Cultural Encounters at Cape Farewell

Book excerpt: This volume offers a comprehensive account of the cultural history of Greenland's Cape Farewell region in the 19th century. The dominating factor was the immigration of people to the area from southeast Greenland. There are no written sources originating from these immigrants, as they could neither read nor write, so the descriptions presented are primarily based on material from the Danish colonial authorities and the German Moravian mission. Although one-sided and reflecting a European view and conception of the world, the sources contain valuable information which, when pieced together, give a clear picture of immigration to the Cape Farewell area at the time, and of the society which arose in the wake of this immigration, not least of the impending struggle for the souls of the unbaptized East Greenlanders and also for their contribution to colonial trade in the 19th century. The volume includes accounts of the immigrants themselves which have been passed down from generation to ge