Uusarqak Qujaukitsoq Explained

Honorific Suffix:MMS
Uusarqak Qujaukitsoq
Office:Member of Inatsisartut
Term Start:1984
Term End:1995
Citizenship:Kingdom of Denmark
Nationality:Greenlandic
Birth Date:10 February 1948
Birth Place:North Greenland
Death Place:Greenland, Kingdom of Denmark
Spouse:Inger Kristiansen (m.1970–2018, his death)
Children:Vittus Qujaukitsoq

Uusarqak Qujaukitsoq (Older spelling: Ûssarĸak Kʼujaukitsoĸ; in Kalaallisut; Greenlandic pronounced as /uːsɑqːak qujaːkitsːɔq/; 10 February 1948 – 2 August 2018) was a Greenlandic politician for Siumut party.[1] [2]

Uusarqak Qujaukitsoq was the son of Kʼujaukitsoĸ Kʼujaukitsoĸ and his wife Eĸilana. His grandfather was Inukitsupaluk Kʼujaukitsoĸ (1890-1967),[3] who participated in expeditions by Robert Edwin Peary, Knud Rasmussen and Lauge Koch[4] and was the son of K'ujaukitsoĸ and his wife Aimainalik.[5] 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 and was trained as a salesman in Aasiaat in 1964. In 1966 he left Greenland to visit the commercial school in Ikast, 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. In 1971 he was first elected to the council of the community Qaanaaq, where he sat for many years, partly as vice mayor. From 1984 to 1995 he sat in Inatsisartut.[6]

Uusarqak Qujaukitsoq was the chairman of the interest group "Hingitaq 53 for the rights of Inughuit", 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.[7] For his decades of service, he received the Nersornaat in silver on 9 August 2016.[8]

Notes and References

  1. https://knr.gl/da/nyheder/uusaqqak-qujaukitsoq-er-d%C3%B8d Uusaqqak Qujaukitsoq er død
  2. Book: Lodberg, Torben. 1988 . Grønlands Grønne Bog 1988. Copenhaguen . Grønlands hjemmestyres informationskontor . 72 . 87-982902-9-0 .
  3. http://ammsa.com/publications/windspeaker/nasivvik-rescuing-inuit-names-phonetic-butchery NASIVVIK: Rescuing Inuit names from phonetic butchery
  4. http://transpolair.free.fr/sciences/cea/leve_carte.htm Le professeur Jean Malaurie Mission de recherche géomorphologique dans le nord-ouest du Groenland
  5. https://books.google.com/books?id=NjgysV2UGygC&dq=k%27ujaukitsok&pg=PA263 Traditional Inuit Songs from the Thule Area, Band 1
  6. https://inatsisartut.gl/organisation/sammensaetning-af-inatsisartut/ Members of Parliament
  7. http://tibauna.de/film/ein-festival-jagt-das-nachste-gronland-filmfestival-greenland-eyes-in-berlin/ „GREENLAND EYES“: GRÖNLAND-FILMFESTIVAL IN BERLIN
  8. http://sermitsiaq.ag/kl/node/189487 Se billeder: Nersornaat i sølv til Uusarqak Qujaukitsoq