Christian Klengenberg facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Christian Klengenberg
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Charlie Klengenberg on board his ship in 1924
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| Born | 21 December 1869 |
| Died | 4 May 1931 (aged 61) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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| Other names | Christian Klengenberg Jørgensen |
| Occupation | Whaler, trapper, trader |
| Known for | Opening trade routes to the Copper Inuit territory |
Christian Klengenberg (born Christian Klengenberg Jørgensen) (December 21, 1869 – May 4, 1931) was a Danish whaler, trapper, and trader. He spent 34 years working in Alaska and Northern Canada. Klengenberg is famous for opening new trade routes to the Copper Inuit people. He is also known for telling the anthropologist Vilhjalmur Stefansson about a group of "Blond Eskimos" he met, which Stefansson later wrote about.
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Who was Christian Klengenberg?
Christian Klengenberg was born in Svendborg, Funen, Denmark. His father, Jørgen Christian Jørgensen, was a soldier and a craftsman. His mother, Caroline Sofie Møller, was said to have Viking ancestors. Christian was one of eight children. Even though he was confirmed in the Lutheran Church, he felt a stronger connection to the old Norse gods like Wodin and Thor, which he learned about from his mother.
Klengenberg's exciting career
Christian Klengenberg started his life at sea when he was just 16 years old. He worked as a cook's assistant on a ship called the Iceland, sailing from Sweden to New York City. As a ship's cook, he traveled to many places, including Russia, Australia, Scotland, Honolulu, and the Barbary Coast, San Francisco, California.
Meeting his future wife
In 1893, Klengenberg arrived at the Inupiat village of Point Hope in Alaska on a ship called the Emily Schroeder. There, he met Gremnia, who would become his wife. She was from Tikigaq (Point Hope). They made their home in Point Hope, where Gremnia taught him important skills like snaring ptarmigan birds, setting traps, and how to hunt whales from the shore. He also sold whale bone, which was used for corsets back then.
Exploring the Arctic and new trade routes
In 1894, Klengenberg worked as a pilot on the whaling ship Orka, which sailed to Herschel Island. He then joined another whaler, the Mary D. Hume, and spent the summer whaling in the Beaufort Sea. While anchored near Banks Island, an area thought to be empty, he went ashore and found Inuit footprints. He secretly decided he would return there one day to trade with these people.
He finally got his chance in 1905. Klengenberg was in charge of a trading schooner called the Olga. He convinced the captain to let him search for the Inuit he had seen signs of. The Olga was pushed off course and ended up near Victoria Island. Klengenberg's family, three other families, and the ship's crew had to spend the winter at Penny Bay. Their camp became a trading post, a place where they could meet and trade with nearby Copper Inuit groups.
Meeting the "Blond Eskimos"
The next summer, the Olga returned to Herschel Island. Klengenberg met the anthropologist Vilhjalmur Stefansson there and told him about meeting "blond Eskimos" – people who had never seen white men before. This story later became famous.
Challenges and new beginnings
After this trip, Klengenberg faced some serious accusations related to the disappearance of some crew members. He turned himself in and was taken to San Francisco for a trial in 1907. However, he was found innocent because there were many contradictions in the stories told by the crewmen.
For the next few years, Klengenberg stayed in the western Arctic, supporting his family by hunting, trading, trapping, and whaling. In 1916, he moved his family to the western Coronation Gulf and set up a trading post at Cape Kendall, near Coppermine. He moved his trading post a few times before settling at Rymer Point on Victoria Island in 1919. The next year, he opened another post in Bathurst Inlet. It was sometimes hard to talk with the Victoria Island Inuit, so his oldest daughter, who spoke Inupiaq, helped him as an interpreter.
A trip to Canada and an accident
In 1924, Klengenberg sailed his ship, the Maid of New Orleans, from Alaska to his trading post on Victoria Island in Canada. When he landed on Herschel Island, he learned about a rule that American ships could not bring foreign goods into Canada. He was allowed to deliver enough goods for his family, but he first had to pick up a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) constable at Baillie Island.
Klengenberg followed the rules and was reunited with his family. But on the trip back to Baillie Island, the RCMP Constable MacDonald disappeared. Only his parka and notebook were found in the icy water. The incident was investigated because the constable was the grandson of Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada's first Prime Minister. Klengenberg was eventually cleared, and the event was ruled an accident.
Klengenberg's family life
When Christian Klengenberg went to sea, his long name, Klengenberg Joergensen, was shortened to "Klengenberg." People sometimes spelled it "Klingenberg" or "Klinkenberg." His first name was often shortened to "Kris" or "Kristian," and he was also called "Charlie" or "Little Charlie."
In 1894, Klengenberg married Gremnia Qimniq (1878 - after 1931). They had several children: Weena, Etna, Patric ("Patsy"), Collinson, Andrew, Jorgen, Lena, Diamond, and Robert.
- Their daughter Weena married a Norwegian explorer named Storker Storkersen.
- Their daughter Etna married Ikey Bolt, who was part of the Canadian Arctic Expedition. Etna and Ikey took over Klengenberg's store at Rymer Point in 1920.
- Their son Patsy became a successful fur trader. He learned to read and write English from Diamond Jenness, who was an anthropologist on the Canadian Arctic Expedition.
- Their son Jorgen became a trapper.
Klengenberg became a naturalized United States citizen, but in 1925, he gave up that citizenship to become a Canadian. He retired in Vancouver, British Columbia, in the 1920s. Two of Weena's daughters, Bessie and Ida, went to school there. Christian Klengenberg died in Vancouver in 1931. His ashes were scattered at Rymer Point. Many of Klengenberg and Gremnia's descendants still live in places like Ulukhaktok and Qurluqtuuq (Coppermine) today.
Family in public service
On May 12, 2010, Klengenberg's great-granddaughter, Edna Elias, was appointed as the 4th Commissioner of Nunavut by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Another family member, Helen Klengenberg, was appointed as Nunavut Language Commissioner in 2017.
Books by Klengenberg
- Klengenberg Joergensen, Kristian, & MacInnes, Tom (1932). (Christian) Klengenberg (Jorgensen) of the Arctic. London [usw.]: Cape.
