GREENLAND

Greenland is opening its doors to tourists who want to experience something out of the ordinary. In the past a journey to and around the world's biggest island was somewhat of an expedition. Now you can hop on a SAS, Icelandair or Firstair flight from Denmark, Iceland or Canada to Greenland. Or simply contact one of the many tour operators that Greenland Tourism A/S (P.O.Box 1552, Hens Egedesvej 29, DK3900 Nuuk) can put you in touch with. A good starting point is to ask for the informative "Holidays in Greenland" brochure.

Choose March or April for "Winter Greenland" with spell-binding snowscapes, subzero temperatures and bright sunshine perfect for skiing, dog sledding and snowscooter rides. Expect temperatures sometimes as low as -30C and ice conditions that can stop or delay boat excursions.

The summer months bring midnight sun and light nights and for Greenland warmer temperatures perfect for angling, mountain hikes, kayaking and sailing among whales and icebergs.

In the fall the otherwise quite fickle weather gets reliable and the nights are pitch black so you can really see the fantastic Northern lights. The Greenlanders call this arsarnerit which means "ballplay" and that is how the white yellow, green and red lights move across the sky that seems so much larger up in the North. The colour play during the day is also spectacular with mountainscapes of flaming yellow and orange hues, that look almost supernaturally stark and three-dimensional on account of the clear air.

Towns in Greenland have hotels in all categories as well as hikers huts and primitive bed & breakfasts along the inland routes. Pre-arranged round-trips with stopovers in a few places is the way to go. You can also opt for the week-long "Around Disko Bay" trip by ship to towns and villages and a great variety of natural scenery. The overnight accommodation is in tents.

Scandinavians should not miss an opportunity to visit the Norse ruins at Brattahild (Qassiarsuk) where the very first church on the North American continent was built in approx 1000 A.D. The Norsemen inhabited Greenland from ca 980 to ca 1500 when they mysteriously disappeared. They came from the over-grazed Iceland to the luxurious pastures on the coast of "Greenland" and at one time numbered as many as 6,000. The majority lived in Osterbygden (East Village) in South Greenland selling ivory from walrus and narwhal tusks together with belts made from walrus hide, and buying salt, iron and small items such as combs and jewelry from their Icelandic trading partners.

The first Norse immigrants were heathen, but as they were gradually converted to Christianity they erected churches, convents and even cathedrals with glass windows on the island.

In most towns in Greenland, you can buy wonderful Greenlandic handicraft. The most common objects are intricately carved objects from soapstone, bone and reindeer horns. "Tupilaks" are little Greenlandic voodoo figures that traditionally were placed in the kayak of an enemy to kill him or in the least give him bad luck. The beautiful national costumes that the girls traditionally received when they were confirmed and when they were full-grown have become very expensive even for the Greenlanders themselves.

Today Greenland receives about 5 000 visitors a year. With the tourism expansion now taking place there will be 35 000 a year in the next ten years. This will mean a big change for the predominantly Inuit population. In the small villages people live largely in a bygone era and pace where no-one is in a hurry. The upheaval that has taken place ever since World War II has brought the same wide-spread alcoholism and epidemy of suicides as has afflicted other aboriginal people around the world. Latest statistics show that out of a population of 55 000, 55 Greenlanders committed suicide last year. Most of them were men who can no longer rely on the traditional hunting that defined their role in society. Today there are only about 2 500 employed directly in the fishing trade that accounts for 95 percent of total exports, and even fewer are engaged in sealing that at one time was the existential basis of the Greenlandic population. Women have fared much better in modern Greenland and they are the ones getting >->->->->->->
around. They are also increasingly marrying Danes which is not happening as much the other way round.

Greenlandic is an Eskimo language quite unlike any other language, but most people also speak some Danish. In the tourist spots and with young people you can always speak English.
Greenland became a part of Denmark in 1953 after a long colonial era that really started in 1721 when the Danish king mounted an expedition for the Norwegian priest Hans Egede to re-christianize the Norse population on the island. When Egede arrived in Greenland there were no Norsemen left, having probably succumbed to the harsh climate, crop failures and in the end having used their boats as firewood. Instead he started a Lutheran mission and trading post among the Greenlanders. Although the Greenlandic people are ordinary Danish citizens, they have since 1979 a Home Rule on the same basis as the Faroe people or the people of Aland have with Finland. Greenland got its own flag (that has red and white semicircles symbolizing the midnight sun and the ice) in 1985, the same year the island was released from their Danish membership in the European Union.

Last fall the prime ministers of the Nordic countries met for the first time ever on Greenland. After the symbolically important meeting in Ilulissat on the west coast of Greenland, Danish Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen continued up to the northernmost city of Qaanooq near the Thule air base. The people here are upset that Denmark knew that nuclear weapons were stored in the US base between 1958-65 and now demand compensation for the risks they took which may have resulted in several deaths in cancer. Several people were also involved in a rescue mission when a B-52 crashed and it is only recently that they have found out that there were 6 kilos of plutonium on board. Locals are upset that Danes have been promised compensation for the radioactive contamination but not Greenlanders, and their own "prime minister" Lars Emil Johansen has promised to get to the bottom of this affair.

There is no doubt that we will be hearing more from the world's largest island in the future, so now is the time to visit this wonderful treasure, so rich in contrasts and magnificent experiences.

Scandinavian Press, Issue 1, 1996