02-03 Qaqortoq

It was a cruise ship visit to southern Greenland in 2009. With Inuit speaking English and two other languages. Inuit working in retail. Inuit married to Danes. Innuit growing vegetables. Innuit enjoying a new fish source-mackerel. It was one surprise after another. Quirky.
Such a pretty little community of about 3000, but a little overwhelmed when a cruise ship unloads 2000 passengers. But there were plenty of English-speaking locals selling Inuit art items, and other special merchandise.
The first thing I noticed looking at the menu of a local restaurant was “sweet and sour musk ox”. And boasting about serving nothing but Greenland vegetables. And Greenland strawberries. That was a surprise.
Even in 2009, the talk was all about the implications of a warming climate on Greenland. The big deal was the presence of mackerel showing up in their waters. And within a few years of our visit, mackerel exports were 25% of the island’s exports. Greenland is an example of a global climate change winner.
But what was even more surprising was how one thing impacts another when studying climate change. More mackerel in Greenland waters also means Bluefin tuna following the mackerel. Yummy. But what about mackerel feeding on the eggs of local fish like cod and halibut. Or eating the local shrimp. Nothing is simple.
And even back in 2009 the sheep and vegetable farmers were planning to introduce a wider range of vegetables because of the hotter and longer summers. This kind of change will be of benefit to all the nations of the north. Like Canada, Russia, Alaska and the Nordic nations. There is also something about the northern soil that makes Greenland potatoes prized by chefs.
The story we enjoyed from our guide was that Greenland was discovered by the Viking explorer, Eric the Red in the year 1000. He wanted to attract people from Iceland to move to Greenland, so he wanted to give the island an attractive name. So that is why he called it Greenland. Anyway, lots of green grass, shrubs and dwarf trees in the south.
I developed a friendship with a restaurant owner who had married a local Inuit. His little daughter had the black hair and eyes of her mother, and the Danish features of her father. A little beauty trying out English words with me.
I asked about polar bears coming into town. And he assured me that this was not a problem. “The locals have shot and eaten them all.”