Yearbook 1996
Greenland. Also in 1996, the debate was characterized by
the tours around the American so-called Thule base. In the
spring, it was proposed that the defense base be opened for
civil aviation to promote the tourism industry. During the
fall, a criticized Danish study found that the indigenous
population who had moved from the area to make room for the
Thule base's expansion in the 1950s was not forced to do so
and that financial compensation would therefore not be paid.
Thuleborna has demanded a complete investigation and an
official apology from the US and Denmark.
The economic dependence on Denmark was also strong in
1996; about 60% of the Greenland State's revenue was Danish
grants. Even in 1996, shrimp fishing was a completely
dominant export industry, although investments were made in
expanded tourism. Unemployment stopped at around 12%.
The first discovery of diamonds on Greenland was made in
November at a sea beach ten miles north of Nuuk by the
company Platinova. The diamond, a 0.28 millimeter micro
diamond, was found in a loose rock block of kimberlite rock.
The experts made the assumption that the kimberlite wire
with conceivable diamonds lies beneath the lake, which has
been formed by the collapse of the soft rock. Platinova has
allocated 40 million Danish kroner for diamond mining in
1996 and 1997. There are also expectations that the
Greenlandic nature, besides diamonds, will hide resources of
gold and oil, and several projects are underway to explore
this.
The population is originally from Central Asia, from
which tribes emigrated via Alaska and Canada. Followers were
taken to Greenland and constantly adapted to life in the
Arctic. The first immigrations are believed to have taken
place around the year 2,500 BCE. and is today called the
Independence I culture after the site of the first
archaeological finds. At that time, kayaks or umiaq
(wife boats) were not known, so they lived by fishing and
fishing on land animals.
The Saqqaq culture is called the immigration that took
place approx. year 1,600 BCE, but unlike previous
immigrations, the Saqqaq people settled along the west coast
of Greenland. The use of leather boats was known. Saqqaq
culture survived in Greenland for approx. 1,000 years before
it succumbed - probably as a result of a climate change.
Later, a few more migrations followed the east and west
coasts (the Dorset cultures), and many archaeological finds,
e.g. jewelry, lamps, snow knives and harpoon tips can now be
seen at Greenland's many local museums.
The last immigration took place around the year 1200 AD,
and this is where the current Greenlandic population
originated. It was a hunter whose life was entirely
organized according to where and when the trapping animals
were present. In the summer, they left the winter camp and
traveled around with a skin tent to catch trout, lactate,
seals, birds, whales, and what else could be used as storage
for the coming long winter. It was during this period that
the trapping and gear technique developed to the highest.
Around the year 985, an immigration from the east took
place, namely by Icelandic peasants under the leadership of
Erik the Red. These Norwegians settled far into the South
Greenlandic fjords and the fjord system behind Nuuk, where
they lived by farming, fishing and fishing.
Christianity was introduced around the turn of the
millennium, and the Norwegians built cathedrals and
churches, of which the ruins today can be seen in several
places. But the Norwegians were also explorers and came to
North America around the year 1,000. Thus, in the year 2000,
the 1000th anniversary of Leif the Happy's discovery of
America was celebrated.
In 1721, the Norwegian priest, Hans Egede, came to
Greenland to track down the Norwegians, but they had
disappeared. Written sources mention for the last time the
Norwegians in a story about a wedding in Hvalsey in 1408.
What has happened since then is still guessed, but much
indicates that the climate has changed and even small
temperature changes have major consequences for life in the
Arctic.
When Hans Egede did not find the Norwegians, he chose
instead to mission among the Greenlandic population, but at
the same time he set up trading stations to finance his
activities, and thus Greenland was colonized.
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