..this is a field weblog (or "picture diary") documenting everyday life of an anthropology PhD student currently doing field work in Sermiligaaq, East Greenland (July 2006 - July 2007). This current address covers December 2006 until early April 2007. Stories see below.
From April 2007 on please see http://cecilgreenland2.twoday.net


Me and Mikkel, April 07, Sermiligaaq

Another birthday invitation but this time at my host families house, so I am also a little bit host :-). It was Mikkel's, Nora and Joel's oldest sun's, 7th birthday some days ago. The big celebration followed some days later.
Preparations for the invitation start the evening before. Loads of food are removed from the freezer. Especially Greenlandic country food will be appreciated by the guest, as Nora tells me. Nora and Joel don't have that much country food available at the moment (since Joel is not a professional hunter), but Nora prepares lots of norniaqa , approx. 20 birds (cooked in hot water as most fish and meat), walross meat from last year and salmons which I actually joined fishing last summer :-). Nora is further preparing lots of other kinds of food from the supermarket (pork, sausages, vegetable packages from the freezer, potatoes - which as all other fresh vegetables or fruit are not available at the store in Sermiligaaq at this season, but Nora and me bought some in Tasiilaq). Also we have been baking cakes and cookies. My German cakes are highly appreciated. As usual the visitors start to arrive at around noon. Everybody brings a present, eats, takes a cup of tea or coffee, some cake. After a while spent with chatting and exchange of news, the guests leave and the space is filled by new people coming in. The last visitor leaves in the early evening. One topic of conversation this afternoon: during the celebration the first tourists of the year are arriving. From the window we observe two dog sleds arriving with four foreigners. ...The Sermiligaaq people are joking (of course!!) that I should search them to keep company with the foreign men.


Great fun, like always :-).
From left to right: Kathrine, the mother of my host Nora, the baby Ejvind, Ulla, Nora, Kista, Nina (the two latter also friends of mine)














The three girls Elisa, Ebba and Ungunia
The main dishes are taken while sitting on the floor as happens during meals in many East Greenlandic households. We are sitting on top of an old cardboard, thrown away afterwards, that protects the carpet. Everybody helps him or herself and takes as much as she wants.

Left: The old church (now hosting the Ammassalik museum) in front of an iceberg that has been stuck in the fjord ice for a while. Right: Impressive sky during a small storm

Noras relatives are celebrating the baptism of the baby Pele. Many Greenlanders are wearing their traditional costumes, some nice Western style of clothes. After church, in the afternoon, relatives and friends meet for the main celebration at a public assembly place. Lots of food is served, which for example includes country food specialities usually not available in this season (from the freezer). Many people show up, most of them stay for eating and a cup of coffee and leave after a little while. Everyone brings a present for the baptised child. This procedure is similar for all sorts of celebrations, kaffemiks, and the like. As a West Greenlander once told me, a common fault by Danes or foreigners who are invited to a kaffemik is to stay for several hours, which they are actually not meant to since the space is needed for the new people coming in...


In the middle you see the mother of the baby Pele, Annitsie. On Annitsies right side the grandmother carrying the baby. Annitsies parents are divorced, her mother lives in Denmark with her second husband, a Dane, and her other children and grandchildren (who don't speak Greenlandic anymore, as she replied to my curious question). She is visiting home for a few weeks. On the left side of the picture you see the grandfather.




And here Nora and the children, who came from Sermiligaaq to attend the baptism and to catch up with Noras relatives. Joel and the oldest daughter had to stay back in Sermiligaaq. A reason why four of Noras five children are able to take the expensive helictoper trip to Tasiilaq (initially Nora planned only for two) is that Ulla (girl on the right) had a checkup examination at the Tasiilaq hospital. Like all Greenlander from the villages, who need to visit the hospital in town, she got a free helicopter flight ticket, as well as Nora and the baby Ejvind. Therefore they all stay a couple of days longer in town, in total 11 days. We will all fly back to Sermiligaaq tomorrow (or maybe the day after tomorrow, the weather does not look to nice at the moment.. :( )

Anni and me working on the documentary

The Sermiligaaq Hunters and Fishers Association is holding a meeting. Among other things new representatives are getting elected.

The picture is taken during a small storm (piteraq). The strong piteraqs that you can experience in Tasiilaq, fortunately, don't reach Sermiligaaq.

Me and Anni are staying at the small barack place, the small hut I had already been staying at for a bit last summer. This time we get more visitors :-)


Basiba and family (left to right: Nina, Charlotta, Anni, Elina, Viggo, Basiba, Otavia)


Left: kids accompanying me and Anni; right: Nora and family

Though the boats are stuck in the fjord ice they are still regularly cleaned by the owners, i.e. snow and ice removed. On the right side of the picture you see the dog sled tracks on the ice every day used by the hunters to leave the village with their dog sleds.

Most seal skins in Sermiligaaq are sold to the service house, KNI, where they get cleaned and refrigerated (by Odina, the woman in charge :-)). As a next step they will be brought to Tasiilaq; the ones with better quality will be bought by Great Greenland in Qaqortoq, South Greenland. The picture shows seal skins hang up to dry before folded and put into the refrigerator.


Ungunia

During winter and summer football is a very popular spare time activity in Sermiligaaq. Apart from the young football players women and the older ones are having fun watching and chatting. The children enjoy playing pool and table tennis at the Katersutarfik (versamlingshuset (dan.); blue house on the right).

... and Anni is busy filming.

Elections for the village council: five members of the village got elected. They will be in charge for the next year.

Holger, me and Anni.
Ski touring (cross country in the mountains) near Polhelms Fjeld. Terrific views and great snow. Anni and Sebastian are here from Germany; they are taking some holidays at the moment. But soon Anni will join me in Sermiligaaq to continue work for our documentary film.

There is martial arts in Greenland! Karate and taikwando are the two possibilities available (no Kung Fu :-)) - on the west coast only.


Walking around town I passed along a "dyreinternat", an animal pension by the organisation Dyrene Venner (animal friends).
The aim of that organisation is to foster knowledge about how to keep a pet, as you can read on their webpage.
The first pets in Greenland have just been introduced in the 1960s, and nowadays you see e.g. different kinds of European kinds of dogs in the streets in Nuuk (taken for a walk by their owners). These imported dogs are however only allowed south of the Arctic circle; the areas north of the Arctic circle are restricted to the Greenlandic dog, used for dog sledding (and not kept as pet). In order not to intermingle/change the race of the Greenlandic dog, all other dog species are prohibited in Northern Greenland. This includes the Ammassalik region just a little south of the Arctic circle (thus being an exemption to the rule) with a great - though decreasing - number of Greenlandic dogs.


Sled dogs from Sermiligaaq

My flight to Tasiilaq was cancelled, bad weather on the east coast. I will to stay four more days in Nuuk...

This is the main university building (very nice atmosphere), which was built in 1738. It used to be the former Moravian mission station. Ilisimatusarfik has four departments: dept. for administration, dept. for social and cultural history, dept. for language, literature and media, and dept. for theology. There is an overall number of around 150 students. However, soon the university will move to a brand new building a little out of the city near to airport (which is just being built).
You hear some rumours about ghosts living in this building (as e.g. also in the hospital), ...which does not surprise when looking at the history of the building and its location right next to the old cemetary.

Friday evening, the big event, two very popular Greenlandic bands are playing. One of them Mariina comes from Qasigiannguit, my 'guide' Steen's home town (who therefore knows maybe half of the audience). She has not played in concert for a while and the crowd is very excited to hear her. I am enjoying very much, haven't been to a concert for a while...

Febr. 15th, Greenland's cultural centre katuaq's 10th anniversary. The modern building in the middle of town, whose impressive architecture catches one''s eyes (the from of the building resembles the Northern lights), is the centre of attention. Speeches by politicians, special events for invited guests, choir, concerts, free food, lots of things that attract a great number of Greenlanders. Among other things we get to observe an ...

"East Greenlandic drum dance performance"


The audience is especially impressed by the small girl's dancing and singing skills. As the woman next to me is saying, children nowadays don't usually know drum dancing anylonger (at least on the west coast). Greenlandic drum dance performaners often come from the East coast, where - according to the public view - life is still much more "traditional". One observes quite some prejudices among West Greenlanders towards East Greenland with the centre of attention towards problems such as unemployment, alcoholism, etc... And also the tunumiit dialect is perceived as a little funny, one reason why - apart from the differences to the West Greenlandic dialect - I am a bit shy to speak tunumiisut here. However, much more people speak English here than on the East coast.

I am staying a week in Nuuk, the capital and biggest city in Greenland (ca. 15 000 inhabitants).


The airplane is approaching "Nuuk city" (as one Greenlander at the heliport in Tasiilaq half-jokingly called it)




The towncaspe is shaped by a great number of appartment blocks, some of which were built in the 1960ies and distinctively make you recall concentration and resettlement politics. Furthermore there are several former colonial buildings.

Spiderman outfits are pretty popular in East Greenland these days. They have been ordered via catalogue from Denmark. Since most people here are customer at the same few companies, many children (and also adults) wear very similar - sometimes the same - outfits. The reason for buying most clothes via catalogue are the much lower prices compared to the local shops.


Ulla (girl in the middle) and her friends; in the background the one and only snow scooter in Sermiligaaq. The vehicle is owned by the community and is used in winter to empty the toilets (there are no water toilets; toilet buckets are emptied three times a week), to pick up garbage and to transport various other goods.


Luggage is being brought to the helicopter landing place...

After a stormy and pretty warm weather period had removed the fjord ice cover (dog sleds were already in use, at the moment this is not possible), the ice is now slowly coming back.


Sunset, early afternoon

Fetching water, one of the daily activities in Sermiligaaq. Before the water reservoir was built in the mid nineties the people in Sermiligaaq were fetching drinking water from a natural spring, a nearby lake, and in the winter time sometimes through melting ice. Besides the sullivi, the service house, and the school bulding, none of the houses here has running water.
Today Nora is using her washing machine (the same design as in other European countries) at home, which means that a lot of water is needed. I am helping the girls Ulla and Ebba to carry the 20 liter water canisters. Sometimes, if Nora does not want to carry all the water, and if there is enough money available, she is also using the public washing machines at the sullivi.

Too much ice to use the boats at the moment.


In Sermiligaaq there are five of the big cabin boats (portoleera).

Basiba is making a new traditional costume for 14 years old Thomasine.




On the left in front of the mattress you see the rolled up seal skin Basiba has coloured (black) a few days ago and which she is now using for the applications on the trousers.

To go shopping is an important activity in Sermiligaaq, prices, assortement of goods and offers serve as popular topic of conversation. Most people visit the shop - at least - once a day.


The new small tank station, which was built in 2005, is located directly next to the boat landing stage. It is frequented mainly by men, who purchase fuel for the boats and petroleum for the petroleum ovens that are used to heat the houses. Joel is the person in charge.

Lunch today consists out of dried fish and frozen seal meat

Qaqartivakajik (Sømandsfjeldet), on the left Kenneth


Dorthea and me




Dorthea's sister Maren - she let me use her ice hole for while :-)


We are catching plenty of codfish (mamarpaleraa - this will taste good:-))

Going back to Tasiilaq for a bit. Great weather, very cold (around -15°C) and clear. Super views.


Helicopter landing place in Sermiligaaq

People in Sermiligaq had been telling me about the fun of milaartuut, dressing up on Kunngitpingasit (Three Kings Day), for some months already. Then, finally, I get to join. What fun. During the day children dress up and walk from house to house. The Sermiligaaq people get to guess who is knocking at their door. The children get presents. These can be about everything, ranching from a bag of candy, to kitchen equipment like a cooking pan, radio, clothes, etc. Big exchange of portable utensils, I would say.



Then, in the evenings, the adults join in. Everybody goes to the Kattersutarfik. The main attention is put on the milaartut, the disguised. These look quite grotesque. Lots of joking, dancing, games,....laughing! Amongst other things there is a competition to choose the best milaartut.









The Dutch anthropologist Cunera Buijs describes this tradition as follows: "On Twelfth Night (Three Kings) on 6 January, disguised 'mummer' figures show themselves in the streets, while some of them even sit in the Church during the service. In West Greenland, during the daytime the 'mummers' are usually children and young girls, while in the evening they are young, unmarried men. In East Greenland however, it is only the men who dress up, at any rate according to a report dating from 1968. They are dressed in a grotesque way, wearing cardboard masks, while their faces and hands are blackened with soot. Men wear women's clothes, and stuffed-out garments suggest an advanced stage of pregnancy. At the same time they often wear a penis made of paper, rolled up. Their clothing also shows other unusual features, such as a rubber boot on the left foot and a seal-skin boot on the right. The mummers threaten people, but do not actually hit them, and they are silent in case they are recognised by their voices. They try to blacken the bystanders with soot, and to make them laugh. In the houses they are given small presents. If a mummer is recognised, he is out of the game. The mummers represent the Three Kings, but they all wear the same kind of costume. As a rule there are only two of them, and they claim that one of the Three Kings got lost in the dark. According to the Greenlanders themselves, Kongepingasiit (mitaartut) was not celebrated in former times, but another old Greenland festival, called uaajeertut, had a number of similar features, for example the dressing-up in disguise, the use of soot, the pulling of faces, making bystanders laugh, and transvestite elements. " (2004, http://www.rmv.nl/publicaties/2groenland/e/tekst/dressing_up.html)

In Sermiligaaq the children dress up during the day, but - in contrast to what Cunera Buijs mentions - men as well as women in the evening. And also these are not only the young, unmarried people. However, many other points Cunera Buijs mentions relate to my experience, such as concerning the outfit (rubber boots, right one worn on left foot, penis made out of card board), the rule of milaartut being silent, two milaartut walking together, as well as the gender aspects. Masks are not common any longer, though the faces, distorted with adhesive tape, look very similar to the East Greenlandic masks (kiappa).

Since mid December there hasn’t been a helicopter flight between Sermiligaaq and Tasiilaq. Reason: bad weather. This does not mean that there haven’t been days with really nice weather. But these somehow happen to take place on weekends or days without projected flight.
Last year Air Greenland started to provide the helicopter transfer in East Greenland, thereby replacing Air Alpha that had been operating throughout the previous years. Out of several reasons, though, helicopters by Air Greenland fly less frequently and require better weather conditions. This winter it happens more often that Sermiligaaq is cut off for a few weeks, as the case during the last weeks.
But a few days ago there was a flight again. It was filled by students, who had to go back to Tasiilaq to attend boarding school. People in Sermiligaq were quite happy for the helicopter to arrive, they had been waiting for the mail and some other goods (as e.g. mobile phone cards..)


Half of the village is watching the helicopter landing either to say good buy to a family member or just to watch (such as me). Only one old man is arriving that day. He is returning from the hospital in Tasiilaq.


Charlotta has to say good buy to her 14 years old daughter Thomasine who attends boarding school in Tasiilaq (collegia).

This morning, knock on the door, a young guy is delivering a seal. Small Ejvind and Mikkeli are curious. The seal comes from Joel's sisters husband Peter, a hunter who is using Joel's boat at the moment. Therefore we are getting quite a lot of seal meat these days. Mammaraa. Joel is Noras husband, the family I am staying with .

Basiba and me trying to be singers, great fun! The first picture shows Basiba pretending to play the guitar with a cardboard. Also Pavia tried this pretty pair of glasses.

New Years Eve. The first small firework could be seen at 8 PM already, midnight in Denmark (and Germany). The actual firework, however, as in most places of the world, was at 24:00. I was quite surprised by the amount of firework, considering that we are in a remote East Greenlandic village. At around 1 o’clock everybody went to the Kattersutarfik to dance, Greenlandic dances such as swing and disco dance. They even have a German song playing every time I go, a quite horrible techno variant though, which I haven’t heard in Germany before. The text is in Bavarian dialect, my home county. It is such a silly song that I can’t help to laugh every time I hear it. (Unfortunately it is a bit difficult to translate the reasons for my laughing to my Greenlandic friends.) The Sermiligameeq do enjoy the song though, as they do with most danceable music. I also really love dancing, but compared to the Greenlanders I feel quite stiff. On New Years Eve there were also quite a lot of drunk people (aligortoq), though fortunately in Sermiligaaq alcohol is much less consumed than e.g. in Tasiilaq.





The children Ephraim and Ebba looking out for firecrackers

…this is not something only done in summer as I know it from countries such as Germany. Here the washing will be hang up outside at every time of the year, the only precondition is that there is no precipitation (rain, snow). However, with the weather being quite unpredictable it is nothing unusual to find the clothes covered with snow or frozen to the clothesline.


It can become quite cold to put up the washing, sometimes best to put on gloves...


It had been raining for a few days, with temperatures around 1 or 2 degrees above 0 C. Nobody likes this warm weather, in the houses it is getting too hot, the snow is wet and not good to walk on. Fortunately the warm weather only lasted for a few days, now we are back at below zero.