Uusarqak Qujaukitsoq (Older spelling: Ûssarĸak Kʼujaukitsoĸ; ; 10 February 1948 – 2 August 2018) was a

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

ic politician for

Siumut Siumut (SIU, ; ; ) is a political party in Greenland in the social democratic tradition. Since the establishment of home rule in 1979, it has been the dominant party in Greenland. Siumut is led by Erik Jensen, who beat the then-incumbent Prime ...

party. Uusarqak Qujaukitsoq was the son of Kʼujaukitsoĸ Kʼujaukitsoĸ and his wife Eĸilana. His grandfather was Inukitsupaluk Kʼujaukitsoĸ (1890-1967), who participated in expeditions by

Robert Edwin Peary Robert Edwin Peary Sr. (; May 6, 1856 – February 20, 1920) was an American explorer and officer in the United States Navy who made several expeditions to the Arctic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was long credited as being ...

Knud Rasmussen Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen (; 7 June 1879 – 21 December 1933) was a Greenlandic-Danish polar explorer and anthropologist. He has been called the "father of Eskimology" (now often known as Inuit Studies or Greenlandic and Arctic Studies) ...

and

Lauge Koch Lauge Koch (5 July 1892 – 5 June 1964) was a Danish geologist and Arctic explorer. Biography Lauge Koch was born in 1892 to Karl and Elisabeth Koch. His development as a scientist was greatly influenced by his father's second cousin Johan Peter ...

and was the son of K'ujaukitsoĸ and his wife Aimainalik. On 15 February 1970, he married the economist Inger Kristiansen and the couple had one son Vittus Qujaukitsoq, who had been Greenland Minister of Finance (2013–2014) and of Business, Labor, Trade and Foreign Affairs (2014–2017). Uusarqak Qujaukitsoq went to school in

Qaanaaq Qaanaaq (), formerly known as New Thule, is the main town in the northern part of the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. The town has a population of 646 as of 2020. The population was forcibly relocated from its former, traditiona ...

and was trained as a salesman in

Aasiaat Aasiaat (), also known as Egedesminde, is a town in the Qeqertalik municipality in western Greenland, located on its namesake island in the heart of Aasiaat Archipelago at the southern end of Disko Bay. With a population of 2,980 as of 2021, it ...

in 1964. In 1966 he left Greenland to visit the commercial school in

Ikast Ikast is a Danish town in Central Denmark Region (''Region Midtjylland''). It is the seat of Ikast-Brande Municipality since 2007. It was the seat of the former Ikast Municipality. Geography The town is situated in the middle of Jutland. The ...

, Denmark. After a year he returned to Aasiaat, then to Qaanaaq, where he finally worked as a warehouse manager. He witnessed the crash of a B-52 near Thule Air Base in 1968 at a close range, which became his life-defining political issue along with the 1953 American expulsion from his birthplace for the construction of

Thule Air Base Pituffik Space Base ( ; ; ), formerly Thule Air Base (), is a United States Space Force base located on the northwest coast of Greenland in the Kingdom of Denmark under a defense agreement between Denmark and the United States. 150 United Stat ...

. In 1971 he was first elected to the council of the community

, where he sat for many years, partly as vice mayor. From 1984 to 1995 he sat in

Inatsisartut The Inatsisartut (, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Greenland in English, is the unicameral parliament (legislative branch) of Greenland, an autonomous territoryMultiple sources: * * * in the Danish Realm. Established in 1979, the parli ...

. Uusarqak Qujaukitsoq was the chairman of the interest group "Hingitaq 53 for the rights of

Inughuit The Inughuit (singular: Inughuaq), Inuhuit, or Smith Sound Inuit, historically called Arctic Highlanders or Polar Eskimos, are an ethnic subgroup of the Greenlandic Inuit. They are the northernmost group of Inuit and the northernmost people in No ...

", expelled in 1953. He filmed the 2003 film ''Aulahuliat'', which reproduces images of the dispute between Inughuit and Americans and was shown in 2012 in Berlin at the premiere of the film festival Greenland Eyes. For his decades of service, he received the

Nersornaat Greenland Medal for Meritorious Service (; ), is awarded by the Greenland Home Rule government. It is the highest award based in Greenland. The medal was instituted on 1 May 1989 in connection with the ten-year anniversary of the Greenlandic home ...

in silver on 9 August 2016.Se billeder: Nersornaat i sølv til Uusarqak Qujaukitsoq

References

1948 births 2018 deaths 20th-century Danish politicians 20th-century Greenlandic politicians 20th-century indigenous leaders of the Americas 20th-century Inuit people Members of the Inatsisartut Danish human rights activists Danish documentary film directors Inughuit people Inuit politicians Recipients of Nersornaat Siumut politicians {{Indigenous-activist-stub