Kullorsuaq
Kullorsuaq
| Kullorsuaq | |
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 Kullorsuaq
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| Coordinates: 74°34′45″N 57°13′05″W / 74.57917°N 57.21806°WCoordinates: 74°34′45″N 57°13′05″W / 74.57917°N 57.21806°W | |
| State |  Kingdom of Denmark |
| Autonomous country |  Greenland |
| Municipality | Qaasuitsup |
| Founded | 1928 |
| Population (2010) | |
| - Total | 436 |
| Time zone | UTC-03 |
| Postal code | 3962 Upernavik |
Kullorsuaq (old spelling: Kuvdlorssuaq) is a settlement in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland. It is the northernmost settlement in the Upernavik Archipelago, located on Kullorsuaq Island, at the southern end of Melville Bay, an indentiation of Baffin Bay.
The settlement was founded in 1928, and became a trading station, growing in size during the post-war consolidation phase, when hunters from several small villages in the region of the more southerly bays of the archipelago: Inussulik Bay, Sugar Loaf Bay, and Tasiusaq Bay − moved into the larger settlements such as Nuussuaq and Kullorsuaq. Today, Kullorsuaq remains one of the most traditional hunting and fishing villages in Greenland, with a stable population.
The name of the settlement means "the big thumb" in the Greenlandic language. The settlement was named after Devil's Thumb, a prominent pinnacle-shaped mountain in the center of the island, approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) to the north of the settlement.
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Geography
Kullorsuaq is located on an island of the same name, at the southern end of Melville Bay, in the northernmost part of Upernavik Archipelago.
History
Prehistory
The Upernavik Archipelago belongs to the earliest-settled areas of Greenland; the first migrants arriving approximately 2.000 years B.C.E. All southbound migrations of the Inuit passed through the area, leaving behind a trail of archeological sites. The early Saqqaq culture diminished in importance around 1.000 BCE, followed by the migrants of Dorset culture, who spread alongside the coast of Baffin Bay, being in turn misplaced by the Thule people in the 13th and 14th centuries.
The archipelago has been continuously inhabited since then. Migrants of the 19th and early 20th centuries found many ruins of Inuit settlement on Kullorsuaq Island, Kiatassuaq Island, and smaller islands in southern Melville Bay. In the centuries that followed the initial southbound migration, the population of the northern Upernavik Archipelago was scarce and scattered. The Danish settlers during the colonial era were unaware of Kullorsuaq until the end of 19th century.
20th century
The modern settlement was initially populated by hunters from the now abandoned villages of the archipelago bays located to the south of Kiatassuaq Island: Inussulik Bay, Sugar Loaf Bay, and Tasiusaq Bay, during the modern northbound migration of Greenlanders from Upernavik. The initial wave of settlers originated in villages of fewer than 10 people: Kuuk (abandoned in 1972), Itissaalik (abandoned in 1957), and Ikermiut (abandoned in 1954). By mid-1920s, several families of hunters from Nuussuaq also moved north to Kullorsuaq. The settlement was founded in 1928,
Between 1930 and 1960, northwestern Greenland underwent a consolidation phase, driven by the Danish colonial authorities via Royal Greenland, then part of KNI, with a countrywide monopoly on trade. The mutual agreement between the hunting families and the trade company limited the pre-war northward expansion until the 1950s, when the populations of the smaller settlements reinforced larger communities in Nuussuaq and Kullorsuaq, where the physical limit of uninhabitable Melville Bay presented a natural barrier to expansion. In the 1950s Kullorsuaq became the northernmost trading post in the archipelago. In 1952, the first year-round shop was built in Kullorsuaq.
In the 1960s, Kullorsuaq was a staging point for further expansion into Savissivik, 274 km (170 mi) to the northwest, at the northern end of Melville Bay. This expansion was not successful, and most migrants returned south in the 1980s and 1990s. Today, the settlement remains one of the most traditional hunting and fishing villages in Greenland.
Economy
Fishing and hunting are the mainstay of the area, although the more northern settlements still rely on traditional hunting of fur seals, walruses, narwhals, and whales to supplement the family economy. In that, the northern region is culturally linked with the far north of Greenland (Kalaallisut: Avanersuaq), the Qaanaaq region.
The fish processing plant of Upernavik Seafood, a subsidiary of Royal Greenland, and the all-purpose Pilersuisoq general store are the only organized labor employers in the settlement.
Outside of Upernavik town, the average level of income in the archipelago is amongst the lowest in Greenland. Alongside three other settlements in the archipelago (Naajaat, Nuussuaq, and Upernavik Kujalleq), Kullorsuaq is listed in the top 10 poorest within Greenland.
Transport
Air Greenland serves the village as part of government contract, with twice-weekly helicopter flights to Nuussuaq and Upernavik.
Population
With 436 inhabitants in 2010, Kullorsuaq is the northernmost as well as the largest settlement in the Upernavik Archipelago outside of Upernavik. It is one of the few settlements in the Qaasuitsup municipality exhibiting significant growth patterns over the course of the last two decades, increasing by nearly 60 percent relative to the 1990 levels and by over 12 percent relative to the 2000 levels.
- ^ Upernavik Avannarleq, Saga Map, 1:250.000, Tage Schjøtt, 1992
- ^ a b "History". Upernavik Tourist Service. http://www.greenland-guide.gl/upernavik/history.htm. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
- ^ O'Carroll, Etain (2005). Greenland and the Arctic. Lonely Planet. pp. 196–199. ISBN 1-74059-095-3.
- ^ a b c Petersen, Robert (2003). Settlements, kinship and hunting grounds in traditional Greenland: A comparative study of local experiences from Upernavik and Ammassalik. Danish Polar Center. pp. 231, 234. ISBN 978-87-635-1261-9.
- ^ a b c d e Petersen, Robert (2003). Settlements, kinship and hunting grounds in traditional Greenland: A comparative study of local experiences from Upernavik and Ammassalik. Danish Polar Center. pp. 103–108. ISBN 978-87-635-1261-9.
- ^ a b "Kullorsuaq" (in Danish). Qaasuitsup Municipality. http://www.qaasuitsup.gl/da-DK/Om-kommunen/Byer-og-bygder/Upernavik/Kullorsuaq. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
- ^ "The history of Upernavik". Upernavik Tourist Service. http://www.greenland-guide.gl/upernavik/history.htm. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
- ^ "Bygderne skal selv tage ansvar" (in Danish). Sermitsiaq. 17 April 2010. http://www.sermitsiaq.gl/indland/article81717.ece. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
- ^ "Booking system". Air Greenland. http://book.airgreenland.com/. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
- ^ a b c "Population in localities January 1.st by locality, age, gender and place of birth 1977-2010". Statistics Greenland. http://bank2.stat.gl/dialog/varval.asp?ma=BEEST4&ti=Population+in+localities+January+1%2Est+by+locality%2C+age%2C+gender+and+place+of+birth+1977%2D2010&path=../Database/Greenland/Population/Population%20in%20Greenland/&search=KULLORSUAQ&lang=4. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
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