Ûssarĸak K'ujaukitsoĸ (; 10 February 1948 – 2 August 2018) was a

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

ic politician for

Siumut Siumut (, ) 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 Ministe ...

party. Ûssarĸak K'ujaukitsoĸ was the son of K'ujaukitsoĸ K'ujaukitsoĸ and his wife Eĸilana. His grandfather was Inukitsupaluk K'ujaukitsoĸ (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 is best known for, in Apri ...

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 Studie ...

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 P ...

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 Vittus Qujaukitsoq (born October 5, 1971 in Qaanaaq, Greenland, Kingdom of Denmark) is a Greenlandic politician. Qujaukitsoq was appointed as Minister of Finance and Interior of Aleqa Hammond cabinet from May 2013 to November 2014. After Novembe ...

, who had been Greenland Minister of Finance (2013–2014) and of Business, Labor, Trade and Foreign Affairs (2014–2017). Ûssarĸak K'ujaukitsoĸ went to school in

Qaanaaq Qaanaaq (), formerly known as Thule or New Thule, is the main town in the northern part of the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. It is one of the northernmost towns in the world. The inhabitants of Qaanaaq speak the local Inukt ...

and was trained as a salesman in

Aasiaat Aasiaat () or Ausiait, formerly Egedesminde, is a town in the Qeqertalik municipality in western Greenland, located in the heart of Aasiaat Archipelago at the southern end of Disko Bay. With a population of 3,069 as of 2020, it is Greenland's fo ...

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

Ikast Ikast is a Danish town in the Mid Jutland 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 town ...

, 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 Thule Air Base (pronounced or , kl, Qaanaaq Mitarfik, da, Thule Lufthavn), or Thule Air Base/Pituffik Airport , is the United States Space Force's northernmost base, and the northernmost installation of the U.S. Armed Forces, located north ...

. 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 ( kl, Inatsisartut; '' da, Landstinget, lit=''the land's- thing'' of Greenland''), also known as the Parliament of Greenland in English, is the unicameral parliament (legislative branch) of Greenland, an autonomous territory* ...

. Ûssarĸak K'ujaukitsoĸ was the chairman of the interest group "Hingitaq 53 for the rights of

Inughuit The Inughuit (also spelled Inuhuit), or the Smith Sound Inuit, historically Arctic Highlanders, are Greenlandic Inuit. Formerly known as "Polar Eskimos", they are the northernmost group of Inuit and the northernmost people in North America, livin ...

", 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 ( kl, Nersornaat, lit=Deserved; da, Grønlands Hjemmestyres Fortjenstmedalje), is awarded by the Greenland Home Rule government. It is the highest award based in Greenland. The medal was instituted on 1 May ...

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

References

1948 births 2018 deaths Members of the Parliament of Greenland Human rights activists Danish documentary film directors 20th-century politicians Greenlandic Inuit people Inuit politicians Recipients of Nersornaat Siumut politicians {{ethno-activist-stub