Saqqaq

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Saqqaq (sunny side)
Gamle Ritenbenk (Old Ritenbenk)
Sarĸaĸ
Saqqaq (1909)
Saqqaq (1909)
Commune Avannaata Communia
District Ilulissat
Geographical location 70 ° 1 '0 "  N , 51 ° 57' 0"  W Coordinates: 70 ° 1 '0 "  N , 51 ° 57' 0"  W.
Saqqaq (Greenland)
Saqqaq
Residents 132
(January 1, 2020)
founding 1755/1840
Time zone UTC-3

Saqqaq [ ˈsɑqːɑq ] (according to the old spelling Sarĸaĸ ) is a Greenlandic settlement in the Ilulissat district in the Avannaata Kommunia .

location

Saqqaq is located on the south coast of the Nuussuaq peninsula on a 400 m long headland. Directly to the west is the island of Qeqertaq . The Sullorsuaq (Vaigat), which separates Nuussuaq from the Disko Island , runs in front of the village . The next inhabited place is Qeqertaq , which is 24 km to the east. It is 94 km to the south to the district and municipality capital Ilulissat .

history

Saqqaq until the colony was transferred

In the region around Disko Bay, numerous archaeological traces of an early Arctic culture can be found, which is known as the Saqqaq culture because of the finds around Saqqaq and dates back to between 2400 and 800 BC. Lived in the area. The place was also inhabited later. One finds old house ruins and pagan graves in Saqqaq.

The Ritenbenk colony was founded in Saqqaq on January 15, 1755 by Carl Dalager . The name was an anagram of the surname of Christian August von Berkentin , who had been President of Det almindelige Handelskompagni since 1747 , which was then in charge of the administration of Greenland.

In the beginning there was a single storey house, a half-timbered bacon house and a peat-walled department store in Ritenbenk. In 1770 Ritenbenk was demoted to a lodge when Carl Dalager left the place. In 1776 the buildings were extremely dilapidated and the senior assistant recommended relocating the colony.

Saqqaq as a place to live

In 1781 Ritenbenk was moved 37 km to the southeast to Appat . It was not until 1782 that the last remains of the colony were moved to the new location. However, some of the residents stayed in Saqqaq. In 1784 missionary Jørgen Sverdrup persuaded some more Greenlanders to move back here. In 1786 a catechist and a helper were employed in Saqqaq. In 1787 the place was considered one of the best hunting spots in Disko Bay . The construction of a mission house was planned, but this was prevented by a lack of money. In 1793, 44 people lived in two large houses in Saqqaq. In the same year some Danes were settled in Saqqaq to practice whaling. From the winter of 1794 the boatswain of the colony in Saqqaq was used to set up a yarn catching and trading experiment. During the war, the attempt was abandoned after around 15 years and the site was abandoned. In 1814 there were two more inhabited houses, but the following year they starved to death.

Saqqaq as Udsted

Around 1840 Saqqaq was named winter udsted . Around 20 years later, Saqqaq became a year-round Udsted.

In 1915 the place had 170 inhabitants who lived in 27 houses. The houses were well built and the population is described as extremely efficient. There was an apartment for the Udsteds administrator from 1905. It was a half-timbered building with wood paneling and roof shingles and had three rooms, a kitchen and a hall. A bacon house was a peat wall house and another bacon house as well as the store from 1909 and the provisions store from 1908 were half-timbered houses with wood paneling. The church was built in 1909. It was a half-timbered house with a wooden facade painted gold, a red-painted shingle roof and a church tower. Inside it was a chandelier and an artistically valuable altar panel. The school was located in the old school chapel from 1900, which was a half-timbered house with a peat wall facade. 35 hunters, three fishermen, the Udsteds administrator, a midwife and the chief catechist of the colonial district lived in the village.

From 1911 Saqqaq was a separate community to which the Tartunaq residential area still belonged. It was located in the colonial district of Ritenbenk and was part of the 6th regional electoral district of North Greenland. He was part of the parish of Ilulissat, but later belonged to the parish of Appat.

In the 1920s a packing house and a new school chapel were built. (Presumably it served mainly as a school, since there was already a pretty church.) In 1930 the population had fallen to 147 people, but rose again to 213 in 1947. In 1950 only 174 people lived in Saqqaq again. A new shop was built around 1950. The school chapel was converted into a meeting house around 1960 when a new school was built. In 1960 Saqqaq had 253 again, but by 1970 the population had again decreased to 211 people.

After Ritenbenk lost its colonial status in 1942, Saqqaq fell to the Jakobshavn colonial district. In 1950 Saqqaq became part of the Vaigat municipality . In 1963 the place was transferred to the municipality of Ilulissat .

economy

Saqqaq lives primarily from catching halibut , which is processed in the fish factory established by Royal Greenland in 2005. The second mainstay in Saqqaq is tourism. The peninsula with its lakes, rivers and glaciers as well as the archaeological excavation sites serve as excursion destinations.

Saqqaq is an active fishing port with processing facilities from 2005 owned by Royal Greenland A / S. During the high season the company employs up to ten people and focuses primarily on the processing of Greenland halibut . The existing capacity for fishing operations is limited and the factory is located next to the residential area.

Hunting as well as schools, shops, the service sector, administration and supply offer other job opportunities.

Infrastructure and supply

In addition to the harbor, which is served weekly by the Disko Line , Saqqaq has the Saqqaq heliport in the east , which also connects the place via the air.

Nukissiorfiit supplies Saqqaq with electricity via a diesel power plant. A small lake north of the village ensures the drinking water supply. The heat is supplied via oil stoves. Garbage and sewage are disposed of at the landfill. TELE Greenland is responsible for telecommunications in town.

Development

Almost 30 students are taught in the Naatap Atuarfia . There is also an infirmary, a community workshop , a Pilersuisoq branch and a service and meeting building in the village . Several buildings, including the church from 1909 and the house of the former commercial administrator Hannibal Fencker (1914–1986), are classified as worthy of preservation.

Sons and daughters

Population development

The population of Saqqaq rose rapidly from the late 1980s and has been slowly falling again since the turn of the millennium.

panorama

Saqqaq (2017)

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. Map with all official place names confirmed by Oqaasileriffik , provided by Asiaq
  2. Saqqaq in Den Store Danske
  3. a b c d e f Hother Ostermann : Beskrivelse af Distrikterne i Nordgrønland: Ritenbenk district. De enkelte Bopladser i Ritenbenk district. Udstedet Sarĸaĸ . 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. 264 ff . ( Digitized in the Internet Archive ).
  4. Inge Kleivan : European contacts with Greenland as reflected in the place-names . In: P. Sture Ureland, Iain Clarkson (Ed.): Language Contact across the North Atlantic (=  Linguistic work . No. 359 ). Niemeyer, Tübingen 1996, ISBN 978-3-11-092965-2 , pp. 146 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  5. a b Jens Christian Madsen: Udsteder and bopladser i Grønland 1901–2000 . Atuagkat, 2009, ISBN 978-87-90133-76-4 , pp. 142 .
  6. a b c Saqqaq at qaasuitsup-kp.cowi.webhouse.dk
  7. Population of Saqqaq 1977–2020 at bank.stat.gl