ILULISSAT MUSEUM - KNUD RASMUSSEN

This charming red house, located just behind the lovely Zion Church, is the birthplace of local legend : Knud Rasmussen (1879-1933). The son of a Greenlandic mother and a Danish pastor father, he established a network of trading posts here and played an important role in the exploration and development of the Inuit, whom he considered his own people. Often referred to as "the father of esquimaulogy", he was the first man to cross the Northern Passage by dogsled. Today, his home is a museum dedicated to the Arctic explorer, anthropologist and author of several books on his research into the Inuit populations around the Arctic Circle. One room is dedicated to his expeditions and his anthropological and linguistic studies across the North American Arctic. His magnificent black-and-white film Les Noces de Palo (1932) is also shown here, along with a documentary on the Greenlandic music group Sume. Other rooms feature Greenlandic traditions, the life of the first Danes in Greenland, and the history and crafts of the first Inuit. There's also an exhibition on the development of Ilulissat, and a large collection of photographs of the town. The ground floor features a small store selling local crafts. Outside, you'll find a reconstruction of a traditional sod house and a bronze statue of Knud Rasmussen to welcome you.