The travels of Pooq, a Greenlander

Three hundred years ago, two young Inuit from Greenland took a trip to far-off Copenhagen.

Greenlanders had travelled to Europe before, but never voluntarily. Previous travellers had been kidnapped and usually died in Europe as a result of diseases to which they were unaccustomed at home.

This trip was different. The two young men, Pooq and Qiperoq, had volunteered to travel to Europe.

In 1724, Hans Egede was struggling. The mission he had established three years earlier on an island near present-day Nuuk was not thriving. It was a combined trading and mission venture called the Bergen Greenland Company, and its purpose was to bring Christianity to the Inuit of Greenland.

So Egede seized upon the idea of sending at least one young Inuk to Denmark to arouse interest in the work of the company. But he was determined that this experiment — for that is what it was — must be different. The person chosen must be a volunteer.

The Greenland Procession of 1724 was a parade of watercraft through the canals of Copenhagen, and included Pooq and Qiperoq in their kayaks. (Image courtesy of the Royal Danish Library)

The missionary convinced a young Greenlander named Pooq, aged about 24, to be that volunteer. Pooq agreed, on the condition that he would be brought back to Greenland the following year.

From the time Pooq volunteered until the ship sailed for Europe later in the year, Hans Egede and his assistant, Albert Top, held classes for Pooq, along with three other Inuit boys, teaching them the alphabet, elementary Danish and spelling, as well as the elements of Christianity.

Egede was never particularly good at Kalaallisut — the Greenlandic language — but somehow he managed to provide Pooq with a basic education in what he thought the man should know in Denmark.

Hans Egede’s work was held back by the lack of books printed in Greenlandic. He not only had to learn the language himself, but also to produce handwritten reading materials for his congregation.

The manuscripts he prepared in Kalaallisut were copied, eventually by the Greenlanders themselves, and circulated within the colony.

Amazingly, one of them, a small catechism, a reading book really, prepared for Pooq himself, has survived. Egede prepared it so that Pooq would not forget what he had learned, while he was away on his travels. It gave a brief account of the Christian faith, then laid out the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, and a collection of other prayers.

When Pooq left for Denmark, though, he was not the only Greenlander on the ship.

Another man in his 30s named Qiperoq had volunteered to accompany him. They travelled with a popular Danish trader who was also the colony’s bookkeeper, Hartvig Jentoft, whom they knew and trusted.

Pooq and Qiperoq arrived in Bergen, Norway, in early September and continued on to Copenhagen to be presented to the king. (Denmark and Norway were united as one country at the time).

The two Inuit were presented to the court at Frederiksberg Castle on Oct. 11, the birthday of King Frederick IV. Other exhibitions followed, in which the two demonstrated their skill in the use of the kayak, including turning the vessel over and righting it on the other side, the famous “Eskimo roll.”

They shot ducks with their bird darts, and were often seen in their native fur clothing.

On Nov. 9, an event occurred which has become known as the Greenland Pageant.

Finn Gad, a historian of Greenland, has called it the first colonial exhibition in history. It has been described as a procession or a regatta. It consisted of a number of barges, and the Inuit in their kayaks, making their way through the canals in central Copenhagen.

The event was sponsored by the Bergen Greenlandic Company to raise money and awareness for the Greenland colony and its commercial ventures there.

The first barge was manned by sailors, the second carried a brass band, the third carried the admiral of the Danish fleet, and a fourth had a string orchestra and a singer.

Pooq and Qiperoq in their kayaks were next, and were — not surprisingly — the stars of the show. From their kayaks they shot ducks, which had been released for the occasion.

Six more barges followed, showing off the products of Greenland — polar bear skins, fox skins, whale bones, and a large picture depicting a whaling expedition. The event drew 75,000 spectators.

The Royal Danish Library in Copenhagen has an amazing woodcut, called The Greenlandic Procession Held in Copenhagen the Ninth of November 1724 in the Afternoon from 2 to 7 o’clock.

Only 25 centimetres across, and almost square, it depicts the entire parade.

Pooq and Qiperoq are shown in their kayaks in hunting scenes. Pooq is holding a duck by the neck, Qiperoq holds a bird dart, ready to throw it. The Danish-Norwegian flag is prominently displayed.

The following year, Pooq returned home to Greenland. Tragically, he returned alone, for his companion Qiperoq had died of smallpox in Bergen on Feb. 11, 1725, while preparing to return.

In the next instalment, I will tell about Pooq’s homecoming, and its aftermath.

Taissumani is an occasional column that recalls events of historical interest. Kenn Harper is a historian and writer who lived in the Arctic for more than 50 years. He is the author of “Minik: The New York Eskimo” and “Thou Shalt Do No Murder,” among other books. Feedback? Send your comments and questions to kennharper@hotmail.com.