Greenland - Northwest & Thule Attractions
In 1910 Knud Rasmussen and Peter Freuchen founded a trading post in northwest Greenland and named it after the legendary island of Thule, which is said to have existed north of the British Isles. The U.S. air base of Dundas, which was set up on the site of the old trading post during the Second World War, has since been extended. The village of Thule (Greenlandic Qaanaaq) was moved north in 1953 to Murchison Sound, 200km/120mi to the north, because the noise of aircraft disturbed the seals and birds on which the Eskimos depend for their living. Present-day Greenlanders are in the main descendants of the Thule Eskimos.
From Thule Rasmussen undertook seven expeditions into the Arctic where he investigated the various Eskimo tribes and researched their myths and legends especially those relating to their mutual interests. In 1921-24 he crossed the American Arctic as far as the Bering Strait. "Knud Rasmussen Land", in northern Greenland, is named after him; he died in Copenhagen in 1933.
The Hvalsund Fiord in Thule is now a cruise ship destination.
From Thule Rasmussen undertook seven expeditions into the Arctic where he investigated the various Eskimo tribes and researched their myths and legends especially those relating to their mutual interests. In 1921-24 he crossed the American Arctic as far as the Bering Strait. "Knud Rasmussen Land", in northern Greenland, is named after him; he died in Copenhagen in 1933.
The Hvalsund Fiord in Thule is now a cruise ship destination.
