History History

It is the arrival of the first Paleo-Eskimos in Greenland. The origin of the first peoples on the island is studied on the basis of linguistics, genetic data or archaeological sites. The study of the languages of all the Inuit groups in North America converges on a common kinship with those of Siberia, we then speak of Paleo-Eskimo populations, i.e. hunters of the northern forests of Siberia who would have adapted to the tundra and ice floe regions. The genetic study of hair confirms the origin of these populations from Siberia, but also from the Aleutian Islands (near the Bering Strait), thus indicating that the first Paleo-Eskimos were not directly related to the (modern) Eskimos who replaced them. The archaeological study of the sites provides information on the ways of life of these hunting peoples who used tools made of stone microblades, a technique known as microlithic, previously unknown in America. Remains of projectile points suggest the possible use of the bow, although the harpoon remained their predominant hunting tool (very effective for seal or walrus hunting).

The "Independence I" civilization

According to a dating of muskox bones, this culture arrived around 2400 B.C. and then disappeared around 2000-1700 B.C. It is the northernmost population in the world whose remains have been found in the far north of Greenland on the shores of Independence Fjord, hence its name. The survival of these hunting peoples seemed to be based mainly on the hunting of muskoxen and, incidentally, marine mammals. They lived in small camps made up of family tents (about 30 people per village) covered with muskox skins placed on driftwood poles. These tents had a central fireplace surrounded by sleeping areas for a few people (4-6 max.). They did not build igloos and did not use dogsleds. Few traces of fire are recorded. It seems that their survival was precarious with regular periods of famine during the long polar nights and intense cold.

The "Saqqaq" civilization

This people immigrated from Canada (or Russia according to recent hair DNA studies) around 2400 BC and then became extinct around 800-400 BC. Saqqaq culture thus coexisted with Independence I culture. The first tools of this culture were found in 1948 at Saqqaq in Disko Bay, hence the name of this civilization that settled on both the west and southeast coasts. Remains can be visited in the Ilulissat and Sisimiut region. Their persistence over such a long period is explained by their incredible adaptation to Arctic conditions, in particular their ability to hunt a wide variety of animals, from whales, seals and birds to fish and other land mammals. While they lived in much the same type of habitat as the Independence I culture, they used stone lamps and fuel made from seal blubber and used dogs as pack animals. They probably disappeared because of the disappearance of muskoxen (their main resource) after a change in climate.

The "Independence II" civilization

The Saqqaquians were later replaced by the peoples of Independence II on the north and northeast coasts, approximately from 800 to 200 BC. The winter habitats resembled those of the earlier peoples (skin tents), while summer living conditions are still unknown. They hunted mainly muskoxen as well as some migratory birds and probably some land and sea mammals. The cut and polished tools resemble those of the Pre-Dorset people rather than those of Independence I. In short, it is easy to think that there was a double influence (Pre-Dorset and Independence I) in the culture of the people of Independence II. They probably disappeared for the same reasons as the Saqqaquians, as a result of climate change. Remains can be found in Peary's land.

Archaeological excavations show that the three civilizations, Independence, Saqqaq and Predorset, are in fact three regional cultures, slightly out of time, but originating from the same microlithic culture. The shamanism practised by these cultures is reflected in the carving of walrus ivory, caribou antler, bone, soapstone and wood.

Pytheas of Marseille sails the North Atlantic and believes he sees the northernmost land in the world, which he calls Ultima Thule (the last land). It would seem that it is more likely to be Iceland.

The "Dorset I" and "Dorset II" civilizations..

They are named after Cape Dorset in Canada (where they also settled) and can be subdivided into three phases in the Arctic: Dorset I (Early) from 900-300 BC, Middle Dorset from 300 BC to 500-600 AD, Dorset II (Late) from 400-500 to 1300 AD. Only Dorset I (south coast) and Dorset II (north coast, Thule region) are represented in Greenland, as the country appears to have been uninhabited during the Middle Dorset period. The study of the Dorset sites shows, without a shadow of a doubt, that they were even better adapted to their environment than their ancestors. The Dorset people brought the ulo, the women's knife that is still in use today.

There are ancient Inuit myths that refer to the Dorset people, an oral tradition that seems to have survived to the present day. They used pack dogs and survived in skin tents and shelters made of peat and stone, but also built longhouses that could house many people. Remnants of large knives for cutting snow suggest that they knew how to build igloos. They lived mainly on the tundra and hunted land mammals such as reindeer and muskoxen. Their extinction is probably linked to periods of famine, global warming in the 11th century, or even because of a massacre or assimilation of newcomers (Thule and Norse).

The Viking Gunnbjörn can see Greenland from his ship.

His real name is Eirikr Thorvaldson, but his contemporaries nicknamed him "The Red" because of the red colour of his hair and beard. He is known to have founded the first European colony in Greenland in 982, after being banned from Iceland for three years for murder. He named this land Grønland (literally: green land) in opposition to Iceland (land of ice), and in order to attract as many settlers as possible at a time when the climate was milder (medieval climate optimum from the 9th to 14th century) and the island was truly green. He settled in the south of the country in the region of Qaqortoq, more exactly in Brattahild (now Qassiarsuk). His travels are told in the Saga of Erik the Red.

The Vikings founded two settlements in south-west Greenland (up to 5,000 inhabitants). The eastern settlement included today's small towns of Narsaq, Qaqortoq and Nanortalik, while the western settlement lay further south in the Nuuk fjord, where many Viking remains remain. The climate was milder than it is today, and the settlers were able to lead a life not unlike that of Scandinavian peasants, supplementing agricultural produce with fishing and hunting. They introduced their own farming techniques and new products such as skyr (liquid yoghurt) and beer.

The climate cooled considerably from the 12th century onwards, making life more and more difficult and communications with Scandinavia eventually ceased altogether. Archaeological excavations show that the western colony was depopulated as early as the 14th century, while the eastern colony was depopulated until the mid 15th century. The reason for the disappearance of the Norsemen is unknown, but it seems likely that the Little Ice Age was responsible, in addition to a plausible Black Death and competition with the Inuit of the North.

The Thule civilization
It is the last of the so-called "neo-Eskimo" migrations. The name Thule refers to Greek mythology, which mentions the existence of a Hyperborean population living in northern Europe. This population initially developed in northern Alaska around the year 1000, then gradually expanded to finally reach Greenland around 1300. They were the first people to settle all around the island. The Thule culture was mainly maritime and strongly oriented towards the hunting of marine mammals. These skilful hunters mastered bows, arrows, spears and harpoons for hunting seals, but especially whales, which were essential to their survival. Indeed, it was their main source of food and fuel (blubber for lamps), its bones were used as construction material (framework for the roofs of houses) and it allowed them to trade with neighbouring populations including whalers and missionaries. Depending on the season, they travelled easily by kayak, oumiak or dog sled, which they introduced to the island and whose use they also perfected. Mummies of women and children dating from 1475 and now on display at the National Museum in Nuuk may attest to an Inuit custom where infants were killed after their mothers died if no one could care for them. Today's Greenlanders are the descendants of this custom. The last immigration from Canada was around 1860. Neo-Eskimos of the Thule culture are the direct ancestors of today's Greenlandic population.

Little ice age.

Many Dutch, German and English whalers arrive on the southern coast of Greenland and plunder natural resources, causing exactions on local populations and the transmission of diseases, including tuberculosis.

Hans Egede, a Norwegian pastor, is organizing an evangelistic expedition to Greenland. Finding no descendants of the Greenlandic Vikings, the expedition devoted itself to the conversion of the Inuit and the establishment of trading posts along the coast, marking the beginning of Danish colonization.

Christian VII, King of Denmark, decided to nationalize the trade by creating the Royal Greenland Trading Company, and set up many trading posts. This Danish monopoly on trade was not abolished until 1950. A mixed penal system was introduced by the Danes and the health and education conditions of the population were considerably improved.

Following the Napoleonic Wars, signature of the Treaty of Kiel separating Norway from Denmark, which retains Greenland.

Last Inuit migration from Canada to Greenland and first democratic elections for the Greenland Regional Assemblies.

Born in Ilulissat, Greenland, to a Danish missionary father and a mother of Inuit descent. He spent his youth with the Inuit, learning their language, hunting methods, kayaking, dog-sledding and living in the extreme conditions of the Arctic. After studying in Denmark, he joined an expedition in 1902-1904 known as the "Literary Expedition" to study Inuit culture and upon his return published The People of the Polar North. In 1910, Rasmussen and his friend Peter Freuchen founded the Thule Trading Post in the far north of Greenland. It served as the starting point for a series of seven expeditions, known as the Great Thule Expeditions, between 1912 and 1933. These would lead him to collect valuable ethnological, archaeological and scientific data on Inuit culture, survive for long periods of time solely on local resources, and even cross the continent for several years, from 1921 to 1924, with several scientists and Inuit hunters, by dog sled to Nome on the Bering Strait in Alaska. He recounted his expedition from Greenland to the Pacific: two years of intimacy with unknown Eskimo tribes. He died of pneumonia due to food poisoning from pheasant meat.

Henning Jakob Henrik Lund or Intel'eraq (1875-1948) was a Greenlandic lyricist, painter and priest. He wrote the lyrics of Nunarput utoqqarsuanngoravit (literally: "Our country that has become so old") later adopted as the national anthem in 1916 to music by Jonathan Petersen. This song reflects the turmoil of national consciousness in early 20th century Greenland. Since 1979, another national anthem has been officially used(Nuna asiilasooq, literally: "The Land of Great Length"). His house has become a memorial in his honour and is now an integral part of the Narsaq Museum.

Arrival of the first foreign sailors in Greenland waters.

Two Provincial Councils (Landrad), one for the North and one for the South, were created, but it was not until 1951 that they merged. During this time, all decisions were taken in the parliament in Copenhagen, where Greenland had no representatives.

Germany invades Denmark.

The Americans settle in Greenland and create the first local air base: Sondre Stromfjord.

Abolition of the Danish trade monopoly. Greenland opens up to trade.

Extension of the Thule nuclear base and integration of the country into NATO.

Greenland is no longer considered a colony and becomes a Danish province(amt) with two indigenous members of the Copenhagen parliament.

SAS, Denmark's national airline, inaugurates its Copenhagen-Los Angeles flight over Greenland.

Four nuclear bombs are misplaced off the coast of Thule.

A Greenland Ministry was also established in Denmark in 1955 (it will remain in place until 1987).

Greenland joined the EEC at the same time as Denmark, despite strong public disagreement. First attempts at independence.

Arctic peoples begin an unprecedented collaboration with the creation of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), which represents all Inuit and Yupiks.

The Greenlandic political parties demand the establishment of a joint Danish-Greenlandic committee to define the framework for territorial autonomy. In 1978, the Danish parliament therefore granted this autonomy, which is also known as the Home Rule.

Following a referendum, the country acceded to political autonomy with its territorial assembly and autonomous government. The management of the municipalities reverted to Greenland.

From 1980 onwards, Greenland took over responsibility for education, the church, tax, social affairs and then health.

The Greenlanders are leaving the EEC after a protest movement to limit access to Europe's fishing grounds. This remains a unique case to date with the Brexit. Indeed, being a member of the European Union allowed European fishermen to come to Greenlandic waters, which disadvantaged local fishermen. Since then, relations with the European Union have been based on special agreements. In the same year, the capital Godthab became Nuuk and the Greenlandic flag was created.

Changes in the ozone layer require extensive meteorological research.

Greenlanders approve a plan for greater self-government, including greater control over natural resources and the adoption of Kalaallisut (the Inuit language of West Greenland) as the main official language.

Autonomy is being strengthened and there is increasing debate about future independence. The current issues at stake concern the possible preparation of the country for future full independence, although a significant number of Greenlanders wish a contrario to continue to form an alliance with Denmark.

Arrival in power of the political party SIUMUT which lifted the suspension of the zero tolerance of uranium to develop its mining industry, which is subject to many controversies.

Global agreement to limit temperature rise at the UN Climate Conference (COP 21).

Donald Trump says he wants to buy Greenland from Denmark. A "big real estate transaction", according to the American president. The Danes replied that they were "ready to do business, not to sell"