Etah is an abandoned settlement in the
Qaasuitsup municipality in northern
Greenland. It was a starting point of discovery expeditions to the
North Pole, and the landing site of the last migration of the
Inuit from the
Canadian Arctic.
Geography
The village was located on the shores of
Foulk Fjord near Reindeer Point. The fjord is about wide and several miles long with cliffs on each side. Brother John's Glacier terminates at the eastern end of the fjord. At the foot of the glacier is Lake Alida, a small body of frozen fresh water. The northern end of
Baffin Bay west of the former village, narrowing into
Nares Strait between Greenland and
Ellesmere Island, is usually frozen from October to July.
History
Last migration to Greenland
Etah lies on the ancient migration route from the north of the Canadian Arctic, with several waves of ancient migrants passing through the area, from the northbound
Independence I and
Independence II cultures 4,400 and 2,700 years ago, respectively, to the southbound
Thule culture migrants a thousand years ago.
It is also the point where the last migration of the Inuit from
Baffin Island reached the coast of Greenland in 1865. An Inuit
shaman () named Qidlaq led the migrants from Baffin Island alongside the coast of Ellesmere Island for seven years, crossing the strait to Etah. The group split there, with some returning to
Pond Inlet in Canada at a cost of many lives. Inhabitants of......
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