- Start of trip and Nome, AL
- Herschel Island, Yukon, Canada
- Sea Day, a surprise, and the Smoking Hills, Northwest Territories, Canada
- Ulukhaktok, Northern Territories, Canada
- Murray Island, Nunavut, Northern Canada, Canada
- Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Northern Canada
- Citizen science and Borge Island
- Gjoa Haven, Nunavut, Northern Canada
- A busy day at sea — polar bears, musk ox, and plankton, oh my!
- Prince Leopold Island, Beechey Island, and Radstock Bay, Nunavut, Northern Canada
- Croker Bay and Dundas Harbor, Nunavut, Northern Canada
- Pond Inlet and the Inuit, Nunavut, Northern Canada
- Ilulissat, Greenland
- Sisimiut, Greenland
- Red Bay, Labrador, Canada
- Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Canada and end of trip
Today we arrived in Sisimiut, the second largest city in Greenland. Sisimiut translates to “where the foxholes are” — apparently when the town was being expanded, there were foxholes all over the place. Not sure what the story is today. Anyway the population of the city is around 6000 (more than Ilulissat) and 1000 dogs (less than half of Ilulissat). I’m not sure why the difference in dog populations between the two, given that fishing is the number one industry of both cities. I may not have made the connection between dogs and fishing in the last post, so let me explain. Much of the halibut fishing is done by ice fishing and the dog sleds carry the fish back to port. So, perhaps Sisimiut does more fishing by boat before/after the freeze comes in or maybe they have more efficient dogs. Something to ponder… This area has been settled for around 4500 years with people of the Saqqaq culture arriving from Arctic Canada. They stayed for about two millennia and then left without a trace. Luckily they left behind a number of artifacts that have been dug up by archeologists over the years and are now housed at the Sisimiut Museum. From there, both the Dorset and Thule people settled here.
Anyway, today was a first from a couple of perspectives: (1) it was the first time that we tied up to a pier since we left Nome, AK, and (2) there wasn’t really any agenda. It was just a day to walk in the sunshine, learn a little local history, do some serious shopping, and relax. We started by visiting the Sisimiut Museum, a grouping of historic buildings brought together from around the region to show what life might have been like in the mid-1800s. The oldest of the buildings was the Bethel Church, dating from 1775. But it and the Old Shop were actually built in Denmark, shipped, and reassembled onsite. Apparently, this became a broader practice after the national bankruptcy in 1813. There is also a replica on an 18th century turf house, showing the traditional way of life during that time. I’ll tell you one thing — they must have been short as I whacked my head multiple times going through the buildings. Beyond the buildings, though, there was a wonderful array of ancient artifacts dating back to the Saqqaq culture, as well as more period pieces of tools and clothing, especially from the 18th century.
From there we just wandered around the town. There are a wide variety of arts and crafts shops here, with most products produced and reflecting the Inuit culture. Much of the carving work is made out of caribou horn. The most common carvings are of tupilaks, avenging monsters that are created by angakkuqs (shamans) and brought to life by ritualistic chants. They were then thrown into the sea to find and destroy a particular enemy. To me, they looked a lot like the tikis of Polynesia. These are carved specifically for tourists; apparently locals don’t collect these. There are also a lot of knitted goods, with many of them made from musk ox fur, which I previously mentioned is the warmest wool on the planet. Before you worry that musk ox are killed for their fur, they aren’t. The musk ox naturally shed their winter coats during the Spring. Traditionally, women would wander around the countryside looking for the fur where the musk ox came in contact with something. Today, much of fur comes from farm-raised musk ox, specifically the soft under-fur (it’s likened to cashmere) that is “gently hand-combed from the musk ox.” Ah, it sounds relaxing; perhaps at a musk ox spa… But what we were hunting for was one of the three minerals that exist only in Greenland; specifically, tugtupite. It is quite a rare gemstone that is generally red or pink, with some mottling. We walked to the other side of town to visit a mineral shop and the owner had some that he himself mined 20 years earlier (before the whole area where it is located was bought up by a big conglomerate). The name derives from the Inuit word “Tuktu” which means “reindeer blood.” It’s actually only been know since the 1960s. What is really cool is that it displays strong fluorescence under UV light (which the owner demonstrated for us) and even some phosphorescence. It can also change color slightly under different light. We ended up buying a couple of pieces as our souvenir of Greenland. From there, we slowly made our way back to the ship. One of the trends that seems to be happening is a shift from single family homes to multi-family buildings. I’m not sure why that is happening, but it seems like a good idea with the cost of land and limited availability of lumber. To that point, here’s a little factoid you can use at your next cocktail party, the Norsemen (not supposed to use the word “Viking” anymore) settled in Greenland, they actually imported their lumber from North America! Yup, a fact verified by archeologists. Anyway, we really enjoyed our short visit to Sisimiut.
Just as a postscript, we saw an incredible display of Northern Lights a few hours after leaving port. I wanted to share a few of them. Enjoy!
I am a traveler and sometimes clay sculptor, following a long career working in consulting. My work allowed me to travel the world extensively and I was hooked. Today, I travel with my wife/best friend to explore new places, meet new people, and learn new things.
