices in the 18th century . In: Hans-Jürgen Lüsebrink (Ed.): The Europe of the Enlightenment and the non-European colonial world . Wallstein, Göttingen 2006, ISBN 978-3-8353-0021-7 , pp. 355–370 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  4. ↑ Jens Rosing: Sangen om 'det menneskegjorte fjeld' . In: Nationalmuseets Arbejdsmark , 1968, p. 176 (Danish).
  5. ↑ Alfred Otto Schwede: Adventure of Hope. Two historical stories from Greenland . Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Berlin 1982.
personal data
SURNAME Pooq
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pôĸ; Pok; Christian (baptismal name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Greenlandic hunter, European traveler and author
DATE OF BIRTH around 1700
PLACE OF BIRTH Greenland
DATE OF DEATH May 1, 1729
Place of death Copenhagen