Qeqertarsuatsiaat

Qeqertarsuatsiaat
Fiskenæsset
Fisher's Inlet

Qeqertarsuatsiaat
Qeqertarsuatsiaat

Location within Greenland

Coordinates: 63°05′20″N 50°40′40″W / 63.08889°N 50.67778°WCoordinates: 63°05′20″N 50°40′40″W / 63.08889°N 50.67778°W
State  Kingdom of Denmark
Constituent country  Greenland
Municipality Sermersooq
Founded 1754
Government[1]
 • Mayor Morten Johnsen
Population (2010)
 • Total 235
Time zone UTC-03
Postal code 3900 Nuuk

Qeqertarsuatsiaat, formerly Fiskernæs or Fiskenæsset, is a settlement in the Sermersooq municipality in southwestern Greenland, located on an island off the shores of Labrador Sea. Its population was 235 in 2010.[2]

History

Qeqertarsuatsiaat port

Kikertarsocitsiak[3] or Qeqertarsuatsiaat has long been the local name for the island (Kalaallisut: "Rather Large Island"). It was first settled by the Danes as Fiskernæs in 1754. The name was often anglicized as Fisher's Inlet.

The trading post was founded by the merchant Anders Olsen on behalf of the Danish General Trade Company, which was granted a royal monopoly on trade in Greenland but only in and around its settlements. Like most Greenlandic trading posts, it was a location for the Danes to trade imported goods for seal skins and seal and whale blubber gathered by Kalaallit in the area. Unusually, the settlement became the early center of Greenland's salmon and cod fisheries[4] and it was as common to see the large "woman's boat" or umiak as the smaller hunting kayaks.

In 1748,[5] 1754,[6] 1757,[7] or 1758,[8] the Moravian mission of Lichtenfels was established in another inlet of the same island by Matthias Stach and four families from New Herrnhut. The first conversions were not made until 1760[8] or 1761,[7] but afterwards the population of the settlement rose to around 300[8] and was for a time the largest village in Greenland. All urbanization in Greenland was negatively affected by the Royal Greenland Trading Department (KGH)'s Instruction of 1782, aimed at protecting the company's income by maintaining the Inuit in their traditional roles as nomadic hunters. The mission was surrendered to the Lutheran Church of Denmark in 1900[9] and has since been abandoned.

The last known great auk in Greenland was hunted near Fiskenæsset in 1815 by one of the villagers.[10]

Transport and amenities

Qeqertarsuatsiaat is a port of call for the Arctic Umiaq Line ferry.[11] There is a viewpoint at Telehuset. The Danish Crown Princely family visited the town as part of an official tour of Greenland in summer 2014. [12]

Population

Qeqertarsuatsiaat has lost population in the last two decades: more than a quarter since 1990 and almost 10 percent since 2000.[13]

Qeqertarsuatsiaat population dynamics

References

  1. ↑ Sermersooq Municipality (Danish)
  2. ↑ Statistics Greenland (Danish)
  3. ↑ Brewster, David. "Greenland". The Edinburgh Encyclopedia, Vol 10. J. & E. Parker, 1832.
  4. ↑ Kane, Elisha Kent. Arctic Explorations: The Second Grinnell Expedition. 1856.
  5. ↑ Lüdecke, Cornelia. "East Meets West: Meteorological observations of the Moravians in Greenland and Labrador since the 18th century". History of Meteorology 2, 2005.
  6. ↑ Cranz, David & al. The History of Greenland: including an account of the mission carried on by the United Brethren in that country. Longman, 1820.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. "Biography: Life of Matthew Stach". The Missionary Herald, #19. Samuel T. Armstrong, 1823.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "Mission in Greenland". The Christian Library: Comprising a Series of Standard Works in Religious Literature. Key & Biddle, 1833.
  9. ↑ Wittman, P. "Greenland". The Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Co. (New York), 1909. Accessed 28 Apr 2012.
  10. ↑ "Suluk 2010 No.1" (PDF). Air Greenland. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
  11. ↑ AUL, Timetable 2009
  12. ↑ "Official visit to Greenland - Qaqortoq, Paamiut and Qeqertarsuatsiaat.". Scandinavian Royalty.
  13. ↑ Statistics Greenland