8/10/25: Boat Ride to Oqaatsut Waterfalls & US Claims on Greenland

Unfortunately, Steven wasn't thrilled getting up at what he considered an early hour for a boat trip from Ilulissat to an almost deserted island, and then hiking to a waterfall! But the views about 8 en route to the harbor at Tankeeraq were lovely. The prominent reddish building with the blue trim was the Ilulissat Art Museum, which we'd visit on our way back.

A sign outside indicated that this building was known as Agguarfik and was Ilulissat's oldest house.

It was an extremely nippy ride in the fast-moving open boat under unusually cloudy skies. I sure wish I'd had both hand and foot warmers on!

Jonas, our Danish boatman and guide, told us that the reason there were so many birds flying overhead was that they could spot humpback whales swimming just below the surface. The birds picked off the fish that the whales pushed up from lower depths. To see whales, all we had to do was follow the birds!

Jonas kindly slowed the boat's motor, so we could try to see the whales. At first, all we caught was one spouting.

The backdrop was spectacular, and we were only a few minutes away from the shore.

Success at last, even if the two whales didn't breach as we'd hoped!

I recommend clicking the pictures to enlarge them so you can get a better view. 

Just ten minutes away by boat was the 30-person community of Rodebay, where we were dropping off one passenger, Cecilia from Bologna, Italy.

Jonas told us that 170 people lived in the settlement in the 1970s, often with three generations living in one home. 

Cecilia was planning to hike 20km or 12 miles back to Ilulissat by herself, a trip Jonas estimated would take her about 8 hours. What a brave woman walking alone, as it wasn't something that I'd want to venture.

Photos en route to Oqaatsut, our destination:

Jonas joked that now we'd seen the waterfall, we could turn around and return to Ilulissat. He commented that if only he had a thousand bucks for each time a passenger had said that, he'd be rich by now. He should have been rich anyhow with the eyewatering price each of us was paying for the tour! He promised that we would hike to a much larger waterfall soon.

After Jonas dropped off two German tourists and us, he moored the boat. He told us he hadn't seen the water so flat for a long time. 

The tiny, bluish-purple flowers were edible and had a slightly lettuce-like taste. But, can you imagine how many you'd have to collect to make a salad?! The Greenlandic name for them was tikiusaq, which meant thimble.

There were a few summer homes scattered about in the community of Kangersuneq.

Jonas assured us that these crowberries would be much sweeter in two or three weeks when they ripened.

The longest hose I'd ever seen snaked from one of the homes to the bay to provide water for the summer residents! 

On the way to the falls, we passed this small lake. Because there were so many small lakes in the area, it had no name, apart from tasia, the Greenlandic word for lake!

Not far away now were the 20 m-high or 65 ft.-high falls, which were composed of partially melted water from the Greenland Ice Cap and surface water, according to Jonas. 

The gnats were almost intolerable to us, but Jonas didn't seem to mind them. Fortunately, they weren't biting ones. 

The Ice Cap was located just beyond these mountains. The waterfalls would have been much broader in the springtime, according to Jonas. 

Jonas told us that in Greenland, there is no treatment or filtration for drinking water. Water is drunk straight from the tap, even though sewage is dumped directly into the ocean!

Steven relaxing on the caribou lichen:

After a final look back at the falls and getting our breath for a few minutes, we began walking back toward the boat.

Jonas picked up a clump of very springy moss, which was sometimes several inches deep. 

Sometimes, it's used as decoration.

A dried-up pond:

Walking on the lichen felt like walking on a mini trampoline —it had so much give!

I'm all for quiet spaces, but living in such a remote spot all summer would not be my cup of tea, with no access to groceries or friends for extended periods.

The ride back to Rodebay, where we'd dropped off Cecilia earlier, was ... chilly!

As we slowly entered Rodebay's small port, Jonas mentioned the great resale market for used cars in Greenland. The sale price was the same, ten times over. He added that there is a 42% flat-rate tax in Greenland, which sounded exorbitant until we realized it covered all health care and social services. 

The price for our return boat ride and guided hike to the falls at Oqaatsut also included a set lunch at the only restaurant in Rodebay.

I was so surprised at how charming the restaurant's interior was, given the remote location. The restaurant filled up shortly after we arrived, a good indication of its popularity, and possibly because there was nothing else to choose from. Reservations were essential.

Our cold lunch comprised pickled mushrooms and salmon, smoked halibut, smoked muskox, and smoked lamb. Given that Steven is more of a fish eater than I am, he enjoyed the repast more than I did! However, it was a fun experience tasting new foods. Dare I say I liked the hot rolls and chilled butter the most!

Jonas said that locals often catch fish by drilling holes in the frozen ice.

More photos on our return to Ilulissat:

It almost felt like old home week when we spotted the Sarfaq Ittuk ferry in the Ilulissat port, as we'd traveled up the west coast of Greenland on it about ten days earlier! This was the northernmost stop for the ferry, before it turned around and headed south toward Qaqortoq in the morning.

Jonas thought that since there had been a full moon the night before, it was likely that the harbor would be iced in that night.

A shrimp boat:

The home we'd walked by that morning was also known as the Black Warehouse or Agguutit, where royal food was distributed. From the mid-1700s until 1966, on the Danish king's birthday and on Christmas, royal food was distributed among Greenlanders. The ceremony included a display of the colonial power's strength by raising the Danish flag, cannon shots, and a church service, in addition to a modest distribution of food. That included 300g of barley gruel, 15g each of sugar and coffee, and 125g of ships' biscuits. Being excluded from the royal food was considered a severe punishment and amounted to social exclusion. 

According to the building's registration, the home was built in 1741 and most likely was part of the infrastructure built in Leverbugten or Liver Bay.

Our next stop was Ilulissat's Art Museum, which we'd also spotted earlier and was located in one of the town's oldest buildings. Built in 1923, it was the home of many colony managers. The museum's art collection was based on a private collection donated to Ilulissat. It consisted predominantly of works by many so-called Greenland painters, i.e., Danish artists who contributed to a romanticized image of the country from a European perspective. However, the museum's goals were to question this approach and to present contemporary art alongside its current collection. 

We definitely didn't mind wearing sealskin slippers to help protect the museum's floors. What a shame, however, we had to return them when we were done, as they were so comfy!

The Ritual Sculpture or Pittaaqqiinnaaq (when have you seen any word with so many double letters?) was created from a sealskin, fishing line, and ravens' feathers in 2023. 

Stone Setting comprised stones, gravel, earth, and a raven's skull.

Jonaserak or Little Jonas (1859-1931), was a great hunter of modest height from the "soles of his kamiks to the topmost frizz of his white hair," who was described by the Kangersuatsiaq trading post manager as the most esteemed man in the district. He was also known for his hospitality and generosity, sharing what he had with those who were less fortunate. He also provided shelter for expedition members, such as Knud Rasmussen, when they passed through on their travels. 

A head carved in whale bone:

The museum had an extensive collection of sketchbooks, drawings, and paintings by Emmanuel Aage Petersen, a Dane who first traveled to Greenland in 1921 and later returned many times. His handwritten notes described using specific colors and working plein air, even in the winter of 1925-1926, until he had to give it up due to the low temperatures. That explained the large number of his works and sketches that didn't demand too much time outside. Notice that Petersen's paintings ignored the industrial development underway in West Greenland in those early days. 

These three paintings showed Petersen's search for light. While light in European paintings was often associated with the South, particularly Italy, Northern painters took a different approach. Because of its latitude above the Arctic Circle, early and late winters provided endless surprises that almost merged with the following sunsets.

I learned that these paintings by Petersen represented the koloni, or Danish trade station, that was controlled by representatives of the Danish kingdom. In smaller settlements, called udsted, skins and blubber were bought from local hunters and delivered to the koloni for overseas sale. It was interesting that Petersen never depicted the Danes, only their flag, even though they would have been easily recognizable by their clothing, and the koloni would have been the busiest place in the community. 

These figures were made from sperm whale teeth.

In earlier times, the museum's garden was an important source of fresh vegetables, even though it was never easy to grow them. 

These are other views of the depressing apartments I described previously - they were the new homes the Inuit were forced to relocate to from their settlements. These blocks provided no space for the Inuit to store their fishing or hunting equipment, and were a radically different approach to their former homes. 

Another shot of Zion's Church, which we'd seen on our first night in Ilulissat before taking the tour of the icebergs:

Just inland from the church was the Knud Rasmussen Museum, also called the Ilulissat Museum. As it was the childhood home of the Greenlandic/Danish explorer, a large chunk of the museum was packed with artifacts and displays relating to his life. 

Out front was a turf house, which looked similar to the one we'd toured in Aasiaat a while back. But we hadn't known then that there are six seasons in the Inuit calendar: winter, early spring, spring, summer, early fall, and fall. Depending on the location, the number of seasons differs, however. 

Until the 1950s, many people lived in peat houses during the winter and in tents the rest of the year because they were hunter-gatherers. Sea mammals, fish, birds, and bird eggs, as well as caribou and fox, guaranteed food for humans and dogs, skins for clothing, tents, and boats, fat and oil for light and heat, and bones for tools and construction. Tiny capelin was an important source of Vitamin C, and seal meat provided a power source for iron. Roots and berries filled out the diet. Food was preserved by placing it in cold food depots made from stones, by drying, and by fermenting. 

In winter, when sea ice formed, hunters traveled by dog sled to the ice edge to hunt narwhales and belugas, as that was where polar bears hunted seals. According to historical reports, sea ice was safe between December and June. Until the 1990s, it was possible to travel on sea ice between Ilulissat and Disko Island, where we'd arrived from a few days ago. Nowadays, it is only possible to travel across sea ice in smaller bays due to climate change.  The importance of winter is reflected in the fact that a person's age is counted in Greenland by the number of winters lived, not by the number of springs or summers, as in many European regions. 

During the summer, families traveled by umiaq, a transport boat used for moving from camp to camp, and by kayak, a hunting boat. I didn't realize until we toured the Rasmussen museum in Ilulissat that the umiaq was mistakenly called a woman's boat by Europeans because they observed women rowing it. In contrast, men rowed their kayaks during those travels. However, the Greenland National Museum in Nuuk had referred to the umiaq as a woman's boat, so there may be different interpretations.

Inuit tents varied in shape and were made from whale bones or driftwood, with caribou or seal skin covers. The skin's bottom edge was weighted down with stones. In some cultural periods, larger tents featured a central passageway with a fireplace and a strict social order for the inhabitants. 

A variety of dog sleds was also on display outside the museum. According to Rasmussen, smaller skins could be rolled and used as runners for sleds. 

Long dog sleds were used further north in Greenland because they guaranteed safe passage across cracks in the sea ice, with the dogs pulling in a fan formation. Even though Ilulissat is 250 miles north of the Arctic Circle, it's still only midway up Greenland's west coast. That was why their dog sleds were shorter by comparison and built to carry heavy loads in both mountainous areas and on sea ice. When there is deep snow, a lighter sled with dogs pulling in pairs to make a track is used. 

The seemingly never-ending row of apartment blocks cast a shadow over the museum.

The history of the museum: Now surrounded by modern houses and housing blocks, it overlooked the settlement like a castle at the end of the 19th century. I wonder what the home's inhabitants felt toward the people living in the surrounding hut-like structures.

Due to the lack of trees, wooden homes had to be prefabricated and imported. In 1846, two identical homes, both with the same purpose, were sent from Denmark to Greenland: one to Nuuk and one to Ilulissat. Based on a Royal resolution from 1844, they were to become the new Lutheran Catechists' seminaries. The seminary opened in Ilulissat in 1848. Though the word "seminary" sounds like a large educational center, it was only meant to host 8 students who were to be "the most honest and bright boys, preferably with mixed Danish-Greenlandic background," teaching facilities, and a priest's family. The teacher was expected to build his own house next to the seminary. 

Soon after it opened, it became evident that the seminary's concept lacked any rigorous assessment, as recruiting students proved challenging. Only three students attended in its first year, and a questionable fourth student was accepted even though "it might take time to prepare him for studies." The following year, the next student was even less suitable, as he wasn't even confirmed!

In 1846, permafrost provided a solid foundation for the building, but since the 1970s, climate change has destabilized the underlying sand. A cooling system was installed in 1978 to freeze the foundation, but it hadn't proven efficient enough. 

Outside the entrance was a bust of Jakob Severin (1691-1753), described as a Danish patron, warlord, and colonizer. In his hometown, a memorial stone marks his importance in Danish colonization: "He preserved Greenland for Denmark."

Rasmussen's exercise book from 1890:

His essay on Greenland included these quotations, which I found quite remarkable, as he was only 17 when he wrote them in 1896. "Prejudice is a burr thrown into decent people's minds; it sticks well, and only a strong pull can get it loose - and even then it usually leaves a couple of prickles... There is no country in the World, which to that degree has been mistreated by ridiculous prejudices as has Greenland; - that even though Greenland for centuries had been our Colony, and as such might claim just a little interest..."

The bust of Rasmussen was modeled on his death mask! I only remember seeing a similar bust once before. It was of a female saint, whose name I can't recall now. 

After studying in Denmark, Rasmussen returned to Greenland a decade later as a member of the Danish Literary Society. Later, as an Arctic scientist and cultural anthropologist, he hoped that his work would contribute to a growing respect for the Greenlandic way of life, allow Greenland to meet the industrialized world on its own terms, and prove that Greenlandic culture is part of the Arctic Inuit culture from Siberia to East Greenland. 

In Point Barrow, Alaska, in 1924:

Rasmussen's deep connection to Inuit culture was shaped in his early life in Ilulissat. However, the myth that Rasmussen was "half Inuit" was constantly repeated. This narrative was important for Denmark to portray him as the perfect blanddingsbarn or child of mixed race, and therefore be the intermediary to forge the bond between Greenland and Denmark. Many sources based the claim on the alleged Inuit descent of Rasmussen's grandmother, Regine Paulussen. However, she was born as the illegitimate child of the colonial manager Johanes Wilding, so the Greenlandic hunter Paulus had to step in as her formal father to cover over the misconduct of the Danish authority figure.

The myth about Rasmussen's Inuit descent, however, was repeatedly corrected when it was first raised. Jens Daugaard-Jensen, the Danish Director for Greenland, wrote in 1934 that Rasmussen was only a 16th part Inuit. While some authors argued that his features proved his Inuit descent, others saw in him the perfect mixture of Viking, Nordic, Indian, and Inuit heritage. 

Apart from the Rasmussen exhibits, the most engaging exhibit in the museum was this one entitled US & the U.S. To understand the current development regarding the U.S. claim to Greenland, it is critical to examine the timeline of interactions between the two countries, particularly the 1941 deal. I hope that you find this chronology as interesting as I do.

1864: The Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company, now known as PennSalt, signed an agreement with the Danish government to obtain cryolite from Ivittuut, the world's largest naturally occurring cryolite reserve.

1941: Henrik Kauffmann, the Danish ambassador to the USA, signed an agreement with the US administration. On April 9th, one year earlier, Denmark had capitulated within six hours of the German invasion. Kauffmann, fearing he would be ordered to return to Denmark, declared he couldn't follow orders from the occupying Danish government and presented himself as the only representative of Free Denmark. The US then recognized him as Denmark's official representative. 

His actions led to his being charged with high treason and to Denmark stripping him of his rank. Even so, he signed on his own initiative, allegedly in the name of the Danish king, the "Agreement relating to the Defense of Greenland," which is still the legal basis for the American presence in Greenland and grants them access to establish military bases there. Article X of the agreement gives the US the right to veto all future changes to the treaty.

1942: The cryolite mine in Invittuut was protected by up to 600 American soldiers from the nearby American base Bluie West Two. A book written about the cryolite industry reported that the mine reached its peak of production in 1942, when 86,000 tons were shipped to the US and Canada for aluminium production, crucial for the production of war planes. Before the mine closed in 1985, shipments spiked to 110,000 tons. 

1944: After the end of the war, 15 known American military bases in Greenland were abandoned, with all their materiel in place, and never cleaned up.

1951: On April 27, Denmark and the US entered into a Defense Agreement for Greenland as a continuation of Kauffmann's agreement. Article V gave the US the right to "free access to and movement between the defense areas anywhere in Greenland, including the territorial waters, on land, at sea, and in the air" ... "without compensation to the Government of the Kingdom of Denmark."

1965: During the Cold War, the US stockpiled nuclear weapons in Greenland, while Denmark officially followed its 1957 nuclear-free zone policy. 

1968: A US B-52 plane carrying four thermonuclear bombs crashed near the American Thule Air Force Base, on Greenland's northwest coast. It resulted in widespread radioactive contamination of the area. 

2023: The base, a strategically important United States military installation, was renamed Pituffik Space Base to "pay homage to its ties to the Greenlandic people and culture." Ironically, the name Pituffik, which translates to "the place the dogs are tied," doesn't exactly pay homage to Greenlandic culture, since dogs had to be tied during Danish colonization!

2025: January: President Trump, in his inauguration speech, declares, "The United States will once again consider itself a growing nation, one that ... expands our territory, ... and carries our flag into new and beautiful horizons."

2025: February: At a US Congress hearing titled Nuuk and Cranny: Looking at the Arctic and Greenland's Geostrategic Importance to US Interests, Senator Ted Cruz, the Chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, said, "Acquiring Greenland would have enormous economic benefits for the United States. The island's natural resources like rare earth elements would strengthen American supply chain and industries. The island's strategic location in the Arctic would provide huge advantages in monitoring growing Russian and Chinese bellicosity in the region."

2025: March: The US Vice President JD Vance, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, and Republican Senator Mike Lee from Utah visited Pitiffuk Space Base for 3 hours and 15 minutes. The White House initially characterized the visit as a trip by the Second Lady to Nuuk and Sisimiut to learn more about Greenlandic culture. However, the arrival of two Hercules military planes, accompanied by security teams and four bulletproof cars, failed to create the usual impression of a tourist visit and was met with protests. 

The Future: Who knows what's to come?

Next post: Returning to Nuuk, Greenland's capital.

Posted on November 11th, 2025, a day known as Remembrance Day in Canada and Veterans' Day in the US, when veterans are honored for serving their country in times of war and peace. I'm proud to say my father, Barry MacDonald, served in Canada's Air Force, my mother, Ellie Carter, served in Britain's Women's Auxiliary Air Force, and Steven's father, Howard Berger, served in the US Army during World War 2. To all who help defend their homeland, my sincere thanks for your sacrifice.